{{Short description|American fencer (1930–2004)}} {{other people|Hal Goldsmith}} {{Infobox sportsperson | name = Harold "Hal" Goldsmith | birth_name = Hans Goldschmidt | fullname = | nickname = | nationality = | residence = | birth_date = {{birth date|1930|7|20}} | birth_place = Gensungen, Felsberg, Hessen, Germany | death_date = {{death date and age|2004|3|13|1930|7|20}} | death_place = New York, New York, United States | height = | weight = | website = | country = {{USA}} | sport = Fencing | event = Foil and Epee | collegeteam = The City College of New York | club = Fencers Club | team = | turnedpro = | coach = | retired = | coaching = | worlds = | regionals = | nationals = | olympics = | paralympics = | highestranking = | pb = | medaltemplates = {{MedalSport|Men's fencing}} {{MedalCountry|{{USA}}}} {{MedalCompetition|Pan American Games}} {{MedalGold|1951 Buenos Aires|Individual Foil}} {{MedalGold|1951 Buenos Aires|Team Foil}} {{MedalSilver|1955 Mexico City|Team Epee}} {{MedalSilver|1955 Mexico City|Team Foil}} | show-medals = yes }} '''Harold David Goldsmith''' (born Hans Goldschmidt), known as '''Hal''' (July 20, 1930 &ndash; March 13, 2004) was an American Olympic foil and epee fencer.<ref name="sports-reference">{{cite web |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/go/hal-goldsmith-1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417162531/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/go/hal-goldsmith-1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2020-04-17 |title=Harold Goldsmith Olympic Results |accessdate=2010-09-26 |work=sports-reference.com}}</ref>

==Early and personal life== Goldsmith was born in Gensungen, Felsberg, Hessen, Germany, and was Jewish.<ref name=autogenerated1>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200417162531/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/go/hal-goldsmith-1.html "Hal Goldsmith Bio, Stats, and Results,"<!-- Bot generated title -->] Olympics at Sports-Reference.com.</ref><ref name=autogenerated2>[https://vineyardgazette.com/obituaries/2004/07/20/harold-d-goldsmith-73-was-executive-athlete "Harold D. Goldsmith, 73 Was Executive, Athlete,"<!-- Bot generated title -->] ''The Vineyard Gazette'' - Martha's Vineyard News.</ref><ref>Bob Wechsler. [https://books.google.com/books?id=aOTWUl-9LQoC&dq=Harold+Goldsmith+fencer&pg=PA382 ''Day by Day in Jewish Sports History'' <!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>Paul Taylor. [https://books.google.com/books?id=A3-BAAAAMAAJ&q=Harold+Goldsmith+fencer ''Jews and the Olympic Games: the clash between sport and politics: with a complete review of Jewish Olympic medallists''<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>Bernard Postal, Jesse Silver, Roy Silver. [https://books.google.com/books?id=AgmDAAAAMAAJ&q=Harold+Goldsmith+fencer ''Encyclopedia of Jews in Sports''<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> In 1938 when he was eight years old, his family fled Germany and immigrated to Manhattan.<ref name=autogenerated2 /><ref name=autogenerated1 /> He attended Stuyvesant High School.<ref name=autogenerated2 /> He served as an officer in the United States Army.<ref name=autogenerated2 />

In 1956 he married DelRene Millner and had sons John and Bob. In 1964 they moved to Ardsley, New York, and in 1991 they moved to Chilmark, Massachusetts.<ref name=autogenerated2 /> ==Fencing career== Goldsmith fenced for the Fencers Club in New York.<ref name=autogenerated1 /> He attended The City College of New York.<ref name=autogenerated2 /> Goldsmith won the 1952 NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) foil championship.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hickoksports.com/history/ncaafencing.shtml |title=NCAA Fencing Champions |accessdate=2011-01-03 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20020223000910/http://hickoksports.com/history/ncaafencing.shtml |archivedate=2002-02-23 }}</ref> He was inducted into the CCNY Athletic Hall of Fame in 1970.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.alumniassociationccny.org/alumnirelation/affiliates/aluv2.html |title="alumniassociationccny.org" |access-date=2012-10-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402013107/http://www.alumniassociationccny.org/alumnirelation/affiliates/aluv2.html |archive-date=2015-04-02 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

He won the individual gold medal in foil in the 1955 Pan American Games and 1959 Pan American Games, and a team gold medal in foil in 1959.<ref name=autogenerated2 /><ref name=autogenerated1 /> Goldsmith also won silver medals in both team foil and team epee in 1955.<ref name=autogenerated1 /><ref name=autogenerated3>[http://assets.ngin.com/attachments/document/0123/2596/Biography_for_Harold_Goldsmith.pdf "Biography for Harold Goldsmith"]</ref>

Goldsmith was a member of three Olympic fencing teams, competing for the United States in 1952 in Helsinki, in 1956 in Melbourne, and in 1960 in Rome.<ref name=autogenerated2 /><ref name=autogenerated3 /> The entire USA Foil Fencing Team at the 1956 Olympics was Jewish, with the other Jewish fencers being Daniel Bukantz, Albert Axelrod, Nathaniel Lubell, and Byron Krieger.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A3-BAAAAMAAJ&q=dan+bukantz|isbn = 9781903900888|title = Jews and the Olympic Games: The Clash Between Sport and Politics : With a Complete Review of Jewish Olympic Medallists|year = 2004|publisher = Sussex Academic Press}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/02/sports/othersports/02vecsey.html|title=A Righteous Recipe for Longevity|first=George|last=Vecsey|date=December 2, 2007|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

At the US National Championships, Goldsmith won medals in 1952, 1957, and 1960.<ref name=autogenerated3 />

Hal Goldsmith died in New York City at the age of 73.

==See also==

*List of NCAA fencing champions *List of USFA Hall of Fame members

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *[http://www.jewsinsports.org/olympics.asp?ID=294 Jews in Sports bio]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldsmith, Harold}} Category:1930 births Category:2004 deaths Category:Emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States Category:Sportspeople from Manhattan Category:People from Ardsley, New York Category:Sportspeople from Westchester County, New York Category:People from Chilmark, Massachusetts Category:Stuyvesant High School alumni Category:CCNY Beavers fencers Category:American male foil fencers Category:American male épée fencers Category:Jewish épée fencers Category:Jewish foil fencers Category:Jewish American sportspeople Category:Fencers at the 1952 Summer Olympics Category:Fencers at the 1956 Summer Olympics Category:Fencers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Category:Olympic fencers for the United States Category:American people of German-Jewish descent Category:Fencers at the 1951 Pan American Games Category:Fencers at the 1955 Pan American Games Category:Medalists at the 1951 Pan American Games Category:Medalists at the 1955 Pan American Games Category:Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in fencing Category:Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in fencing Category:20th-century American Jews Category:21st-century American Jews Category:20th-century American sportsmen