Martin Koch

Austrian ski jumper and ski-flying specialist who won Olympic team gold at Turin 2006 and held Austria's national distance record.

Part of the Austrian team that won ski jumping gold at the 2006 Turin Olympics, Martin Koch built a 15-year World Cup career as one of the sport's foremost ski-flying specialists, collecting 18 individual podiums on hills where jumps regularly exceeded 200 metres and recording his first individual victory at Harrachov on 8 January 2011. He finished in the top three at ski jumping competitions 18 times across his career, with his first individual victory coming on 8 January 2011 at Harrachov. Koch's finest team achievement came at the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics, where he won gold as part of Austria's team large hill event, contributing to the country's dominant generation of ski jumpers during the mid-2000s. He added three gold medals in the same team event at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, in 2009 and 2011, and won further gold medals in team ski flying at the 2008, 2010 and 2012 Ski Flying World Championships, along with an individual silver at the 2008 edition. On 11 February 2011 at Vikersund, Koch recorded a personal-best jump of 241.5 metres, which became the Austrian national distance record until it was surpassed by his compatriot Gregor Schlierenzauer at the same venue. Koch's career included five individual World Cup wins and 23 individual podium finishes from 271 starts. Koch retired from competitive ski jumping in 2014 after a 15-year World Cup career, and has since worked as a co-commentator and pundit for Austrian television coverage of the sport.

Ski-flying specialist known for strong performances on the largest hills

A respected ski-flying specialist and key member of Austria's dominant mid-2000s ski jumping team

• Won Olympic team gold in the large hill event at Turin (2006)
• Won team gold at the World Ski Championships (2009)