Martin Schmitt (; born 29 January 1978) is a German former

ski jumper Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along with jump length, competitor's aerial style and other factors also affect the fin ...

who competed from 1997 to 2014. He is one of Germany's most successful ski jumpers, having won the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

twice; a gold medal at the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held i ...

; four gold medals at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

; and a ski flying world record. His and his countryman

Sven Hannawald Sven Hannawald (; born 9 November 1974) is a German former ski jumper. Having competed from 1992 to 2004, his career highlight was winning the 2002 Four Hills Tournament, on that occasion becoming the first athlete to win all four events of said ...

's success further popularized ski jumping in Germany, and with particular help from cable TV station

RTL RTL may refer to: Media * RTL Group, a European TV, radio, and production company *** List of RTL Group's television stations (including part-owned channels) *** List of RTL Group's radio stations ** RTL Lëtzebuerg, usually referred to simply a ...

, their coverage received great acclaim in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Career

Beginning his competitive career at the Furtwangen area skiing club in Germany, 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 The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1997 took place from February 21 to March 2 at Granåsen Ski Centre in Trondheim, Norway. This event was the first time in consecutive championships that the number or type of events did not change since 196 ...

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

. The following season, he won the team large hill silver at the

1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 (), were a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Nagano, Nagano, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, with some events ...

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 The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1999 took place February 19–28, 1999 in Ramsau am Dachstein, Austria. The large hill ski jumping events took place at the Paul-Ausserleitner-Schanze in Bischofshofen. The 7.5 km Nordic combined sprint ...

in Ramsau by winning the individual and team large hill events. He successfully defended his World Cup title in 1999–2000. Schmitt enjoyed particular world success in ski jumping between 1999 and 2001. With 28 world cup successes (10 in the 1998/1999 season, 11 in 1999/00, 6 in 2000/01, and 1 in 2001/02), he finished seventh in the world rankings behind

Gregor Schlierenzauer Gregor Schlierenzauer (; born 7 January 1990) is an Austrian former ski jumper who competed from 2006 to 2021. He is one of the most successful ski jumpers of all time, having won the Ski Jumping World Cup overall title, the Four Hills Tourname ...

(53 victories),

Matti Nykänen Matti Ensio Nykänen (; 17 July 1963 – 4 February 2019) was a Finnish ski jumper who competed from 1981 to 1991. He is one of the most successful ski jumpers of all time,

(46 victories),

Adam Małysz Adam Henryk Małysz (; born 3 December 1977) is a Polish former ski jumper and rally driver. He competed in ski jumping from 1995 to 2011 and is one of the most successful athletes in the history of the sport. His many accomplishments include ...

(39 victories),

Kamil Stoch Kamil Wiktor Stoch (; born 25 May 1987) is a Polish Ski jumping, ski jumper. He is one of the most successful ski jumpers in the history of the sport, having won two FIS Ski Jumping World Cup, World Cup titles, three Four Hills Tournaments (two o ...

(39 victories),

Janne Ahonen Janne Petteri Ahonen (; born 11 May 1977) is a Finnish former ski jumper and drag racer. He competed in ski jumping between 1992 and 2018, and is one of the sport's most successful athletes of all time, as well as one of the most successful fr ...

(36 victories), and

Jens Weißflog Jens Weißflog (; born 21 July 1964) is an East German and later German former ski jumper. He is one of the best and most successful ski jumpers in the history of the sport. He is a two time olympic and nordic world ski champion; also overall ...

(33 victories). At the

FIS Nordic World Ski Championships The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships is a biennial Nordic skiing event organized by the International Ski Federation (FIS). The World Championships was started in 1925 for men and opened for women's participation in 1954. World Championship eve ...

, he won eight medals (including four gold), and at the

he won two silver medals and one gold medal. He had his best season in 2000/01 by finishing second behind

for the World Cup title. At the

2001 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2001 took place February 15–25, 2001 in Lahti, Finland, for a record sixth time, previous events having been held in FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1926, 1926, FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1938, ...

Lahti Lahti (; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Päijät-Häme. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Lahti is approximately , while the Lahti sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately . It is the mo ...

, 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 The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 (; Gosiute dialect, Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; ; Shoshoni language, Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), were an international wi ...

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

, as well as winning silver in the 2002 Ski Flying World Championships in Harrachov. His last world cup success was on 1 March 2002 in Lahti. After many back injuries in the 2004/05 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 The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2005 took place 16–27 February 2005 in Oberstdorf, Germany, for the second time after hosting it previously in 1987. The ski jumping team normal hill event returned after not being held in 2003 2 ...

Oberstdorf Oberstdorf (Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Oberschdorf'') is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality and skiing and hiking town in Germany, located in the Allgäu region of the Bavarian Alps. It is the southernmost settlement in German ...

. 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 The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 () took place 18 February – 1 March 2009 in Liberec, Czech Republic. This was the fourth time these championships were hosted either in the Czech Republic or in Czechoslovakia, having done so at J ...

Liberec Liberec (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 108,000 inhabitants, making it the fifth largest city in the country. It lies on the Lusatian Neisse River, in a basin surrounded by mountains. The city centre is well preserved and is pr ...

. Despite the lack of wins for over a decade Schmitt continues to compete. For the 2012/13 season he had to compete in the second tier

FIS Ski Jumping Continental Cup The FIS Ski Jumping Continental Cup is a series of ski jumping competitions arranged yearly by the International Ski Federation. It is considered the second level of international ski jumping, ranking below the World Cup and not counting Grand P ...

. Until just days before the start of the prestigious

Four Hills Tournament The Four Hills Tournament () or the German-Austrian Ski Jumping Week () is a ski jumping event composed of four World Cup events and has taken place in Germany and Austria each year since 1953. With few exceptions, it has consisted of the ski ju ...

it looked as if he would not be nominated for the first time since the 1996/1997 edition. A surprise win at the Continental Cup competition at

Engelberg Engelberg (lit.: ''mountain of angel(s)'') is a village resort and a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Obwalden in Switzerland. Alongside the central village of Engelberg, the municipality enc ...

(Switzerland) just two days before the first four hills competition at

earned him a last-minute inclusion in the 'national group', a group of additional German entries allowed for the first two jumps at Oberstdorf and Garmisch-Partenkirchen. By performing strongly, even being the best-placed German after the first jump at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Schmitt got a surprise promotion back into the main squad, which allows him to participate in the two Austrian competitions in

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...

and

Bischofshofen Bischofshofen () is a List of cities and towns in Austria, town in the district of St. Johann im Pongau District, St. Johann im Pongau in the Austrian federal state of Salzburg (state), Salzburg. It is an important traffic junction located both on ...

World Cup

Standings

Wins

Ski jumping world records

Not recognized! Ground touch at world record distance.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schmitt, Martin 1978 births Living people Sportspeople from Villingen-Schwenningen Skiers from Freiburg (region) German male ski jumpers Olympic ski jumpers for 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 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships medalists in ski jumping Medalists at the 2010 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2002 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1998 Winter Olympics World record setters in ski flying Recipients of the Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg 20th-century German sportsmen