Ski jumper Martin Schmitt wins silver

Shortly before the end of the Nordic World Ski Championships in Liberec, Czech Republic, Martin Schmitt ended the German ski jumping team’s years-long drought. In the large hill ski jumping event, Martin Schmitt won silver behind Switzerland’s Andreas Küttel and ahead of Norway’s Anders Jacobsen. Favorites Georg Schlierenzauer and Wolfgang Loitzl of Austria, as well as Switzerland’s Simon Ammann, came away empty-handed in Liberec.

Martin Schmitt had already won the German Ski Association (DSV) team’s seventh silver medal at the Nordic World Ski Championships in Liberec. However, the DSV had yet to reach the top step of the podium. For Martin Schmitt, yesterday’s silver medal was his first major medal since the 2002 Ski Flying World Championships, which took place in Harrachov, also in the Czech Republic. After several fourth-place finishes during this year’s World Cup, Schmitt achieved his best result at the World Championships, just in time for the highlight of the season.

Although Martin Schmitt narrowly missed out on gold by just 0.4 points, there was no sign of disappointment from the Black Forest native. The snowfall that had persisted for days in Liberec, presenting the World Championships’ event organizers with ever-new challenges in preparing the slopes, continued yesterday. Since the second round had to be called off due to the weather, Martin Schmitt was already assured of the silver medal after the first round. The ski jumping events at the World Championships in Liberec conclude today with the team competition.