Frank Thomas

Weissmuller Notable Sports Figures
Fury, David A. Johnny Weissmuller: “Twice the Hero.”
Thorndike, ME: Thorndike Press, 2001.
International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, Volume
3: Actors and Actresses. Detroit: St. James
Press, 1996.
St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture. five volumes.
Detroit: St. James Press, 2000.
Weissmuller, Jr., Johnny, et al. Tarzan, My Father.
Toronto, Ontario: ECW Press, 2002.
Periodicals
Fury, David. “Johnny Weissmuller . . . the Two Career
Star.” Burroughs Bulletin (April 1993).
“Tarzan, The Ape Man.” Magill’s Survey of Cinema
(June 15, 1995).
Other
Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale Group,
2000.
“Johnny Weissmuller Pools: The Legend of Excellence.”
Delair Group. http://www.delairgroup.com/
pools/jw/history.html (October 4, 2002).
“Tarzan and His Mate.” Tarzan en Jane. http://users.
skynet.be/sky40152/tarzan6.htm (October 5, 2002).
“Tarzan and His Mate (1934).” At-A-Glance Film Reviews.
http://rinkworks.com/movies/m/tarzan.and.
his.mate.1934.shtml (October 5, 2002).
“Tarzan and His Mate (1934).” Reel.com. http://www.
reel.com/movie.asp?MID=6705 (July 7, 2002).
Hanni Wenzel
1956-
Liechensteinian skier
Sketch by Don Amerman
Hanni Wendel is the first person from the tiny European
country of Liechtenstein to win an Olympic
gold medal. She won not just one, but two gold medals
for skiing at the 1980 Winter Olympic Games held in
Lake Placid, New York. She very nearly swept all three
of the women’s Alpine skiing events, earning, in addition
to her two golds, a silver medal as well. Her brother,
Andreas, too, took home a silver medal at the 1980
Olympics, for the men’s downhill event. Together, the
brother-and-sister team won fully a third of the 12 total
metals for alpine skiing at the 1980 Winter Olympics.
Born in Saubirnen, Germany in 1956, Hanni Wenzel
moved to the smallest country in Europe, the nation of
Liechtenstein (just 60 square miles), when she was one
1742
Hanni Wenzel
year old. She entered international skiing competition in
1974 at the age of 18, winning a gold and a silver medal
at the World Championships. When Wenzel was 20
years old, in 1976, she took home the bronze medal for
the slalom in the Winter Olympic Games, held in Innsbruck,
Austria. After the 1976 Olympics, Wenzel competed
once more at the World Championships, bringing
home a silver medal.
At the age of 23, Wenzel competed in the next Winter
Olympics, which were held in Lake Placid, New York in
1980. In the 1980 Olympics, she competed in each of
the three women’s Alpine skiing events. She earned the
silver medal in the downhill event and the gold medals
in the giant slalom and the slalom. It was the first time
anyone from her nation had won a gold medal at the
Olympics.
Wenzel’s brother Andreas and her sister Petra were
also on the Liechtenstein Olympic skiing team. Although
Petra did not win a metal, Andreas took home
the silver medal for the men’s downhill event. The
brother-and-sister metal-winning performance was a
first for Alpine skiing at the Olympic Games.
The Wenzel’s combined four medals at the Olympics
made them national heroes in their tiny homeland of
Liechtenstein (population of 25,000). As Wenzel began
her gold medal-winning run on the giant slalom, the
bars of Vaduz, Liechtenstein’s capital city, were packed
with citizens watching the event on television. As soon