Michael Schmid (born 18 March 1984) is a Swiss

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 freestyle skier

Freestyle skiing

Freestyle skiing is form of skiing which used to encompass two disciplines: aerials, and moguls. Except the two disciplines mentioned earlier Freestyle Skiing now consists of Skicross, Half Pipe and Slope Style...

 who specializes in the skicross

Skicross

Ski Cross is a type of skiing competition. It is based on the snowboarding discipline of boardercross...

 discipline. He is the inaugural Olympic champion in the event.

He made his World Cup debut in January 2004 in Laax

Laax

Laax is a municipality in the district of Surselva in the Swiss canton of Graubünden.-Geography:Laax has an area, , of . Of this area, 35.8% is used for agricultural purposes, while 30.6% is forested...

, and finished among the top thirty for the first time one year later, with a 22nd place in Pozza di Fassa

Pozza di Fassa

Pozza di Fassa is a comune in Trentino in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about 60 km northeast of Trento...

. Then, two tenth places and a thirteenth place followed before the end of the season. He also finished sixth at the 2005 World Championships

FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships 2005

The 2005 FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships took place at the Rukatunturi ski resort in Kuusamo, Finland, between March 17th and March 20th. Five events were held for each sex, including half-pipe, skicross, ariels, moguls and dual moguls.-Half-Pipe:...

 in Ruka

Rukatunturi

Rukatunturi is a high fell and a ski resort in Kuusamo, Finland. Apart from downhill skiing, there are over 500 km of cross-country skiing tracks. Also snowmobiles can be rented to enjoy some of the area's 600 km of snowmobile routes . Ruka is also the southern end of the Karhunkierros...

. In the 2005–06 season he finished eighth three times, and took his first podium with a second place in Kreischberg in January. In the seasons 2006–07 and 2007–08 he finished consistently among the top ten in the World Cup, recording one more second place, and finished tenth at the 2007 World Championships

FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships 2007

The 2007 FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships were held in Madonna di Campiglio, Italy, from March 5th-11th. Five events were supposed to be held for each sex, but the half-pipe was canceled.-Skicross:-Moguls:-Dual Moguls:-Aerials:-Skicross:...

 in Madonna di Campiglio

Madonna di Campiglio

Madonna di Campiglio is a village and a ski resort in northeast Italy. It is a frazione of the comune of Pinzolo. The village lies in the Val Rendena at an altitude of 1,522 m...

. In January 2009, he won a World Cup race for the first time, in St. Johann in Tirol

St. Johann in Tirol

-History:St. Johann is situated in the Leukental, which extends from Jochberg to the Streichen close to the Bavarian border. This region was already settled in the 4th century BC by a Celtic tribe, the Ambisontiers, who pursued copper mining in the surrounding mountains.In 15 B.C...

.

Schmid won the gold medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics

2010 Winter Olympics

The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially the XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21st Winter Olympics, were a major international multi-sport event held from February 12–28, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with some events held in the suburbs of Richmond, West Vancouver and the University...

, after achieving the best time in qualification and dominating all four final runs.

He represents the sports club SK Frutigen. He uses Stöckli skis.