Martin Schmitt

Martin Schmitt (German pronunciation: [ˈmaʁtɪn ˈʃmɪt]; born 29 January 1978) is a German former ski jumper, and one of Germany's most successful athletes. Beginning his competitive career at the Furtwangen area skiing club in Germany, his and countryman Sven Hannawald's successes made ski jumping one of the most popular sports in the country. With particular help from cable TV station RTL, their coverage received great acclaim.

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 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 sixth in the world rankings behind Matti Nykänen (46 victories), Gregor Schlierenzauer (44 victories), Adam Małysz (39 victories), Janne Ahonen (36 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 2000/01 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 2004/05 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 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.

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. Until just days before the start of the prestigious Four Hills Tournament 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 (Switzerland) just two days before the first four hills competition at Oberstdorf 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 and Bischofshofen.

Standings

Season	Overall	4H	SF	NT	JP
1996/97	55	35	–	–	52
1997/98	27	27	37	12	24
1998/99	01 !	4	01 !	5	02 !
1999/00	01 !	03 !	14	7	01 !
2000/01	02 !	03 !	01 !	03 !	N/A
2001/02	5	7	N/A	5	N/A
2002/03	23	20	N/A	11	N/A
2003/04	20	16	N/A	30	N/A
2004/05	37	33	N/A	15	N/A
2005/06	39	50	N/A	22	N/A
2006/07	17	14	N/A	14	N/A
2007/08	19	8	N/A	24	N/A
2008/09	6	4	13	6	N/A
2009/10	29	21	–	30	N/A
2010/11	30	29	45	N/A	N/A
2011/12	65	52	–	N/A	N/A
2012/13	39	10	–	N/A	N/A
2013/14	78	42	–	N/A	N/A

Wins

No.	Season	Date	Location	Hill	Size
1	1998/99	28 November 1998	Lillehammer	Lysgårdsbakken K120 (night)	LH
2		29 November 1998	Lillehammer	Lysgårdsbakken K120 (night)	LH
3		5 December 1998	Chamonix	Le Mont K95	NH
4		8 December 1998	Predazzo	Trampolino dal Ben K120 (night)	LH
5		30 December 1998	Oberstdorf	Schattenbergschanze K115	LH
6		1 January 1999	Garmisch-Partenkirchen	Große Olympiaschanze K115	LH
7		23 January 1999	Sapporo	Ōkurayama K120	LH
8		4 March 1999	Kuopio	Puijo K120 (night)	LH
9		11 March 1999	Falun	Lugnet K115 (night)	LH
10		19 March 1999	Planica	Velikanka bratov Gorišek K185	FH
11	1999/00	27 November 1999	Kuopio	Puijo K120 (night)	LH
12		18 December 1999	Zakopane	Wielka Krokiew K116	LH
13		19 December 1999	Zakopane	Wielka Krokiew K116	LH
14		30 December 1999	Oberstdorf	Schattenbergschanze K115	LH
15		8 January 2000	Engelberg	Gross-Titlis-Schanze K120	LH
16		9 January 2000	Engelberg	Gross-Titlis-Schanze K120	LH
17		22 January 2000	Sapporo	Ōkurayama K120	LH
18		23 January 2000	Sapporo	Ōkurayama K120	LH
19		26 February 2000	Iron Mountain	Pine Mountain Ski Jump K120	LH
20		27 February 2000	Iron Mountain	Pine Mountain Ski Jump K120	LH
21		5 March 2000	Lahti	Salpausselkä K116 (night)	LH
22	2000/01	24 November 2000	Kuopio	Puijo K120 (night)	LH
23		3 December 2000	Kuopio	Puijo K120 (night)	LH
24		29 December 2000	Oberstdorf	Schattenbergschanze K115	LH
25		24 January 2001	Hakuba	Olympic Hills K120 (night)	LH
26		3 March 2001	Oberstdorf	Heini-Klopfer-Skiflugschanze K185	FH
27		18 March 2001	Planica	Velikanka bratov Gorišek K185	FH
28	2001/02	1 March 2002	Lahti	Salpausselkä K116 (night)	LH