Sven Hannawald

Sven Hannawald (; born 9 November 1974) is a German former ski jumper. Having competed from 1992 to 2004, his career highlight was winning the 2002 Four Hills Tournament, when he also became the first athlete to win all four events of said tournament. He also finished runner-up twice in the World Cup season, winning four medals at the Ski Jumping World Championships, as well as three medals each at the Winter Olympic Games and Ski Flying World Championships.

Early life Hannawald was born in Erlabrunn and grew up in the nearby town of Johanngeorgenstadt by SC Dynamo Johanngeorgenstadt in the Ore Mountains. At age twelve, he was sent to a special school for young athletes in Klingenthal (SG Dynamo Klingenthal), also in Saxony. In 1991 his family moved to Jettingen-Scheppach near Ulm where he transferred to the Furtwangen 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 as well as a silver medal at the Olympic Games in Nagano in the team large hill event.

In the 1998/99 season, he finished in fifth place overall in World Cup Ski Jumping. At the world championships in Ramsau, he won a silver medal in the individual large hill behind Martin Schmitt, and a gold medal in the team large hill event.

In 2000, Hannawald won the Ski-flying World Championships in Vikersund. He also won the ski jumping competition at the Holmenkollen ski festival 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 world championships in Lahti.

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 Four Hills Tournament, the first to do so. He successfully defended his title of Ski Flying World Champion. At the Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City, he won gold in the team large hill and silver in the individual normal hill, and was even nominated for Sportsman of the Year 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, Hannawald finished again second in the world rankings and managed to set another highlight of his career: at the Worldcup competition in Willingen, Germany, he became the third person in history to achieve perfect marks from all five judges (20 points maximum) – 27 years after the first one (Anton Innauer) and five years after the second one (Kazuyoshi Funaki). This mark has been matched only about one hour later at the same World Cup competition by Hideharu Miyahira, who finished sixth. Then it took another six years until Wolfgang Loitzl at Bischofshofen, Austria in 2009 during the 2008/09 Four Hills Tournament became the fifth one.

In the 2003/04 season, Hannawald performed well below personal expectations. His best result was fourth in Trondheim. 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. During this time, Hannawald managed to recover and reappeared to the public.

On 3 August 2005, Hannawald 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, where he played as a striker.

In 2010, Hannawald made his debut as a racing driver in the ADAC GT Masters. He drove his first race on 10 April 2010 at Motorsport Arena Oschersleben.

World Cup results

Standings Season Overall1992/93 — 59 — N/A N/A1993/9490 60 — N/A N/A1994/9563 — — N/A N/A1995/96 — 65 — N/A —1996/9759 34 — 55 551997/986 91998/996 11 9 51999/004 4 52000/019 4 9 — N/A2001/02 N/A N/A2002/03 N/A 4 N/A2003/0424 12 N/A — N/A

Wins No. Season Date Location Hill Size11997/98 6 January 1998 Bischofshofen Paul-Ausserleitner-Schanze K120 LH224 January 1998 Oberstdorf Heini-Klopfer-Skiflugschanze K185 FH31999/00 19 February 2000 Tauplitz/Bad Mitterndorf Kulm K185 FH410 March 2000 Trondheim Granåsen K120 (night) LH512 March 2000 Oslo Holmenkollbakken K115 LH619 March 2000 Planica Letalnica bratov Gorišek K185 FH72001/02 2 December 2001 Titisee-Neustadt Hochfirstschanze K120 (night) LH830 December 2001 Oberstdorf Schattenbergschanze K115 LH91 January 2002 Garmisch-Partenkirchen Große Olympiaschanze K115 LH104 January 2002 Innsbruck Bergiselschanze K120 LH116 January 2002 Bischofshofen Paul-Ausserleitner-Schanze K120 LH1212 January 2002 Willingen Mühlenkopfschanze K130 LH132002/03 22 December 2002 Engelberg Gross-Titlis-Schanze K125 LH1429 December 2002 Oberstdorf Schattenbergschanze K115 LH1518 January 2003 Zakopane Wielka Krokiew K120 LH1619 January 2003 Zakopane Wielka Krokiew K120 LH172 February 2003 Tauplitz/Bad Mitterndorf Kulm K185 FH188 February 2003 Willingen Mühlenkopfschanze K130 LH