- Martin Schmitt
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Martin Schmitt 
Personal information Full name Martin Schmitt Born 29 January 1978
Villingen-Schwenningen, GermanyProfessional information Club SC Furtwangen Skis Elan World Cup Seasons 1997– Wins 28 Additional podiums 24 Total podiums 52 Medal recordMen's ski jumping Competitor for GermanyOlympic Games Gold 2002 Salt Lake City Team large hill Silver 1998 Nagano Team large hill Silver 2010 Vancouver Team large hill FIS Nordic World Ski Championships Gold 1999 Ramsau Team large hill Gold 1999 Ramsau Individual large hill Gold 2001 Lahti Individual large hill Gold 2001 Lahti Team large hill Silver 2001 Lahti Individual normal hill Silver 2005 Oberstdorf Team normal hill Silver 2009 Liberec Individual large hill Bronze 1997 Trondheim Team large hill Bronze 2001 Lahti Team normal hill Bronze 2011 Oslo Team normal hill Updated on
January 16, 2008.Martin Schmitt (born 29 January 1978 in Villingen-Schwenningen, Baden-Württemberg) is one of Germany's most successful ski jumpers. Beginning his competitive career at the Furtwangen area skiing club in Germany, his and Sven Hannawald's successes made their sport one of the most popular in the country. With particular help from cable TV station RTL, they received great acclaim.
Successes
Schmitt's first great success came when, as a schoolboy at the Furtwangen ski boarding school, he achieved a bronze medal in the 1997 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Trondheim. The following season, he won the team large hill silver at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano.
In 1998/99 Schmitt won the team World Cup for the first time and triumphed at the 1999 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Ramsau by winning the individual and team large hill events. He defended his success at the World Cup 1999/2000.
Schmitt enjoyed particular world success in skijumping between 1999 and 2001. With 28 world cup successes (10 in the 1998/99 season, 11 in 1999/2000, 6 in 2000/01, and 1 in 2001/02), he finished sixth in the world rankings behind Matti Nykänen (46 victories), Adam Małysz (39 victories), Janne Ahonen (36 victories), Gregor Schlierenzauer (35 victories) and Jens Weißflog (33 victories). At the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, he won eight medals (including four gold), and at the Winter Olympics he won two silver medals and one gold medal.
He had his best season in 2000/2001 by finishing second behind Adam Małysz for the World Cup title. At the 2001 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Lahti, he won both the individual and team large hills. In addition he gained a silver medal in the individual normal hill and a bronze in the team normal hill. Consequently, he became the first ski jumper to win four medals at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships.
After the 2001 season, Schmitt began to suffer from injuries, and could no longer equal his earlier successes. Nonetheless, in the 2001/2002 season he won another team gold at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, as well as winning silver in the WC at Harrachov. His last world cup success was on 1 March 2002 in Lahti.
After many back injuries in the 2004-5 season, he did not take part in the World Cup for many weeks, in order that he could be better prepared for the 2005 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Oberstdorf. There he won a silver medal in the team normal hill. Schmitt returned to win a silver in the individual large hill event at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 in Liberec.
References
Olympic champions in men's ski jumping team large hill 1988: Finland (Ari-Pekka Nikkola, Matti Nykänen, Tuomo Ylipulli, & Jari Puikkonen) * 1992: Finland (Ari-Pekka Nikkola, Mika Laitinen, Risto Laakkonen, & Toni Nieminen) * 1994: Germany (Hansjörg Jäkle, Christof Duffner, Dieter Thoma, & Jens Weißflog) * 1998: Japan (Takanobu Okabe, Hiroya Saito, Masahiko Harada, & Kazuyoshi Funaki) * 2002: Germany (Sven Hannawald, Stephan Hocke, Michael Uhrmann, & Martin Schmitt) * 2006: Austria (Andreas Widhölzl, Andreas Kofler, Martin Koch, & Thomas Morgenstern) * 2010: Austria (Wolfgang Loitzl, Andreas Kofler, Thomas Morgenstern, & Gregor Schlierenzauer)1925: Willen Dick (TCH) • 1926: Jacob Tullin Thams (NOR) • 1927: Tore Edman (SWE) • 1929: Sigmund Ruud (NOR) • 1930: Gunnar Andersen (NOR) • 1931: Birger Ruud (NOR) • 1933: Marcel Reymond (SUI) • 1934: Kristian Johansson (NOR) • 1935: Birger Ruud (NOR) • 1937: Birger Ruud (NOR) • 1938: Asbjørn Ruud (NOR) • 1939: Josef Bradl (GER)
World War II
1950: Hans Bjørnstad (NOR) • 1954: Matti Pietikäinen (FIN) • 1958: Juhani Kärkinen (FIN) • 1962: Helmut Recknagel (GDR) • 1966: Bjørn Wirkola (NOR) • 1970: Gariy Napalkov (URS) • 1974: Hans-Georg Aschenbach (GDR) • 1978: Tapio Räisänen (FIN) • 1982: Matti Nykänen (FIN) • 1985: Per Bergerud (NOR) • 1987: Andreas Felder (AUT) • 1989: Jari Puikkonen (FIN) • 1991: Franci Petek (YUG) • 1993: Espen Bredesen (NOR) • 1995: Tommy Ingebrigtsen (NOR) • 1997: Masahiko Harada (JPN) • 1999: Martin Schmitt (GER) • 2001: Martin Schmitt (GER) • 2003: Adam Małysz (POL) • 2005: Janne Ahonen (FIN) • 2007: Simon Ammann (SUI) • 2009: Andreas Küttel (SUI) • 2011: Gregor Schlierenzauer (AUT)1979–80: Hubert Neuper (AUT) • 1980–81: Armin Kogler (AUT) • 1981–82: Armin Kogler (AUT) • 1982–83: Matti Nykänen (FIN) • 1983–84: Jens Weißflog (GDR) • 1984–85: Matti Nykänen (FIN) • 1985–86: Matti Nykänen (FIN) • 1986–87: Vegard Opaas (NOR) • 1987–88: Matti Nykänen (FIN) • 1988–89: Jan Boklöv (SWE) • 1989–90: Ari-Pekka Nikkola (FIN) • 1990–91: Andreas Felder (AUT) • 1991–92: Toni Nieminen (FIN) • 1992–93: Andreas Goldberger (AUT) • 1993–94: Espen Bredesen (NOR) • 1994–95: Andreas Goldberger (AUT) • 1995–96: Andreas Goldberger (AUT) • 1996–97: Primož Peterka (SLO) • 1997–98: Primož Peterka (SLO) • 1998–99: Martin Schmitt (GER) • 1999–00: Martin Schmitt (GER) • 2000–01: Adam Małysz (POL) • 2001–02: Adam Małysz (POL) • 2002–03: Adam Małysz (POL) • 2003–04: Janne Ahonen (FIN) • 2004–05: Janne Ahonen (FIN) • 2005–06: Jakub Janda (CZE) • 2006–07: Adam Małysz (POL) • 2007–08: Thomas Morgenstern (AUT) • 2008–09: Gregor Schlierenzauer (AUT) • 2009–10: Simon Ammann (SUI) • 2010–11: Thomas Morgenstern (AUT)
Awards Preceded by
Georg HacklGerman Sportsman of the Year
1999Succeeded by
Nils SchumannCategories:- 1978 births
- Living people
- People from Villingen-Schwenningen
- German ski jumpers
- Olympic ski jumpers of Germany
- Ski jumpers at the 1998 Winter Olympics
- Ski jumpers at the 2002 Winter Olympics
- Ski jumpers at the 2006 Winter Olympics
- Ski jumpers at the 2010 Winter Olympics
- Olympic gold medalists for Germany
- Olympic silver medalists for Germany
- Olympic medalists in ski jumping
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