Jan Andreas Schmid (born 24 November 1983) is a Norwegian former

nordic combined Nordic combined is a winter sport in which athletes compete in cross-country skiing (sport), cross-country skiing and ski jumping. The Nordic combined at the Winter Olympics has been held since the first ever 1924 Winter Olympics, Winter Olympic ...

skier, of Swiss origin. He won two medals at the

FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 ( cs, Mistrovství světa v klasickém lyžování Liberec 2009) took place 18 February – 1 March 2009 in Liberec, Czech Republic. This was the fourth time these championships were hosted either in ...

Liberec Liberec (; german: Reichenberg ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 103,000 inhabitants and it is the fifth-largest city in the country. It lies on the Lusatian Neisse, in a basin surrounded by mountains. The city centre is well preser ...

with a silver in the 10 km individual normal hill event and a bronze in the 4 x 5 km team event. Competing two

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

for Switzerland, he earned his best finish of fourth in the 4 x 5 km team event at

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

. Schmid also competed in two

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

for Switzerland. At the

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gretz ...

for

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

, he finished fifth in the 4 x 5 km team event.

Background

Schmid was born in Norway, speaks

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

, and has lived in city of

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

all of his life. Until 2006 he only had a Swiss passport due to the fact that both of his parents (Rudolf and Ruth Schmid), are Swiss citizens.

Change of nationality

The circumstances of Schmid's transfer from the Swiss to the

Norwegian Ski Federation The Norwegian Ski Federation ( no, Norges Skiforbund) is headquartered in Oslo, Norway and is the national representative of the International Ski Federation. Founded on 21 February 1908, it covers the skiing disciplines of alpine, cross-country, ...

are unusual and were discussed at the

International Ski Federation The ''Fédération internationale de ski et de snowboard'' (FIS; en, International Ski and Snowboard Federation) is the highest international governing body for skiing and snowboarding. Founded on 2 February 1924 in Chamonix, France during the ...

Council meeting in 2006. The Swiss ski federation required that Schmid pay a transfer fee of 120,000

Norwegian krone The krone (, abbreviation: kr (also NKr for distinction); code: NOK), plural ''kroner'', is currency of the Kingdom of Norway (including Svalbard). Traditionally known as the Norwegian crown in English. It is nominally subdivided into 100 ''� ...

r (approximately US$23,000) as compensation. Transfer fees of this kind are unheard of in the ski sport. The consequences of not paying the fee would have left Schmid in quarantine for a year. It was also a matter of some urgency for Schmid due to the legal complications that could arise if he did not change his nationality before his 23rd birthday.

Family

Schmid's mother, Ruth Schmid, is the leader of the

Nordic combined Nordic combined is a winter sport in which athletes compete in cross-country skiing (sport), cross-country skiing and ski jumping. The Nordic combined at the Winter Olympics has been held since the first ever 1924 Winter Olympics, Winter Olympic ...

committee in the Norwegian Ski Federation. Jan's five years younger brother, Tommy Schmid, is currently on the Swiss national ski team. He also has a nine years younger sister, Marit Schmid. Their father, Rudolf, is a ski-trainer in Jan and Tommy's skiteam Sjetne IL. The entire family are active in the sport of

orienteering Orienteering is a group of sports that require navigational skills using a map and compass to navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain whilst moving at speed. Participants are given a topographical map, usually a s ...

. They are all members of a club called Trollelg Orienteeringclub, which is the local club of southern Trondheim.

Record

World Championship

World Cup wins

References

External links