Reinhard Heß (13 June 1945 – 24 December 2007) was a German

ski jumping 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 final ...

coach. He was the national team's coach from 1993 until 2003, helping the sport in becoming popular in Germany. Heß was born in Lauscha,

Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...

. The jumpers he trained included

Martin Schmitt Martin Schmitt (; born 29 January 1978) is a German former ski jumper who competed from 1997 to 2014. He is one of Germany's most successful ski jumpers, having won the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup, World Cup twice; a gold medal at the Winter Olymp ...

, who 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 ...

two times and Sven Hannawald, who won the Four Hills Tournament in 2002. With 21 medals won in

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

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

combined, Heß was Germany's most successful ski jumping coach. He died of

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...

in Bad Berka.

References

1945 births 2007 deaths People from Lauscha German ski jumping coaches German sports coaches Olympic coaches for Germany German autobiographers Sportspeople from Thuringia German male non-fiction writers Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Deaths from pancreatic cancer in Germany {{Germany-skijumping-bio-stub