Martin Schmitt

Martin Schmitt
Schmitt in Oslo, 2005
Country	Germany
Born	(1978-01-29) 29 January 1978 (age 39) Villingen-Schwenningen, West Germany
Personal best	224 m (735 ft) Planica, 23 Mar 2002
World Cup career
Seasons	1997–2014
Individual wins	28
Team wins	2
Indiv. podiums	52
Team podiums	15
Yellow bibs	45
Indiv. starts	292
Team starts	31
Overall titles	2 (1999, 2000)
Ski Flying titles	2 (1999, 2001)
NH/LH titles	1 (2000)
Medal record Men's ski jumping Olympic Games 2002 Salt Lake City Team LH 1998 Nagano Team LH 2010 Vancouver Team LH Ski Jumping World Championships 1999 Ramsau Team LH 1999 Ramsau Individual LH 2001 Lahti Individual LH 2001 Lahti Team LH 2001 Lahti Individual NH 2005 Oberstdorf Team NH 2009 Liberec Individual LH 1997 Trondheim Team LH 2001 Lahti Team NH 2011 Oslo Team NH Men's ski flying Ski Flying World Championships 2002 Harrachov Individual
Updated on 10 February 2016.

Martin Schmitt (German pronun­cia­tion: [ˈmaʁtɪn ˈʃmɪt]; 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 World Cup and Four Hills Tournament twice each; gold medals at the Winter Olympics and World Championships; and a ski flying world record. The successes of he and countryman Sven Hannawald made ski jumping one of the most popular sports in the country, and with particular help from cable TV station RTL, their coverage received great acclaim in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

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 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.