Sven Hannawald (; born 9 November 1974) is a German former

ski jumper Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along with jump length, competitor's aerial style and other factors also affect the fina ...

. Having competed from 1992 to 2004, his career highlight was winning the 2002

Four Hills Tournament The Four Hills Tournament (german: link=no, Vierschanzentournee) or the German-Austrian Ski Jumping Week (german: link=no, Deutsch-Österreichische Skisprung-Woche) is a ski jumping event composed of four World Cup events and has taken place in ...

, on that occasion becoming the first athlete to win all four events of said tournament. He also finished runner-up twice in the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

season, winning four medals at the Ski Jumping World Championships, as well as three medals each at the

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 ...

and Ski Flying World Championships.

Early life

Hannawald was born in Erlabrunn and grew up in the nearby town of

Johanngeorgenstadt Johanngeorgenstadt () is a mining town in Saxony’s Ore Mountains, 17 km south of Aue, and 27 km northwest of Karlovy Vary. It lies in the district of Erzgebirgskreis, on the border with the Czech Republic, is a state-recognized heal ...

by SC Dynamo Johanngeorgenstadt in the Ore Mountains. At age twelve, he was sent to a special school for young athletes in

Klingenthal Klingenthal is a town in the Vogtland region, in Saxony, south-eastern Germany. It is situated directly on the border with the Czech Republic opposite the Czech town of Kraslice, 29 km southeast of Plauen, and 33 km northwest of Karlo ...

(SG Dynamo Klingenthal), also in Saxony. In 1991 his family moved to

Jettingen-Scheppach Jettingen-Scheppach is a market community in the Günzburg ''Landkreis'' in the Schwaben (Swabia) ''Regierungsbezirk'' in Bavaria. It lies between Ulm and Augsburg. Its population as of 1 December 2005 was 7,044. Politics Jettingen-Scheppach ...

near

Ulm Ulm () is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Danube on the border with Bavaria. The city, which has an estimated population of more than 126,000 (2018), forms an urban district of its own (german: link=no, ...

where he transferred to the

Furtwangen Furtwangen im Schwarzwald (; Low Alemannic: ''Furtwange im Schwarzwald'') is a small city located in the Black Forest region of southwestern Germany. Together with Villingen-Schwenningen, Furtwangen is part of the district (German: Kreis) of Sc ...

Ski Boarding School, where he completed an apprenticeship in Communication Electronics.

Ski jumping career

In 1998, Hannawald won a silver medal at the 1998 Ski Flying World Championships in

Oberstdorf Oberstdorf ( Low Alemannic: ''Oberschdorf'') is a municipality and skiing and hiking town in Germany, located in the Allgäu region of the Bavarian Alps. It is the southernmost settlement in Germany and one of its highest towns. At the&nb ...

as well as a silver medal at the Olympic Games in

Nagano Nagano may refer to: Places * Nagano Prefecture, a prefecture in Japan ** Nagano (city), the capital city of the same prefecture *** Nagano 1998, the 1998 Winter Olympics *** Nagano Olympic Stadium, a baseball stadium in Nagano *** Nagano Universi ...

in the team large hill event. In the 1998/99 season, he finished fifth place overall in World Cup Ski Jumping. At the

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, ...

in Ramsau, he won a silver medal in the individual large hill behind

Martin Schmitt Martin Schmitt (; born 29 January 1978) is a German former ski jumper who competed from 1997 to 2014. He is one of Germany's most successful ski jumpers, having won the World Cup twice; a gold medal at the Winter Olympics; four gold medals at th ...

, as well as winning a gold medal in the team large hill event. In 2000, Hannawald won the

Ski-flying World Championships The FIS Ski Flying World Championships is a ski flying event organised by the International Ski Federation and held every two years. The event takes place on hills much larger than ski jumping hills, with the K-point set between and . Unlike or ...

Vikersund Vikersund is a town of 3,232 (in 2020) inhabitants in the municipality capital of Modum, in the county of Viken, Norway. Overview Vikersund is located 30 kilometers south of Hønefoss and 40 kilometers northwest of Drammen. The village is loca ...

. He also won the ski jumping competition at the

Holmenkollen ski festival The Holmenkollen Ski Festival ( no, Holmenkollen skifestival or ) is a traditional annual Nordic skiing event in Holmenkollen, Oslo, Norway. The full official name of the event is Holmenkollen FIS World Cup Nordic. History It takes place in March ...

that year. In the 2000/01 season, Hannawald won gold in the team large hill event and bronze in the team normal hill event at the

Lahti Lahti (; sv, Lahtis) is a city and municipality in Finland. It is the capital of the region of Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme) and its growing region is one of the main economic hubs of Finland. Lahti is situated on a bay at the southern e ...

. The following winter of 2001/02 was the most successful of his career: Hannawald ended second in the World Cup, winning all four Individual jumping titles at the

, the first to do so. He successfully defended his title of Ski Flying World Champion. At the

Olympic Winter Games 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 he ...

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

, he won gold in the team large hill and silver in the individual normal hill, and was even nominated for

Sportsman of the Year Since its inception in 1954, ''Sports Illustrated'' has annually presented the Sportsman of the Year award to "the athlete or team whose performance that year most embodies the spirit of sportsmanship and achievement." Both Americans and non-Amer ...

in Germany. Despite all of his successes, however, Hannawald could not top Adam Malysz in the overall World Cup ranking. In the 2002/03 season, he finished again second in the world rankings and managed to set another highlight of his career: at the Worldcup competition in

Willingen Willingen (official name: ''Willingen (Upland)'') is a municipality in Waldeck-Frankenberg in northern Hesse, Germany, some 80 km west of Kassel. Geography Location Willingen is found in Waldeck-Frankenberg district in the Upland. Its main ...

, German

he became the third person in history to achieve Ski jumping#Notable ski jumpers, perfect marks from all five judges (20 points maximum) – 27 years after the first one (

Anton Innauer Anton Innauer (born 1 April 1958) is an Austrian former ski jumper. Career His best-known success was at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, where he won a gold medal in the individual normal hill event. Innauer also won a silver ...

) and five years after the second one (

Kazuyoshi Funaki (born 27 April 1975) is a Japanese former ski jumper. He ranked among the most successful sportsmen of its discipline, particularly in the 1990s. Funaki is known for his special variant of the V-style, in which the body lies flatter between the ...

). This mark has been matched only about one hour later at the same World Cup competition by

Hideharu Miyahira (born 21 December 1973) is a Japanese former ski jumper. Career Miyahira won four medals at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships with three silver (individual and team large hills in 1999, team large hill in 2003) and one bronze (individual ...

, who finished sixth. Then it took another six years until

Wolfgang Loitzl Wolfgang Loitzl (born 13 January 1980) is an Austrian former ski jumper. He was the winner of the 2008–09 Four Hills Tournament and the 2009 Normal Hill World Champion. Career He won seven medals at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships wit ...

Bischofshofen Bischofshofen () is a town in the district of St. Johann im Pongau in the Austrian federal state of Salzburg. It is an important traffic junction located both on the Salzburg-Tyrol Railway line and at the Tauern Autobahn, a major highway route cr ...

, Austria in 2009 during the 2008/09

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became the fifth one. In the 2003/04 season, Hannawald performed well below personal expectations. His best result was fourth in

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 ...

. As a consequence of that, Hannawald ended his season prematurely. On 29 April 2004, he revealed that he was suffering from burnout and had put himself into

psychiatric treatment Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. These include various maladaptations related to mood, behaviour, cognition, and perceptions. See glossary of psychiatry. Initial psych ...

. During this time, Hannawald managed to recover and reappeared to the public. On 3 August 2005, he ended his career as a ski jumper, explaining through his managers that, after successfully dealing with his burnout, he no longer wished to suffer the stresses of professional sport.

Post-retirement

On 26 September 2008, Hannawald signed a two-year contract with the football club TSV Burgau of the German

Kreisliga The Kreisliga ( en, District League), along with the ''Kreisoberliga'' ( en, District Premier League) and the ''Kreisklasse'' ( en, District Class), are the lowest set of divisions in the German football league system, set at step 8 and below. S ...

, where he played as a striker. In 2010, Hannawald gave his debut as a Touring Car racing driver in the ADAC GT Masters. He drove his first race on 10 April 2010 in

Oschersleben Oschersleben () is a town in the Börde district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. The population in 1905 was 13,271, in 2020 about 19,000. History On November 23, 994 Oschersleben was first mentioned in a document by the Emperor Otto III. In 1235 ...

.Hannawald beim Rennfahrer-Debüt im Pech

World Cup results

Standings

Wins

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hannawald, Sven 1974 births Living people People from Erzgebirgskreis German male ski jumpers Holmenkollen Ski Festival winners Olympic ski jumpers of Germany Olympic gold medalists for Germany Olympic silver medalists for Germany Association football forwards Ski jumpers at the 1998 Winter Olympics German footballers Footballers from Saxony Ski jumpers at the 2002 Winter Olympics German racing drivers Olympic medalists in ski jumping Sportspeople from Saxony Racing drivers from Saxony FIS Nordic World Ski Championships medalists in ski jumping Medalists at the 2002 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1998 Winter Olympics ADAC GT Masters drivers Audi Sport TT Cup drivers Recipients of the Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg