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Martin Schmitt

Martin Schmitt
Martin Schmitt 2005.jpg
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 19972014
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)
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.


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