- Sven Hannawald
Sven Hannawald (born
November 9 ,1974 inErlabrunn ,Saxony ) is a former German ski jumper. Hannawald won the InternationalFour Hills Tournament once. He also won four medals at theFIS Nordic World Ski Championships , as well as three medals each in theOlympic Winter Games and theFIS Ski-Flying World Championships .Life
Hannawald was born in Erlabrunn and grew up in the nearby town of
Johanngeorgenstadt bySC Dynamo Johanngeorgenstadt in the Ore Mountains. At age twelve, he was sent to a special school for young sportspeople inKlingenthal (SG Dynamo Klingenthal ), also in Saxony. In 1991 his family moved toJettingen-Scheppach nearUlm where he transferred to the Furtwangen Ski Boarding School, where he completed an apprenticeship in Communication Electronics. Today he lives with his girlfriend Nadine and their son Matteo (*2.12.2006) inBerlin .uccesses
In 1998, Hannawald won a silver medal at the ski jumping world championships in
Oberstdorf as well as a silver medal at the Olympic Games inNagano in the team large hill event.In the 1998/1999 season, he finished fifth place overall in World Cup Ski Jumping. At the world championships in
Ramsau , he won a silver medal in the individual large hill behindMartin Schmitt , as well as winning a gold medal in the team large hill event.In 2000, he participated for the first time in the
Vikersund Ski-flying World Championships. He also won the ski jumping competition at theHolmenkollen ski festival that year.In the 2000/2001 season, Hannawald won gold in the team large hill event and bronze in the team normal hill event at the world championships in
Lahti .The following winter of 2001/02 was the most successful of his career: Sven Hannawald emerged victorious as the World's best ski jumper, winning all four Individual jumping titles at the Four Hills Tournament, the first to do so. He successfully defended his title of Ski Jumping World Champion. At the Olympic Winter Games in
Salt Lake City , he won gold in the team large hill and silver in the individual normal hill. Hannawald finished second in the world rankings. For these achievements, he was nominated forSportsman of the Year in Germany.In the 2002/2003 and 2003/2004 season, he performed well below personal expectations. His best result was third in
Engelberg . As a consequence of that, Hannawald ended his season prematurely. OnApril 29 , 2004, Hannawald revealed that he was suffering from burnout, and had put himself intopsychiatric treatment . During this time, Sven Hannawald managed to recover and reappeared to the public.On
August 3 ,2005 , he ended his career as a ski jumper, explaining through his managers that, after successfully dealing with his burnout, he no longer wished to suffer the stresses of professional sport.External links
*FIS|S=JP|ID=23169
* [http://www.skiforeningen.no/holmenkollen/holmenkollen_historikk Holmenkollen winners since 1892] - click Vinnere for downloadable pdf file no icon
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