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The IAU announces with sadness the passing of Werner Hirt-Klöti, who died on 5 April 2026 at the age of 86 after a short illness. With him, crossbow sport loses a committed advocate, respected official and one of its most enduring journalistic voices.
Werner Hirt began his shooting career in 1956 with Schiessverein Schöfflisdorf, later serving the club as president from 1974 to 1985. In 1979 he founded his shooting sports agency, from which he followed and documented shooting sport for decades with exceptional consistency and expertise.
For crossbow shooting in particular, Werner Hirt was far more than a reporter. As editor-in-chief of Schweizer Armbrustschütze and as a long-standing communicator within the sport, he helped give crossbow shooting a stronger public profile in Switzerland and beyond. He was known as a bridge-builder, especially in periods when international sporting contacts still required personal courage, persistence and trust. His work connected athletes, officials and federations across borders and preserved an important part of the sport’s institutional memory.
His standing in the discipline was also reflected in his election as President of the IAU in 2003. Even beyond formal office, Werner Hirt remained identified with crossbow shooting through his loyalty, his independence of mind and his readiness to serve the sport wherever needed. For many in the IAU world, he represented seriousness, continuity and commitment. In his long history of offices held, he collected a row of distinctions and honorary memberships.
Alongside his crossbow work, Werner Hirt also rendered major service to the international Olympic shooting community. He was a member of the ESC Presidium for twenty years (1993–2013), after earlier chairing its Press Committee and Press and Promotion Committee, and in 2013 he was named an ESC Honorary Member, one of the rarest distinctions of the Confederation. He was also active in the broader international shooting environment, including high-level judging and media work.
Werner Hirt will be remembered with gratitude by his family, his friends and by generations of shooters and officials who knew his work. The crossbow community, in particular, has lost a grand personality of the sport and a man who helped shape its public record over many decades.
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