Albert Schneider

Biography

Despite not having Canadian citizen and very lax Olympic citizenship rules, American born, Canadian resident ‘Julius Gustav Albert Schneider’ represented Canada at Antwerp 1920. Enroute to the gold medal bout, Schneider defeated South Africa’s Joe Thomas, Norway’s Aage Steen of Norway, and American Fred Kolberg. The gold medal match went into extra rounds where Schneider defeated Alex Ireland of Great Britain by decision to win Canada’s only boxing gold medal of the five they won at the 1920 Games.

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Schneider moved to Montréal at the age of nine when his father got a job with a Montréal steel plant. He became involved in many sports including swimming, diving, skiing, water polo and boxing. At the beginning of World War I in 1914, he attempted to enlist with the Canadian Army but was unable because of his American citizenship and German heritage. That was when he began to train seriously in boxing first joining Montreal’s Casquette Club and then the Montréal Amateur Athletic Association, becoming its welterweight champion. In 1920, Schneider won the Canadian amateur welterweight championship. 

After becoming Olympic champion, Schneider turned professional in 1921 and fought with only marginal success. He contested for one major title, the 1925 Canadian welterweight championship, but was defeated. He retired in 1927, with a record of 18-23-2 with six knock outs, and worked with the United States Border Patrol for over 30 years. 

Schneider was inducted into Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame in 1949 and Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame in 1975.