Martin Schmitt

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Men's ski jumping
Medal record
Martin Schmitt
Olympic Games
Gold	2002 Salt Lake City	Team large hill
Silver	1998 Nagano	Team large hill
World Championships
Gold	1999 Ramsau	Individual large hill
Gold	1999 Ramsau	Team large hill
Gold	2001 Lahti	Individual large hill
Gold	2001 Lahti	Team large hill
Silver	2001 Lahti	Individual normal hill
Silver	2005 Oberstdorf	Team normal hill
Silver	1997 Trondheim	Team large hill
Bronze	2001 Lahti	Team normal hill

Martin Schmitt (born January 29, 1978 in Villingen-Schwenningen) is one of Germany's most successful ski jumpers. Beginning his competitive career at the Furtwangen area skiing club in Germany, his and Sven Hannawald's successes made their sport one of the most popular in the country. With particular help from the news station RTL, they received great acclaim.

[edit] Successes

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 defended his success at the World Cup 1999/2000.

Schmitt enjoyed particular world success in skijumping between 1999 and 2001. With 28 world cup successes (10 in the 1998/99 season, 11 in 1999/2000, 6 in 2000/01, and 1 in 2001/02), he finished fifth in the world rankings behind Matti Nykänen (46 victories), Adam Małysz (37 victories), Jens Weissflog (33 victories) and Janne Ahonen (30 victories). At the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, he won eight medals (including four gold), and at the Winter Olympics he won one silver and one gold medal.

He had his best season in 2000/2001 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 March 1, 2002 in Lahti.

After many back injuries in the 2004-5 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.