Georg Thoma

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Georg Thoma Nordic combination Ski jumping
Thoma at the 1966 World Cup in Oslo
nation GermanyGermany Germany
birthday August 20, 1937
place of birth HinterzartenGerman Empire
size 168 cm
Weight 66 kg
Career
discipline Nordic combined
ski jumping
society SC Hinterzarten
status resigned
Medal table
Olympic medals 1 × gold 0 × silver 1 × bronze
World Cup medals 1 × gold 0 × silver 0 × bronze
DM medals 12 × gold 5 × silver 1 × bronze
Olympic rings winter Olympics
gold 1960 Squaw Valley Nordic combination
bronze 1964 Innsbruck Nordic combination
FIS Nordic World Ski Championships
gold 1966 Oslo Nordic combination
 

Georg "Jörgl" Thoma (born August 20, 1937 in Hinterzarten ) is a former German ski jumper and Nordic combined athlete . His nephews are the former ski jumper Dieter Thoma and the former ski racer Gundolf Thoma . The Olympic base in Freiburg-Black Forest was named after him.

Career

Thoma attended elementary school and then worked as a woodcutter until he was appointed to the Mittenwald mountain hunters . After his military service, he worked for the Hinterzartener Post. He did his work in summer by bicycle and in winter with all-road boards. Thoma started skiing as a child, competed in his first ski competitions at the age of 14 and opted for Nordic combined. He was an excellent ski jumper and cross-country skier.

In 1953 he came into contact with organized competitive sport for the first time at the district youth ski day on the Feldberg. The youth warden of the Black Forest Ski Association recognized his talent and made the association board member Dr. Stober noticed him. In the winter of 1953/54 he was sent to his first jumping course in Füssen , where he was the first German junior champion in Nordic combined in Onstmettingen . One season later he was again German junior champion in combined and fourth in ski jumping on the large Hochfirstschanze in Titisee-Neustadt . In 1956 he defeated all German youngsters in cross-country skiing, jumping and combined skiing at the German youth championships on Feldberg . In 1957 he won the German youth title in combination and jumping in Winterberg for the third time, but in cross-country skiing he was beaten by Rudolf Maier. In 1958 he went for the first time with the national team to the Nordic World Ski Championships in Lahti , where he was 16th in Nordic combined and 27th in ski jumping.

After an iron training, also at the sports school of the Bundeswehr in Sonthofen in 1959, he was nominated for the 1960 Olympic Games in Squaw Valley and became Olympic champion in Nordic combined. In 1960, 1961 and 1963 Georg Thoma was three times German champion in ski jumping. He also won the New Year's jumping of the Four Hills Tournament on January 1, 1962. In March 1963, Thoma was the first Central European to win the combination competition of the Holmenkollen Ski Festival , in which the entire world elite competed. This victory can be classified as his greatest achievement since winning the Olympic gold medal. In the following two years he was able to repeat this success with strong competition. He was only the third athlete after the Norwegians Lauritz Bergendahl and Thorleif Haug to achieve this hat trick. At his second Olympic Winter Games in Innsbruck in 1964 , he was able to win the bronze medal again. At the Nordic World Ski Championships in Zakopane in 1962 , he fell heavily in jumping on February 19 on his second jump (of the planned three jumps). Bruised ribs were diagnosed in the hospital. At the Nordic World Ski Championships in 1966 he was world champion.

After his active career, he remained loyal to skiing and competed in many popular races . He took part in the Vasa Run in Sweden six times . In March 1980, he finished 79th out of a total of 12,000 participating runners. A year later he achieved a runtime of 4:32:66 hours. In 1982 he won the “100-kilometer backpack run” on the Schonach – Belchen long-distance skiing trail in the Black Forest in 5:51 hours, this record has not been broken until today (2020). At the age of 45 he was Black Forest champion in 15 km cross-country skiing. He also jumped 60 meters on small jumps and up to 130 meters on ski jumps. He later also became a television commentator.

Private

Thoma has six siblings. He is married to his wife Annemarie and has a grown-up daughter Marie-Luise. He and his family were spied on by the Stasi in Hinterzarten after he helped the GDR winter sportsman Ralph Pöhland escape in 1968 . Thoma later regretted helping to flee and described it as the biggest mistake of his life - because the "feelings of compatriots from the East" were hurt. In his free time he is on his bike in summer and on skis in winter. In the big bike races like Giro d'Italia or Tour de France , he takes part in the stages. Thoma was eight times senior world champion in mountain bike classics. In his home town of Hinterzarten he helped set up a ski museum and offers personal tours.

successes

Stele in front of the Freiburg-Black Forest Olympic base in Freiburg

Victories in A-class jumping

No. competition date place discipline
01. Le Brassus ski games 1956 SwitzerlandSwitzerland Le Brassus Ski jumping
02. Salpausselkä ski games March 5, 1961 FinlandFinland Lahti combination
03. Four Hills Tournament January 1, 1962 GermanyGermany Garmisch-Partenkirchen Ski jumping
04th International ski race 1st February 1963 AustriaAustria Seefeld in Tyrol combination
05. International ski race February 10, 1963 SwedenSweden Falun combination
06th Kongsberg Cup February 24, 1963 GermanyGermany Neustadt in the Black Forest Ski jumping
07th Puijo ski games March 10, 1963 FinlandFinland Kuopio combination
08th. Holmenkollen ski festival March 17, 1963 NorwayNorway Oslo combination
09. Holmenkollen ski festival March 14, 1964 NorwayNorway Oslo combination
10. Berauer Cup February 13, 1965 AustriaAustria Murau combination
11. Puijo ski games February 28, 1965 FinlandFinland Kuopio combination
12. Salpausselkä ski games March 7, 1965 FinlandFinland Lahti combination
13. Holmenkollen ski festival March 13, 1965 NorwayNorway Oslo combination

The list of his A-Class victories is (still) incomplete.

German championships

Nordic combination

German Ski Association Logo.svg German championships
gold Baden-WürttembergBaden-Württemberg 1958 Isny Champion (K 70/15 km)
gold BavariaBavaria 1959 Warmensteinach Master (GS / 15km)
gold Baden-WürttembergBaden-Württemberg 1960 Neustadt Master (GS / 15km)
gold North Rhine-WestphaliaNorth Rhine-Westphalia 1961 Winterberg Champion (K 64/15 km)
gold Lower SaxonyLower Saxony 1962 Braunlage Master (GS / 15km)
gold BavariaBavaria 1963 Ruhpolding Champion (K 56/15 km)
gold Baden-WürttembergBaden-Württemberg 1964 Baiersbronn Champion (K 73/15 km)
gold Baden-WürttembergBaden-Württemberg 1965 Hinterzarten Champion (K 73.5 / 15 km)
gold BavariaBavaria 1966 Reit im Winkl Master (K ​​68 / 15km)

Ski jumping

German Ski Association Logo.svg German championships
silver Baden-WürttembergBaden-Württemberg 1958 Isny Silver from the large hill
gold Baden-WürttembergBaden-Württemberg 1960 Neustadt Master of the large hill
gold North Rhine-WestphaliaNorth Rhine-Westphalia 1961 Winterberg Master of the large hill
gold BavariaBavaria 1963 Ruhpolding Master of the large hill
silver Baden-WürttembergBaden-Württemberg 1965 Hinterzarten Silver from the large hill
bronze BavariaBavaria 1966 Reit im Winkl Bronze from the large hill

Cross-country skiing

German Ski Association Logo.svg German championships
silver BavariaBavaria 1963 Ruhpolding Silver in the 15 km cross-country skiing
silver Baden-WürttembergBaden-Württemberg 1964 Baiersbronn Silver with the relay
silver BavariaBavaria 1966 Reit im Winkl Silver with the relay

Awards

literature

  • The story of the Black Forest postman - we introduce: Olympic champions and athletes of the year 1960: Georg Thoma , Passauer Neue Presse , issue no.294 from Tuesday, December 20, 1960
  • Gustl Berauer : Georg Thoma . Limpert, Frankfurt / M. Vienna 1961, DNB  450363090 .
  • Gerd Jauch : Georg Thoma: from shepherd boy to ski king . [4. Ed.], 15.-18. Thousand Schillinger, Freiburg i. Br 1980, ISBN 3-921340-52-7 .
  • Johannes Bachmann: "I thought of Winnetou, not of gold". BZ interview with athlete of the century Georg Thoma (82), who went from shepherd boy to legend 60 years ago with his Olympic victory in Squaw Valley. In: Badische Zeitung, Hochschwarzwald edition . February 22, 2020, p. 20 ( badische-zeitung.de [accessed on April 6, 2020]).
  • Johannes Bachmann: "My luck was that I had imagination". Legendary way to school: With Olympic champion Georg Thoma (82) and an e-mountain bike on tour from the Hinterzarten ski museum to the Winnetou dream at the Wunderlehof. In: Badische Zeitung, Hochschwarzwald edition . July 3, 2020, p. 20 ( badische-zeitung.de [accessed on July 3, 2020]).

Web links

Commons : Georg Thoma  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. a b Georg Thoma . In: Internationales Biographisches Archiv 18/1963 / Munzinger Archive . April 22, 1963.
  2. Austria's jumpers not yet in shape . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna January 3, 1962, p. 10 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
  3. Georg Thoma also Sieger am Holmenkollen , Passauer Neue Presse , issue 65 of March 18, 1963
  4. ^ Georg Thomas big revenge on Holmenkollen , PNP , issue 63 of March 16, 1964
  5. a b Thomas great success at Holmenkollen , PNP , issue 61 from March 15, 1965
  6. The special jump run postponed again . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna February 20, 1962, p. 11 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
  7. Karin König : Why the Stasi sniffed in Hinterzarten three decades ago. The file reads like a thriller: World and Olympic champion Georg Thoma helped GDR winter sportsman Ralph Pöhland escape to the West. In: Badische Zeitung . March 6, 1998.
  8. Gunnar Meinhardt : The Olympic champion who helped his competitor to escape. In: The world . March 23, 2020 ( welt.de ).
  9. Dieter Maurer: Hinterzarten: The new school inspires everyone. Badische Zeitung, November 16, 2015, accessed on November 21, 2015 .