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Charles Sydney Smith

Charles Sydney Smith at the 1912 Summer Olympic Games, Stockholm
Personal information
National team	England
Born	(1876-01-26)26 January 1876 Wigan, England
Died	6 April 1951(1951-04-06) (aged 75) Southport, England
Sport
Country	England
Sport	Water polo
Position	goal
Medal record Representing  Great Britain Olympic Games Men's Water Polo 1908 London Team competition 1912 Stockholm Team competition 1920 Antwerp Team competition

Charles Sydney Smith (26 January 1879 – 6 April 1951) was born in Wigan, the ninth of eleven children born to Thomas Smith and Elizabeth née Sayer. He was a British water polo player who competed as goalkeeper for the England Water Polo team which won gold medals in the London games of 1908, and the Stockholm games of 1912. After the Great War he returned, at the age of 44, as part of the Great Britain team to win a third gold medal at the Antwerp games in 1920. He was still in the team four years later competing in the Paris games of 1924 where the team was knocked out in the first round by the Hungarian team after extra time.

Smith is the oldest water polo player to compete at the Olympics. On 13 July 1924, he played his last match at the age of 45 years and 169 days in the Paris Olympics. Smith is also the oldest Olympic gold medalist in water polo. At the age of 41 years and 216 days, he won the third Olympic gold medal on 29 August 1920. Smith is one of ten male athletes who won three Olympic gold medals in water polo.

Smith was chosen to represent the country as the flag bearer at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden. This made him the first competing athlete to carry the flag for Great Britain, and the first water polo player to be a flag bearer at the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics.

See also

• Great Britain men's Olympic water polo team records and statistics
• List of multiple Olympic gold medalists in one event
• List of Olympic champions in men's water polo
• List of Olympic medalists in water polo (men)
• List of players who have appeared in multiple men's Olympic water polo tournaments
• List of men's Olympic water polo tournament goalkeepers
• List of flag bearers for Great Britain at the Olympics
• List of members of the International Swimming Hall of Fame

References

1. ^ "Charles Smith". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
2. "Charles Sydney Smith". Olympedia. Retrieved 12 April 2021.

External links

Media related to Charles Sydney Smith at Wikimedia Commons

• Charles Sydney Smith at the International Swimming Hall of Fame
• Charles Sydney Smith at Olympics.com
• Charles Sydney Smith at Olympedia
• Charles Sydney Smith at Team GB

Great Britain squads

v t e Great Britain men's water polo squad – 1908 Summer Olympics – Gold medal (2nd title) Cornet Forsyth Nevinson Radmilovic Smith (C, GK) Thould Wilkinson v t e Great Britain men's water polo squad – 1912 Summer Olympics – Gold medal (3rd title) Bentham Bugbee Cornet Hill Radmilovic Smith (GK) Wilkinson (C) v t e Great Britain men's water polo squad – 1920 Summer Olympics – Gold medal (4th title) Bugbee Dean Jones Peacock Purcell Radmilovic (C) Smith (GK) v t e Great Britain men's water polo squad – 1924 Summer Olympics – 8th place Annison Budd Bugbee Hodgson Hunt Radmilovic (C) Smith (GK)

• 1870s births
• 1951 deaths
• Water polo goalkeepers
• English male water polo players
• British male water polo players
• Water polo players at the 1908 Summer Olympics
• Water polo players at the 1912 Summer Olympics
• Water polo players at the 1920 Summer Olympics
• Water polo players at the 1924 Summer Olympics
• Olympic water polo players for Great Britain
• English Olympic competitors
• Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain
• Sportspeople from Wigan
• Olympic medalists in water polo
• Medalists at the 1920 Summer Olympics
• Medalists at the 1912 Summer Olympics
• Medalists at the 1908 Summer Olympics