Georg Thoma
Georg Thoma | ||||||||||||||||
nation | Germany | |||||||||||||||
birthday | August 20, 1937 | |||||||||||||||
place of birth | Hinterzarten , German Empire | |||||||||||||||
size | 168 cm | |||||||||||||||
Weight | 66 kg | |||||||||||||||
Career | ||||||||||||||||
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discipline |
Nordic combined ski jumping |
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society | SC Hinterzarten | |||||||||||||||
status | resigned | |||||||||||||||
Medal table | ||||||||||||||||
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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
Victories in A-class jumping
No. | competition | date | place | discipline |
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1. | Le Brassus ski games | 1956 | Le Brassus | Ski jumping |
2. | Salpausselkä ski games | March 5, 1961 | Lahti | combination |
3. | Four Hills Tournament | January 1, 1962 | Garmisch-Partenkirchen | Ski jumping |
4th | International ski race | 1st February 1963 | Seefeld in Tyrol | combination |
5. | International ski race | February 10, 1963 | Falun | combination |
6th | Kongsberg Cup | February 24, 1963 | Neustadt in the Black Forest | Ski jumping |
7th | Puijo ski games | March 10, 1963 | Kuopio | combination |
8th. | Holmenkollen ski festival | March 17, 1963 | Oslo | combination |
9. | Holmenkollen ski festival | March 14, 1964 | Oslo | combination |
10. | Berauer Cup | February 13, 1965 | Murau | combination |
11. | Puijo ski games | February 28, 1965 | Kuopio | combination |
12. | Salpausselkä ski games | March 7, 1965 | Lahti | combination |
13. | Holmenkollen ski festival | March 13, 1965 | Oslo | combination |
The list of his A-Class victories is (still) incomplete.
German championships
Nordic combination
German championships | |||
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1958 Isny | Champion (K 70/15 km) | ||
1959 Warmensteinach | Master (GS / 15km) | ||
1960 Neustadt | Master (GS / 15km) | ||
1961 Winterberg | Champion (K 64/15 km) | ||
1962 Braunlage | Master (GS / 15km) | ||
1963 Ruhpolding | Champion (K 56/15 km) | ||
1964 Baiersbronn | Champion (K 73/15 km) | ||
1965 Hinterzarten | Champion (K 73.5 / 15 km) | ||
1966 Reit im Winkl | Master (K 68 / 15km) |
Ski jumping
German championships | |||
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1958 Isny | Silver from the large hill | ||
1960 Neustadt | Master of the large hill | ||
1961 Winterberg | Master of the large hill | ||
1963 Ruhpolding | Master of the large hill | ||
1965 Hinterzarten | Silver from the large hill | ||
1966 Reit im Winkl | Bronze from the large hill |
Cross-country skiing
German championships | |||
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1963 Ruhpolding | Silver in the 15 km cross-country skiing | ||
1964 Baiersbronn | Silver with the relay | ||
1966 Reit im Winkl | Silver with the relay |
Awards
- 1960: Sportsman of the year
- 1960: Silver bay leaf
- 1964: Holmenkollen Medal
- 1987: Honorary citizen of Hinterzarten
- 1987: Golden Gong as "Best TV Commentator of the Nordic World Ski Championships"
- 1997: Cross of Merit 1st Class of the Federal Republic of Germany
- 2011: Induction into the Hall of Fame of German Sports
- 2015: Renaming of the all-day elementary school in Hinterzarten to Georg-Thoma-Schule
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
- Literature by and about Georg Thoma in the catalog of the German National Library
- Georg Thoma in the database of the International Ski Federation (English) Nordic Combined
- Georg Thoma in the database of the International Ski Association (English) ski jumping results
- Georg Thoma in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
- Portrait, dates and biography of Georg Thoma in the Hall of Fame of German Sports
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f Georg Thoma . In: Internationales Sportarchiv 46/2011 / Munzinger Archive . November 15, 2011.
- ↑ a b Georg Thoma . In: Internationales Biographisches Archiv 18/1963 / Munzinger Archive . April 22, 1963.
- ↑ Austria's jumpers not yet in shape . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna January 3, 1962, p. 10 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
- ↑ Georg Thoma also Sieger am Holmenkollen , Passauer Neue Presse , issue 65 of March 18, 1963
- ^ Georg Thomas big revenge on Holmenkollen , PNP , issue 63 of March 16, 1964
- ↑ a b Thomas great success at Holmenkollen , PNP , issue 61 from March 15, 1965
- ↑ The special jump run postponed again . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna February 20, 1962, p. 11 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Gunnar Meinhardt : The Olympic champion who helped his competitor to escape. In: The world . March 23, 2020 ( welt.de ).
- ↑ Dieter Maurer: Hinterzarten: The new school inspires everyone. Badische Zeitung, November 16, 2015, accessed on November 21, 2015 .
personal data | |
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SURNAME | Thoma, Georg |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Thoma, Jörgl (nickname) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German ski jumper |
DATE OF BIRTH | August 20, 1937 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Hinterzarten , German Empire |