Thomas Morgenstern
Thomas Morgenstern ( born October 30, 1986 in Spittal an der Drau ) is an Austrian ski jumper. With fourteen won gold medals (eight in Nordic World Ski Championships, three at the Winter Olympics and three at Ski Flying World Championships ), he is considered currently the most successful medalist Austria, but twelve of these fourteen gold medals were won in team competitions. The two individual medals he won at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Turin on the large hill and at the Nordic World Ski Championships 2011 in Oslo on the normal hill. He is also the winner of the Four Hills Tournament in the 2010/11 season and overall World Cup winner of the seasons 2007/ 08 and 2010/11. Thus Thomas Morgenstern is one of the four athletes ( next to him Espen Bredesen, Matti Nykänen and Jens Weißflog ) which have won the four most important competitions in ski jumping sports (Olympics, World Championships, World Cup and Four Hills Tournament ).
Career
Thomas Morgenstern began his World Cup career in the 2002/03 season. After he pointed out in December 2002 with three wins and a second place in the Continental Cup, he celebrated his World Cup debut as part of the Four Hills Tournament 2002/ 03. With places nine in Oberstdorf, 25 in Garmisch -Partenkirchen, nine in Innsbruck and in Bischofshofen six Morgenstern has established itself at the top. Finally, he finished sixth in the tour standings. Only five days after the end of the tour, he won his first World Cup event in Liberec. In February 2003, Morgenstern was then in Sollefteå both in the individual competition as well as with the team Junior World Champion.
These successes he was able to confirm in the following season 2003/ 04. To kick off the Four Hills Tournament, he finished behind eventual winner Sigurd Pettersen tour in second place. With three other placements in the top ten at the events in Garmisch -Partenkirchen, Innsbruck and Bischofshofen Morgenstern finished at the end of the fourth Tournament standings. When discharged in Stryn in February, he won the Junior World Championship behind Poland's Mateusz Rutkowski the silver medal with the team and the gold medal. In the World Cup Ranking Morgenstern finished sixth.
Also in the 2004/05 season showed Morgenstern his skills. In the Four Hills Tournament, he finished third, took at the World Championships 2005 in Oberstdorf in the team gold from the small and large Bakken and secured in the World Cup rankings to seventh place.
At the 2006 Olympic Games in Turin was Thomas Morgenstern Olympic champion on the large hill with the projection of only 0.1 points ahead of his teammate Andreas Kofler. Both substandard competition due to their wide jumps of 140 and 139.5 m in the second round. The winner of the bronze medal, Lars Bystol, already 26.2 points lay behind the Olympic champion. Furthermore, it obtained together with his teammates Andreas Widhölzl, Martin Koch and Andreas Kofler the gold medal in the team competition on the large hill. In addition, Thomas Morgenstern won this season with the ranks of five, two, one, and two and a total of 14.5 points ahead of Switzerland's Andreas Küttel the ranking of the Nordic Tournament.
At the 2007 World Championships in Sapporo, he won together with Wolfgang Loitzl, Gregor Schlierenzauer and Andreas Kofler the gold medal in the team competition on the large hill and a bronze medal in the individual competition on the normal hill. In the summer of 2007, he won four individual wins the overall ranking of the Summer Grand Prix for themselves.
The 2007/08 season was very successful for the Carinthian: As the first knight of the story he was able to win the first six competitions of the World Cup season in itself. Furthermore Morgenstern is next to Janne Ahonen, Matti Hautamäki and Gregor Schlierenzauer is the only ski jumper who managed to win six World Cup competitions in a row. Just six jumping before the season ends, he stood firmly as the winner of the overall World Cup.
In October 2008, Morgenstern was a ski brands alternating known and changed in the season 2008 /09 by fisherman on Atomic. But at the beginning of the 2009/2010 season he moved back to Fischer ( as Atomic production of jump skis stopped ). On 22 October 2008, he was elected to the Austrian Sportsman of the Year.
The beginning of the season was not as desired and Thomas Morgenstern did not reach the podium. It was not until just before the World Cup he won twice the 2nd place behind his teammate Gregor Schlierenzauer in jumping in Whistler and Sapporo. In his declared height of the season, the World Cup, he landed in the second round on the normal hill at 101.5 m. This morning star was in this passage, although the Farthest and on the way to a gold medal, but crashed after the Telemark landing and became only eighth in the team competition, he was able to secure his colleagues Gregor Schlierenzauer, Wolfgang Loitzl and Martin Koch Gold Medal.
In the season 2009/10 season Morgenstern won after almost two years dry spell a jumping World Cup: On January 6, 2010, he won the final of the 58th Four Hills Tournament in Bischofshofen. After he landed in the subsequent ski jumping at Kulm in midfield, he confirmed his good form with a win in Sapporo. At the Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver in 2010, he reached the 8th and on the large hill in 5th place jumping on the normal hill. Together with Wolfgang Loitzl, Andreas Kofler and Gregor Schlierenzauer he won ahead of Germany, the team jumping and grabbing himself his third Olympic gold medal.
The season 2010/11 season was extremely successful. At the turn of 2010/11 Morgenstern won with two bullets ( in Oberstdorf and Innsbruck) for the first time the Four Hills Tournament. Shortly after his first victory succeeded on January 9, 2011 in Harrachov in a ski flying. On February 13, 2011, he secured a fifth place at the Vikersundbakken already three competitions before the season ends his second overall World Cup victory. At the Nordic World Ski Championships 2011 in Oslo Morgenstern was on the normal hill in both the individual and team competition champion. It was his first individual gold medal at the World Championships. He is one of only four skydivers who have won both Olympic gold, gold at world championships, the overall World Cup and Four Hills Tournament. Even on the large hill he was in the team competition champion, in the individual event he had just beaten Gregor Schlierenzauer and added to his collection of medals for the first time Silver added.
In June 2011 it was announced that Thomas Morgenstern committed to the development of ski jumping in Romania.
At the beginning of the 2013/14 season Morgenstern crashed on December 15 in Titisee -Neustadt and pulled a finger fracture, abrasions on her face, bruises and bruising to the whole body, after he had celebrated the day before his 23rd World Cup victory. In the Four Hills Tournament, he could start again and took second place in the overall standings. On 10 January 2014 he crashed in practice for the Ski Flying World Cup in Kulm again and pulled to critical injuries to his head and lungs. Nevertheless, he could already one month later participate in the Olympic Games in Sochi. There he took on the normal hill on the 14th rank on the large hill, he did not reach the second round, with the team he won the silver medal. After the Winter Games Morgenstern decided to end the 2013/2014 season prematurely and think about a career end.
Private
Thomas Morgenstern is the nephew of Skirennläufers Alois Morgenstern. One started in 2007 training with the Austrian police he broke in April 2008 again. Instead, he joined in the autumn of 2008, the pilot training successfully. In 2012 he acquired the helicopter pilot's license.
On April 11, 2013 Morgenstern was via Facebook, the separation from his girlfriend known, with whom he had a relationship 10 years. With her he has a daughter who was born in December 2012.
Achievements
Olympic Winter Games
Winter Olympics 2006 in Turin
- Normal hill: 9
- Large hill: 1
- Team competition: 1
2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver
- Normal hill: 8
- Large hill: 5
- Team competition: 1
Olympic Winter Games 2014 in Sochi
- Team Jumping: 2
World Cup success
- Overall World Cup Winner 2007 /08
- Overall World Cup Winner 2010/11
World Cup wins
World Cup victories in team
World Cup rankings
Four Hills Tournament
Summer Grand Prix victories
Summer Grand Prix victories in the team
Summer Grand Prix rankings
Awards (excerpt)
- Carinthian provincial Order in Silver
- 2004: Golden Medal of Merit of the Republic of Austria
- 2005: part of the Austrian team of the year ( national ski jumping )
- 2006: Grand Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria
- 2008: Austria's sportsman of the year
- 2008: part of the Austrian team of the year ( national ski jumping )
- 2009: part of the Austrian team of the year ( national ski jumping )
- 2011: Austria's sportsman of the year
- 2011: part of the Austrian team of the year ( national ski jumping )
- 2012: part of the Austrian team of the year ( national ski jumping )