09. March 2021  
Differdingen, LUX  
Artistic Gymnastics

5-time Olympian from Luxemburg, Josy Stoffel, passed away

Josef STOFFEL (LUX) *1928 - 2021

Luxembourg's 16-time all-around champion of artistic gymnastics Josef "Josy" STOFFEL, died today at the age of 92. With five (!) participations in the Olympic Games between 1948 and 1964, he was also a special record holder in his country, took part in five World and six European championships: At the first continental championships in 1955 in Frankfurt / Main (FRG), he won the vault behind European champion Adalbert Dickhut (FRG) and together with Helmut Bantz (FRG) a silver medal and took 5th place in the all-around competition behind Boris Shakhlin and Albert Asaryan (both URS) and behind the two Germans Bantz (3rd) and Dickhut. Stoffel was one of the most popular and well-known athletes in Luxembourg, where he was voted "Sportsman of the Year" in 1957 and 1960.

Stoffel : - examined and promoted the new vaulting table "PEGASES", which premiered at the 2001 Worlds in Gent

Josy Stoffel began his coaching activity while still active, supervising the Belgian national men's team from 1955 to 1965, and then also the Luxembourg gymnastics team for 9 years. His wife Yvonne Stoffel-Wagener, who died in 2014, was also a successful gymnast and had participated in the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome and two times at world championships.
Josy Stoffel demonstrated his sporting versatility in 1957, for example also as Luxembourg vice national champion in the pole vault.
It was not until 44 years after Josy Soffel that Sascha PALGEN, as a gymnast from Luxembourg, took part in the Olympic Games again in Beijing in 2008!
For the Dutch Olympic gymnastics outfitter "Janssen-Fritsen", Josy Stoffel's experience was available for many years as a professional consultant, the company that, among other things, at the turn of the millennium realized the change from jumping horse to  a very new vaulting table "Pegases".
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♦ On the fringes of the 2010 World Gymnastics Championships in Rotterdam, our Agency "GYMmedia INTERNATIONAL" had the opportunity to meet the then 82-year-old gymnastics legend Josy STOFFEL from the Espérance Differdange gymnastics club in an interview, which means that we have vivid memories of this European artistic gymnast ...


* Youtube (0246)

This man is also well known to Germany's gymnastics friends: The two authors Andreas Götze / Hans-Jürgen Zeume dedicated an honoring article to him in their gymnastic primer "Flick-Flack - World stage of gymnastics":
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►► Josy STOFFEL:Five time Olympian!