Eugen Mack
In 1934, at the World Championships in Budapest, Eugen Mack had perhaps the greatest performance of his life. He won the All-Around (which consisted of 15 events at that time), the pommel horse, vault and parallel competition, as well as earning gold in the team competition.
Induction Speech Video
While German gymnasts were given most of the individual gold medals during the individual competition, Eugen Mack earned silver medals in the all-around, vault, pommel horse and parallel bars.
Hailed by many as Switzerland's greatest gymnast, Eugen Mack was born in 1907, in the town of Arbon. He competed in the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam, winning two gold medals, for the team competition and in vaulting. In 1934, at the World Championships in Budapest, Eugen Mack had perhaps the greatest performance of his life. He won the All-Around (which consisted of 15 events at that time), the pommel horse, vault and parallel competition, as well as earning another gold in the team competition. His memories of the 1936 Olympics in Berlin were decidedly different. Nearly 30,000 fans and Hitler himself watched as the favored Swiss were defeated by the German home team. While German gymnasts were given most of the individual gold medals during the individual competition, Eugen Mack earned silver medals in the all-around, vault, pommel horse and parallel bars. In all during his impressive career, Eugen Mack won nine Olympic medals, including two golds, and 11 World Championship medals, six of those gold. Eugen Mack died in 1978, at the age of 71. His memory and his achievements live on, in both his home country of Switzerland, and now, in the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame, where he was inducted, posthumously, in 1999.
1928 OLYMPIC GAMES
- Gold Medalist & Olympic Champion:
- Team
- Vault
- Bronze Medalist:
- Floor Exercise
- Horizontal Bar
1934 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Gold Medalist & World Champion:
- All-Around
- Pommel Horse
- Vault
- Parallel Bars
- Team
- Silver Medalist:
- Floor Exercise
1936 OLYMPIC GAMES
- Silver Medalist:
- All-Around
- Pommel Horse
- Vault
- Parallel Bars
- Team
- Bronze Medalist
- Floor Exercise
1938 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Gold Medalist & World Champion:
- Vault
- Silver Medalist
- Floor Exercise
- Bronze Medalist
- All-Around
1999 INTERNATIONAL GYMNASTICS HALL OF FAME
- Inducted as a member of the Class of 1999