Bill Schmidt (born December 29, 1947) is a retired male American javelin thrower from the Pittsburgh suburb of Southview, Pennsylvania. He is the son of Helen and Louis Schmidt, and won the bronze medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics. His dad was born in Germany and came to the United States at the age of 7. His dad was a coal miner for 29 years and marched with John L Lewis, the UMW organizer and President. Bill is the youngest of seven children, six boys and one girl. He has an identical twin named Bob Schmidt. In 2013 Schmidt was inducted into the Greater Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame.