Kraus started his career as a Nordic combined athlete . In this sport he was used internationally for the first time in an FIS race at the age of 14, after he had previously become German student champion. In addition to other FIS races, he mainly started in the Alpine Cup. In 2007 he became German youth champion in sprint and also in the special jumpers. Since he always performed better in jumping than in the cross-country ski run, in 2009 he decided to only compete in special jumping. His last international appearance in the Nordic Combined was on March 7th, 2009 in Winterberg , when he finished 21st in the sprint in an Alpine Cup competition.
On August 22, 2009 Kraus was used for the first time in the summer jumping in Lillehammer as part of the Continental Cup of special jumpers . However, as the 46th he was eliminated in the first round. On January 10, 2010 he was able to land in Titisee-Neustadt as 20th for the first time in the points of this "second league" of international ski jumping. His first win in the Continental Cup was a good two years later when he won the Pine Mountain Jump in Iron Mountain in the US state of Michigan .
When the Junior World Championships took place in Otepää , Estonia for the first time in January 2011 , Kraus was part of the German team along with Richard Freitag , Daniel Wenig and Stephan Leyhe , which on January 30th secured the silver medal behind Austria. Two days earlier he was only 28th in the individual competition. At the German championships in 2011 in Hinterzarten and 2012 in Klingenthal , he was able to secure the team title with the Bavarian team.
After Kraus had already participated unsuccessfully in qualifying competitions for the World Cup , he prevailed for the first time in the qualification for ski flying in Vikersund on January 26, 2013, but was 36th of the first round, but neither on this day nor in the second competition qualify for the final a day later. A week later in Harrachov , Czech Republic , he qualified again for the competition, but was eliminated again in the first competition - this time as 33rd. At least he set a personal best with 183.5 meters. Later that day he scored World Cup points for the first time in 19th place in the second competition. A second jump was denied to him here as well, because the competition had to be stopped after one round due to changing winds. Back in the Continental Cup, he celebrated two victories in this series of competitions on March 2nd and 3rd, 2013 in Liberec, Czech Republic .
In October 2013 Kraus was the first German champion in the individual jumping on the large hill in Oberstdorf and was able to defend the title there with the Bavarian team. At the start of the 2013/14 World Cup season , Kraus finished eighth in Klingenthal . In the subsequent jumping in Kuusamo , he achieved second place 0.5 points behind Gregor Schlierenzauer, his first place on the podium and also his best World Cup placement to date.
On February 17, 2014, he became Olympic champion in team competition at the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, together with Andreas Wank , Andreas Wellinger and Severin Freund , after finishing sixth in the individual competition on the large hill two days earlier. On March 1, 2014 Kraus was able to achieve a podium place with the German team for the first time in a World Cup team competition with a second place in Lahti . In the election for Team of the Year , he was voted second together with Andreas Wank, Andreas Wellinger and Severin Freund.
Marinus Kraus 2015 in Hinzenbach
In the years that followed, Kraus was unable to build on these achievements and was repeatedly thrown back due to injuries. He last started in the World Cup in 2016 and was canceled for the entire 2018/19 season . In mid-February 2020 he competed in an international competition for the first time in 19 months at the FIS Cup jumping competition in Villach .
Germany
Zakopane
Iron Mountain
Liberec
Lillehammer
