Ferdinand Steiner

Ferdinand Steiner was a Czech artistic gymnast. He represented Bohemia and from 1914 Czechoslovakia.

Life

Steiner was born on 23 May 1884 in Tovačov. He died on 19 August 1968.

Career

Steiner took part in the Artistic Gymnastics Championships|World Gymnastics Championships] in 1909, 1911 and 1913, helping his team to the gold medal at two of those games and silver at the other. Ferdinand Steiner is officially recognized by both the FIG and USAG as the 1911 World All-Around Champion in the sport of Artistic gymnastics.
Steiner introduced an element, the inverted cross, a move that is still valued as a "C"-difficulty element in the current Code of Points, if not much higher, depending upon the movement from which it is entered.
Since medal winners who represented Austria-Hungary came from Bohemia, these medals were later transferred to Czechoslovakia by the FIG.
After Steiner's competitive career was over, he was a very reputable trainer of his fellow Czechoslovak Sokol gymnasts.