Michael ("Mike") Schmid (born 18 March 1984) is a Swiss

freestyle skier Freestyle skiing is a skiing discipline comprising aerials, moguls, cross, half-pipe, slopestyle and big air as part of the Winter Olympics. It can consist of a skier performing aerial flips and spins and can include skiers sliding rails and ...

who specializes in the

ski cross Ski cross is a skiing competition which incorporates terrain features traditionally found in freestyle skiing with courses which include big-air jumps and high-banked turns. In spite of the fact that it is a timed racing event, it is often con ...

discipline. He is the inaugural Olympic champion in the event. He made his World Cup debut in January 2004 in

Laax Laax ( rm, Lags) is a municipality in the Surselva Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. History Laax is first mentioned c. 1290–98 as ''Lags''. Geography Laax has an area, , of . Of this area, 35.8% is used for agricultural pur ...

, and finished among the top thirty for the first time one year later, with a 22nd place in

Pozza di Fassa Pozza di Fassa (Ladin: ''Poza (de Fascia)'', german: Potzach im Fasstal) is a ''frazione'' of Sèn Jan di Fassa in Trentino in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about northeast of Trento. As of 31 December 2004, i ...

. Then, two tenth places and a thirteenth place followed before the end of the season. He also finished sixth at the 2005 World Championships in

Ruka Ruka may refer to: ;People: *, Japanese actress *, Japanese football player *, Japanese snowboarder *, Japanese professional footballer ;Other: * Ruka (Okage), a fictional character * Rukatunturi (Finnish: Ruka), a ski resort in Finland * Ruka S ...

. In the 2005–06 season he finished eighth three times, and took his first podium with a second place in

Kreischberg Kreischberg is an Austrian ski resort in Styria, Austria. The area includes the adjacent Rosenkranzhöhe and offers 40 kilometres of slopes altogether. In December 2013, Kreischberg was considered the first 10-seater gondola in Styria. In recent ye ...

in January. In the seasons 2006–07 and 2007–08 he finished consistently among the top ten in the World Cup, recording one more second place, and finished tenth at the 2007 World Championships in

Madonna di Campiglio Madonna di Campiglio (german: Sankt Maria im Pein) is a village and a ski resort in northeast Italy. It is a ''frazione'' of the ''comune'' of Pinzolo. The village lies in the Val Rendena at an elevation of above sea level, and has approximat ...

. In January 2009, he won a World Cup race for the first time, in St. Johann in Tirol. Retrieved on 1 February 2009. Schmid won the gold medal 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 Gret ...

, after achieving the best time in qualification and dominating all four final runs. He represents the sports club SK Frutigen. He uses Stöckli skis.

References

1984 births Living people Swiss male freestyle skiers Freestyle skiers at the 2010 Winter Olympics Freestyle skiers at the 2014 Winter Olympics Olympic freestyle skiers of Switzerland Olympic gold medalists for Switzerland Olympic medalists in freestyle skiing Medalists at the 2010 Winter Olympics 21st-century Swiss people {{Switzerland-freestyle-skiing-bio-stub