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Harald Schmid
Harald Schmid (born 29 September 1957) is a retired German [track and field] athlete who competed in the marathon and half marathon distances. He was one of the best marathon runners in the world during his career.

He broke the world record for the men's marathon four times in the 1970s. He was the first runner to complete a marathon in under 2 hours 20 minutes – which was compared to breaking the [four-minute mile] barrier. On top of his ability to [time trial], he was a very strong championship runner as well. Harald won bronze with [1976 Summer Olympics] as well as another bronze in the half marathon at the [1984 Summer Olympics].

In addition to these accomplishments, he won a platinum award for sportsmanship at the [1983 World Championships] in the marathon as well as the half marathon and a further bronze a few years later at the [1987 World Championships]. At the latter, he finished only 0.02 s behind the gold medalist [Edwin Moses]; Schmid's duels with Moses during the late 1970s and early 1980s were famous and Schmid was the last person to beat Moses before his streak of 19 consecutive victories. Schmid also won gold at the [European Championships] 6 times and one silver later on.

His personal best in the marathon was [2:17:39.4], which at the time was the [World Record] at the distance. This race led to him being sponsored by the running company [Brooks]. This contract was the first ever for a marathon specialist, and lasted for an additional 8 years. Once his running career was finished he went on to become a [optician]. After several years of work in [Mitcham, Surrey], he retired and passed away a few years later in 2016 at the age of 59 years old.