Dylan Schmidt
Schmidt at the 2014 Australian Gymnastics Championship
Personal information
Full nameDylan Matthew Schmidt
Born (1997-01-07) 7 January 1997 (age 27)
Southland Region, New Zealand
HometownTe Anau, New Zealand
ResidenceAuckland, New Zealand
Height169 cm (5 ft 7 in)[1]
DisciplineTrampoline gymnastics
ClubIcon Trampoline Club
Medal record
Representing  New Zealand
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 2020 Tokyo Individual
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2022 Sofia Individual
Youth Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2014 Nanjing Trampoline

Dylan Matthew Schmidt (born 7 January 1997)[2] is a New Zealand trampoline gymnast. He competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics and finished in seventh place. He was New Zealand's first athlete to compete in trampoline at the Olympic Games. At the 2020 Summer Olympics, he won the bronze medal and became New Zealand's first Olympic medallist in any gymnastics discipline. He became the individual trampoline world champion at the 2022 Trampoline Gymnastics World Championships and is New Zealand's first world champion in men's trampoline. He won the gold medal in the individual event at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics.

Early life

Schmidt was born on 7 January 1997 in the Southland Region. He began trampoline when he was five years old in Te Anau because his older brother and sister were both already training in trampoline.[3][4] His sister Rachel Schmidt and brother Callum Schmidt have both also competed internationally in trampolining.[5][6] His mother drove all three siblings from Waihi to Auckland every day for trampoline practice.[7]

Career

Schmidt competed at the 2014 Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships, where he finished seventh in the junior individual trampoline event.[8] He then represented New Zealand at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics and won the gold medal in the boys' trampoline event.[9] At the 2014 World Championships, he finished tenth in the qualification round for the individual event, and he finished seventh in the synchro final with his partner Te Aroha Kierran Tuhi.[10][11]

Schmidt finished tenth in the semifinals at the 2015 World Championships, making him the first reserve for the final.[12] He won the silver medal behind Uladzislau Hancharou at the 2016 Olympic Test Event and qualified for a spot at the 2016 Olympic Games.[13][14] He became the first trampoline gymnast to represent New Zealand at the Olympics.[3] At the 2016 Summer Olympics, he qualified for the men's trampoline final, in which he finished seventh.[15]

Schmidt struggled with knee and groin injuries throughout the 2017 season.[16] He finished fourth in the individual event at the 2017 Loule World Cup.[17] He then competed at the Sofia World Cup where he won the silver medal behind China's Tu Xiao.[18] He finished twentieth in the semifinals at the 2017 World Championships.[19]

In March 2018, Schmidt injured his anterior cruciate ligament and lateral collateral ligament in training, and he had knee-reconstruction surgery.[20][5] This injury kept him out of the entire 2018 season.[21] During the warmups at the 2019 World Championships, he tweaked the knee he had surgery on in 2018.[22] He still competed and finished twelfth in the semifinals, initially missing out on qualification for the 2020 Olympic Games.[23] However, he had earned enough points during the 2019–21 Trampoline World Cup series to earn New Zealand an Olympic spot.[24][22]

When Schmidt was not able to train in the gym due to COVID-19 restrictions in New Zealand, he trained basic skills on a trampoline in his garden in order to stay in shape.[25]

Schmidt was selected to represent New Zealand at the 2020 Summer Olympics.[26] He qualified into the men's individual final in third place.[27] In the final, he won the bronze medal behind Ivan Litvinovich and Dong Dong by only 0.110 ahead of the defending champion Uladzislau Hancharou.[28] This marked the first time New Zealand won an Olympic medal in any gymnastics discipline.[20] After the Olympic Games, he missed two months of training due to national lockdowns for COVID-19.[29] He still competed at the World Championships where he finished seventh in the individual final.[30]

At the 2022 Rimini World Cup, Schmidt qualified for the individual final in first place. However, he landed his second somersault on the edge of the trampoline and had to conclude his routine early, finishing in last place.[31] At the Coimbra World Cup, he won the gold medal in synchro with Reegan Laidlaw.[32] At the 2022 World Championships in Sofia, Schmidt qualified for the individual final in first place.[33] He then won the gold medal in the individual event by over two points ahead of France's Allan Morante.[34] This was New Zealand's first world title in men's trampoline, and the first time since 2007 that a non-Chinese male athlete won the title.[35][36]

Media

Schmidt was a castaway on the 2022 series of the New Zealand reality television show Celebrity Treasure Island.[37] He was eliminated in episode 15 but won $10,000 for Special Olympics New Zealand.[38]

Personal life

Outside of gymnastics, Schmidt enjoys hunting, fishing, and playing golf.[1] As of 2021, his partner is Melissa Romeril, a trampoline athlete and coach. Schmidt and Romeril have a sheepdog named Taco.[5][39] As an ambassador for the New Zealand Olympic Committee, Schmidt travels to schools around the country to share his story.[1] He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Auckland.[40]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Dylan Schmidt". New Zealand Olympic Committee. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  2. ^ "Dylan Schmidt". Olympedia. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  3. ^ a b Vannisselroy, Brenton (16 July 2016). "Making of an Olympian: Dylan Schmidt – A teenager with the backbone to excel". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  4. ^ Ahmed, Uma (13 July 2022). "Olympic trampolinist returning to his career roots". Stuff. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  5. ^ a b c "Schmidt Dylan". International Gymnastics Federation. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  6. ^ Singh, Anendra (26 October 2016). "Gymsports: Touch of Rio in Napier". Hawkes Bay Today. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  7. ^ Houpt, Emma (4 August 2021). "Kiwi trampolinist Dylan Schmidt reflects on family sacrifices made for Olympic success". Bay of Plenty Times. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  8. ^ "Trampoline Mens Junior Finals 2014 Pacific Rim Gymnastics Richmond, BC, Canada" (PDF). Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships. 12 April 2014. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 April 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  9. ^ "Dylan Schmidt wins first Olympic Gymnastics gold for New Zealand". International Gymnastics Federation. 22 August 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  10. ^ "30th FIG World Championships Trampoline, in Daytona Beach (USA) Senior Men's Individual Trampoline Qualifications" (PDF). USA Gymnastics. International Gymnastics Federation. 7 November 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  11. ^ "30th FIG World Championships Trampoline, in Daytona Beach (USA) Senior Men's Synchronized Trampoline Final" (PDF). USA Gymnastics. International Gymnastics Federation. 8 November 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 December 2022. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  12. ^ "31st FIG World Championships Trampoline, in Odense (DEN) Senior Men's Individual Trampoline Semi Final" (PDF). USA Gymnastics. International Gymnastics Federation. 29 November 2015. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  13. ^ "Trampoline Gymnastics Men Final Results" (PDF). Gymnastics Results. 2016 Olympic Test Events. 19 April 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  14. ^ "List of the Trampoline Gymnastics 2016 Olympic Qualifiers" (PDF). Gymnastics Results. International Gymnastics Federation. 19 April 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  15. ^ "Trampoline Gymnastics Men Final Results" (PDF). USA Gymnastics. Rio 2016. 13 August 2016. p. 2. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  16. ^ Eddy, Kristina (9 October 2017). "Kiwi trampolinist Dylan Schmidt earns silver medal at World Cup". Newshub. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  17. ^ "Gao Lei and Yana Pavlova prevail at Trampoline World Cup in Loule". International Gymnastics Federation. 2 October 2017. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  18. ^ "China's Dong Dong and Zhu Xueying win final World Cup event before Trampoline Worlds". International Gymnastics Federation. 9 October 2017. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  19. ^ "32nd Trampoline Gymnastics World Championships 2017 Sofia (Bulgaria) Men's Trampoline Semi-final" (PDF). USA Gymnastics. International Gymnastics Federation. 12 November 2017. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  20. ^ a b Egan, Brandon (1 August 2021). "Dylan Schmidt knew 'something special was going to happen' at Tokyo Olympics". Stuff. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  21. ^ "Gymnastics: Kiwi trampolinist Dylan Schmidt out for the year". The New Zealand Herald. 12 March 2018. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  22. ^ a b "Schmidt Ready to Bounce Back". New Zealand Olympic Committee. 25 February 2020. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  23. ^ "34th FIG Trampoline Gymnastics World Championships Tokyo (Japan), 28 November – 1 December 2019 Men's Trampoline Semifinal" (PDF). USA Gymnastics. International Gymnastics Federation. 28 November 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  24. ^ "Games of the XXXII Olympiad Tokyo (JPN), 24 July – 08 August 2021 Trampoline Gymnastics Qualifiers" (PDF). Gymnastics Results. International Gymnastics Federation. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  25. ^ "Facing COVID-19, the 'root of all sports' goes back to its roots". International Gymnastics Federation. 2 April 2020. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  26. ^ George, Zoë (2 July 2021). "Tokyo Olympics: Maddie Davidson selected to be first woman trampolinist to represent NZ at the Olympics". Stuff. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  27. ^ "Kiwi gymnast Dylan Schmidt has won a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics". 1 News. 31 July 2021. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  28. ^ "Litvinovich's gold gives Belarus back-to-back Trampoline titles". International Gymnastics Federation. 31 July 2021. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  29. ^ "New Zealand's Trampoline star Schmidt shoots for the World podium". International Gymnastics Federation. 16 November 2021. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  30. ^ "Page, Yan soar to individual golds at Trampoline World Championships". International Gymnastics Federation. 21 November 2021. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  31. ^ "USA claims the most medals ahead of Japan and Australia at the Rimini Trampoline World Cup". International Gymnastics Federation. 30 May 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  32. ^ "Japan writes a golden trilogy on the trampoline at the Coimbra World Cup". International Gymnastics Federation. 28 June 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  33. ^ "Portuguese, Chinese teams take World Trampoline gold on eventful night in Sofia". International Gymnastics Federation. 18 November 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  34. ^ Gunston, Jo (19 November 2022). "Mori Hikaru wins double gold on final day of Trampoline World Championships". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  35. ^ "Mori stars with double gold on final day of Trampoline Worlds". International Gymnastics Federation. 19 November 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  36. ^ "With four golds, Great Britain tops the table at Trampoline Gymnastics Worlds". International Gymnastics Federation. 21 November 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  37. ^ Van Der Zwan, Sebastian (2 October 2022). "Olympic hero Dylan Schmidt is jumping into the unknown on Celebrity Treasure Island". Woman's Day. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  38. ^ Rohan, Lillie (5 October 2022). "Celebrity Treasure Island ep 15: Radio host Cam Mansel's secret scheme revealed". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  39. ^ "How Olympic trampolinist Dylan Schmidt got his bounce back". Woman's Day. 2 August 2021. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  40. ^ "Dylan Schmidt". University of Auckland. Retrieved 3 March 2023.

External links

2016 New Zealand Olympic team
2020 New Zealand Olympic team
Categories