Katharina Schmid - Ski Jumping
- Successes
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Silver at the PyeongChang and Peking Olympic Games
Seven-time world champion
17x World Cup victories
- Birthday
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05/23/1996
- Profession
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Customs official
- Club
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SC Oberstdorf
- Hobbies
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Knitting, sewing, meeting up with friends and family
- Role model
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Simon Ammann
- What’s important to me
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What’s important to me: Family, friends and my team. I like having people around me and I also like to help people.
Viessmann has been supporting me since I was a youngster, and I am glad to have such a loyal partner at my side [...]. I feel privileged to be involved in this cooperation.
Career
At the age of six, Katharina starts ski jumping training in her home club SC Oberstdorf. In 2011, at the age of 15, she starts in the World Cup for the first time. One year later, she wins silver in individual at the Winter Youth Olympic Games, making ski jumping history. In 2015, she becomes world champion for the first time and wins gold with the mixed team at the World Cup in Falun. In 2018/19, Katharina celebrates her most successful season so far. She wins the overall ranking of the Lillehammer Triple, and she becomes world champion in the team and the mixed team and runner-up world champion in individual jumping at the World Cup in Falun. At the 2021 World Championships in Oberstdorf, Katharina wins the gold medal in the mixed team as a local heroine. At the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing, she wins silver for the second time after PyeongChang 2018 and advances to become the first and so far only female ski jumper with multiple medals at the Olympics. Just one year later, she went one better: at the Nordic World Ski Championships in Planica, she won four medals, three of them gold. This makes her the first and only female ski jumper to achieve this.
A jump start to her career: Youth Olympics champion and vice junior world champion
Katharina makes her debut in the World Cup in Lillehammer, where she secures 33rd place. At the 2012 Winter Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck, Katharina wins silver in individual and becomes Youth Olympics champion with her team. She also wins the silver medal at the Junior World Championship in Erzurum.
Bronze at the Junior World Championship
Katharina manages to win the first three competitions at the start of the 2012/13 Alpencup season. As in the previous year, she is also successful at the 2013 Junior World Championships in Liberec and wins the bronze medal.
Olympic premiere in women’s ski jumping
Katharina participates in the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, where women’s ski jumping celebrates its Olympic premiere. Her best result is 23rd place.
First-time world champion
Katharina becomes world champion in the mixed team at the 2015 Nordic World Ski Championships in Falun.
Successful Youth World Championships
Katharina makes it to the podium twice at the 2016 Youth World Championships in Râșnov. She wins the silver medal in individual and bronze with the mixed team.
First World Cup podium finish and first World Cup victory
Katharina secures the first podium finish in her World Cup career in the World Cup in Sapporo. She secures her first World Cup victory in Ljubno in 2017. At the end of the season, Katharina takes fourth place in the overall ranking, her best World Cup result to date.
Olympic silver
At the 2017 Summer Grand Prix in Courchevel, Katharina secures her first victory in this competition. She wins two of the three competitions at the Lillehammer Triple and takes second place in the third competition, securing the overall win of the Lillehammer Triple. The 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang end successfully for Katharina. She wins the silver medal in individual and thus receives the “Silbernes Lorbeerblatt” (Silver Laurel Leaf). Katrina concludes the season with second place in the overall World Cup.
Two gold medals and one silver at the World Championships
The 2018/19 season is very successful for Katharina. With two fourth-place finishes and one victory, she wins the Lillehammer Triple, taking the lead in the overall World Cup. At the 2019 Nordic World Ski Championships in Seefeld, Katharina becomes world champion in both the team and mixed team. While she doesn’t do quite as well in individual, she still secures the silver medal. She concludes the season with second place in the overall World Cup.
German champion
At the 2020 German Championships in Oberstdorf, Katharina becomes German champion in individual and wins the bronze medal in the team competition. Her best World Cup result this winter is second place in Râșnov.
Mixed World Champion at home
Katharina ends the World Cup season, which was impaired due to the pandemic, as the best German jumper in ninth place in the overall World Cup. The highlight of the winter is the Nordic World Ski Championships in Oberstdorf, Germany. As a local hero, Katharina can enjoy gold in the mixed team and thus celebrate her fourth World Championship title overall.
Silver again at the Olympics and back among the world's top athletes
This season, Katharina is able to build on her earlier world-class performances, landing on the podium seven times in the World Cup and also celebrating victory in the individual jumping competition in Lillehammer. However, the biggest highlight of a terrific season follows at the Olympic Games in Beijing with silver on the normal hill. Katharina is now the first and so far only female ski jumper with multiple medals at the Olympics.
Finally: the long-awaited individual gold!
Katharina can finally fulfil her big dream: World champion in the individual event. At the World Championships in Planica, she wins gold on the normal hill, in the team and in the mixed competition. She also won bronze on the large hill, meaning she won a medal in every competition - impressive. Katharina also landed on the World Cup podium a total of eleven times this season, seven of which were at the top. Her great season is rewarded with second place in the overall World Cup.
60th World Cup podium
After her fantastic previous season, Katharina was once again able to show strong performances in the 2023/24 season, albeit not as consistently as in the winter before. Over the course of the season, she achieved four podium finishes in the World Cup, which ultimately meant tenth place in the overall World Cup. This confirms her position as one of the top athletes in the World Cup and she can now look back on 60 podium places in the World Cup.
