Dylan Schmidt

{{Infobox gymnast

| name = Dylan Schmidt

| image = Dylan Schmidt on Gymnastics Australia.jpg

| caption = Schmidt at the 2014 Australian Gymnastics Championship

| full_name = Dylan Matthew Schmidt

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1997|01|07|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Southport, Queensland, Australia

| death_date =

| death_place =

| discipline = TRA

| height = 169 cm{{cite web |url=https://olympic.org.nz/athletes/dylan-schmidt |title=Dylan Schmidt |website=New Zealand Olympic Committee |access-date=3 March 2023}}

| club = Icon Trampoline Club

| headcoach = Angie Dougal

| weight =

| show-medals = yes

| medaltemplates = {{MedalCountry|{{NZL}}}}

}}

Dylan Matthew Schmidt (born 7 January 1997){{cite web |title=Dylan Schmidt |url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/135416 |website=Olympedia |access-date=3 March 2023}} 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 Southport, Queensland. He began trampoline when he was five years old in Te Anau because his older brother and sister were both already training in trampoline.{{Cite news |first=Brenton |last=Vannisselroy |url= http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11675460 |title=Making of an Olympian: Dylan Schmidt – A teenager with the backbone to excel |work=The New Zealand Herald |access-date=7 September 2022 |date=16 July 2016}}{{cite web |last1=Ahmed |first1=Uma |title=Olympic trampolinist returning to his career roots |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/129261966/olympic-trampolinist-returning-to-his-career-roots |website=Stuff |access-date=3 March 2023 |date=13 July 2022}} His sister Rachel Schmidt and brother Callum Schmidt have both also competed internationally in trampolining.{{cite web |title=Schmidt Dylan |url=https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/athletes/bio_detail.php?id=30060 |website=International Gymnastics Federation |access-date=3 March 2023}}{{Cite news |first=Anendra |last=Singh |url= https://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/news/gymsports-touch-of-rio-in-napier/TT7CL73FP3MDPMJ2LQC6P5U6JA/ |title=Gymsports: Touch of Rio in Napier |work=Hawkes Bay Today |date=26 October 2016 |access-date=7 September 2022}} His mother drove all three siblings from Waihi to Auckland every day for trampoline practice.{{cite web |last1=Houpt |first1=Emma |title=Kiwi trampolinist Dylan Schmidt reflects on family sacrifices made for Olympic success |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/bay-of-plenty-times/news/kiwi-trampolinist-dylan-schmidt-reflects-on-family-sacrifices-made-for-olympic-success/74KM5KCNNBZGG5W5QGQN44VEFA/ |website=Bay of Plenty Times |access-date=4 March 2023 |date=4 August 2021}}

Career

=2014=

Schmidt competed at the Pacific Rim Championships, where he finished seventh in the junior individual trampoline event.{{cite web |title=Trampoline Mens Junior Finals 2014 Pacific Rim Gymnastics Richmond, BC, Canada |url=http://www.pacificrimchamps.com/en/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/TG-Junior.pdf |website=Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships |access-date=3 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413142557/http://www.pacificrimchamps.com/en/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/TG-Junior.pdf |archive-date=13 April 2014 |pages=3 |date=12 April 2014 |url-status=dead}} He then represented New Zealand at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics and won the gold medal in the individual trampoline event.{{cite web |title=Dylan Schmidt wins first Olympic Gymnastics gold for New Zealand |url=https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/news/displaynews.php?urlNews=73720 |website=International Gymnastics Federation |access-date=3 March 2023 |date=22 August 2014}} At the World Championships, he finished tenth in the qualification round for the individual event,{{cite web |title=30th FIG World Championships Trampoline, in Daytona Beach (USA) Senior Men's Individual Trampoline Qualifications |url=https://usagym.org/PDFs/Results/t_14worlds_tr_qual.pdf |website=USA Gymnastics |publisher=International Gymnastics Federation |access-date=3 March 2023 |date=7 November 2014}} and he finished seventh in the synchro final with his partner.{{cite web |title=30th FIG World Championships Trampoline, in Daytona Beach (USA) Senior Men's Synchronized Trampoline Final |url=https://usagym.org/PDFs/Results/t_14worlds_sy_final.pdf |website=USA Gymnastics |publisher=International Gymnastics Federation |access-date=3 March 2023 |date=8 November 2014 |archive-date=21 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221221112509/https://usagym.org/PDFs/Results/t_14worlds_sy_final.pdf |url-status=dead }}

=2015–2017=

File:Dylan Schmidt Olympics Test Event.jpg]]

Schmidt finished tenth in the semifinals at the 2015 World Championships, making him the first reserve for the final.{{cite web |title=31st FIG World Championships Trampoline, in Odense (DEN) Senior Men's Individual Trampoline Semi Final |url=https://usagym.org/PDFs/Results/t_15worlds_sf_tr.pdf |website=USA Gymnastics |publisher=International Gymnastics Federation |access-date=3 March 2023 |date=29 November 2015}} He won the silver medal behind Uladzislau Hancharou at the 2016 Olympic Test Event and qualified for a spot at the 2016 Olympic Games.{{cite web |title=Trampoline Gymnastics Men Final Results |url=https://gymnasticsresults.com/archive/2016/am/bra/tra/menfinal.pdf |website=Gymnastics Results |publisher=2016 Olympic Test Events |access-date=3 March 2023 |date=19 April 2016}}{{cite web |title=List of the Trampoline Gymnastics 2016 Olympic Qualifiers |url=https://gymnasticsresults.com/archive/2016/am/bra/tra/qualifiers2016.pdf |website=Gymnastics Results |publisher=International Gymnastics Federation |access-date=3 March 2023 |date=19 April 2016}} He became the first trampoline gymnast to represent New Zealand at the Olympics. At the 2016 Summer Olympics, he qualified for the men's trampoline final, in which he finished seventh.{{cite web |title=Trampoline Gymnastics Men Final Results |url=https://usagym.org/PDFs/Results/t_16olympics_m.pdf |website=USA Gymnastics |publisher=Rio 2016 |access-date=3 March 2023 |pages=2 |date=13 August 2016}}

Schmidt struggled with knee and groin injuries throughout the 2017 season.{{cite news |last1=Eddy |first1=Kristina |title=Kiwi trampolinist Dylan Schmidt earns silver medal at World Cup |url=https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/sport/2017/10/kiwi-trampolinist-dylan-schmidt-earns-silver-medal-at-world-cup.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171009034557/http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/sport/2017/10/kiwi-trampolinist-dylan-schmidt-earns-silver-medal-at-world-cup.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=9 October 2017 |website=Newshub |access-date=4 March 2023 |date=9 October 2017}} He finished fourth in the individual event at the 2017 Loule World Cup.{{cite web |title=Gao Lei and Yana Pavlova prevail at Trampoline World Cup in Loule |url=https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/news/displaynews.php?urlNews=1897488 |website=International Gymnastics Federation |access-date=3 March 2023 |date=2 October 2017}} He then competed at the Sofia World Cup where he won the silver medal behind China's Tu Xiao.{{cite web |title=China's Dong Dong and Zhu Xueying win final World Cup event before Trampoline Worlds |url=https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/news/displaynews.php?urlNews=1914622 |website=International Gymnastics Federation |access-date=3 March 2023 |date=9 October 2017}} He finished twentieth in the semifinals at the 2017 World Championships.{{cite web |title=32nd Trampoline Gymnastics World Championships 2017 Sofia (Bulgaria) Men's Trampoline Semi-final |url=https://usagym.org/PDFs/Results/t_17worlds_tra_sf.pdf |website=USA Gymnastics |publisher=International Gymnastics Federation |access-date=4 March 2023 |date=12 November 2017}}

=2018–2021=

In March 2018, Schmidt injured his anterior cruciate ligament and lateral collateral ligament in training, and he had knee-reconstruction surgery.{{cite web |last1=Egan |first1=Brandon |title=Dylan Schmidt knew 'something special was going to happen' at Tokyo Olympics |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/olympics/125932493/dylan-schmidt-knew-something-special-was-going-to-happen-at-tokyo-olympics |website=Stuff |access-date=4 March 2023 |date=1 August 2021}} This injury kept him out of the entire 2018 season.{{cite web |title=Gymnastics: Kiwi trampolinist Dylan Schmidt out for the year |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/gymnastics-kiwi-trampolinist-dylan-schmidt-out-for-the-year/7U5VGJAEEB3JEQB2KU5DZHHYQM/ |website=The New Zealand Herald |access-date=4 March 2023 |date=12 March 2018}} During the warmups at the 2019 World Championships, he tweaked the knee he had surgery on in 2018.{{cite web |title=Schmidt Ready to Bounce Back |url=https://olympic.org.nz/news/schmidt-ready-to-bounce-back |website=New Zealand Olympic Committee |access-date=4 March 2023 |date=25 February 2020}} He still competed and finished twelfth in the semifinals, initially missing out on qualification for the 2020 Olympic Games.{{cite web |title=34th FIG Trampoline Gymnastics World Championships Tokyo (Japan), 28 November – 1 December 2019 Men's Trampoline Semifinal |url=https://usagym.org/PDFs/Results/2019/t_19worlds_tr_sf.pdf |website=USA Gymnastics |publisher=International Gymnastics Federation |access-date=4 March 2023 |date=28 November 2019}} However, he had earned enough points during the 2019–21 Trampoline World Cup series to earn New Zealand an Olympic spot.{{cite web |title=Games of the XXXII Olympiad Tokyo (JPN), 24 July – 08 August 2021 Trampoline Gymnastics Qualifiers |url=https://gymnasticsresults.com/results/2020/olympics/qualification/documents/trampoline-qual.pdf |website=Gymnastics Results |publisher=International Gymnastics Federation |access-date=4 March 2023}}

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.{{cite web |title=Facing COVID-19, the 'root of all sports' goes back to its roots |url=https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/news/displaynews.php?urlNews=2856589 |website=International Gymnastics Federation |access-date=4 March 2023 |date=2 April 2020}}

Schmidt was selected to represent New Zealand at the 2020 Summer Olympics.{{cite web |last1=George |first1=Zoë |title=Tokyo Olympics: Maddie Davidson selected to be first woman trampolinist to represent NZ at the Olympics |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/olympics/300347892/tokyo-olympics-maddie-davidson-selected-to-be-first-woman-trampolinist-to-represent-nz-at-the-olympics |website=Stuff |access-date=4 March 2023 |date=2 July 2021}} He qualified into the men's individual final in third place.{{cite web |title=Kiwi gymnast Dylan Schmidt has won a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics. |url=https://www.1news.co.nz/2021/07/31/schmidt-makes-history-with-bronze-in-mens-trampoline/ |website=1 News |access-date=4 March 2023 |date=31 July 2021}} 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.{{cite web |title=Litvinovich's gold gives Belarus back-to-back Trampoline titles |url=https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/news/displaynews.php?urlNews=3258437 |website=International Gymnastics Federation |access-date=4 March 2023 |date=31 July 2021}} This marked the first time New Zealand won an Olympic medal in any gymnastics discipline. After the Olympic Games, he missed two months of training due to national lockdowns for COVID-19.{{cite web |title=New Zealand's Trampoline star Schmidt shoots for the World podium |url=https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/news/displaynews.php?urlNews=3386842 |website=International Gymnastics Federation |access-date=4 March 2023 |date=16 November 2021}} He still competed at the World Championships where he finished seventh in the individual final.{{cite web |title=Page, Yan soar to individual golds at Trampoline World Championships |url=https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/news/displaynews.php?urlNews=3392965 |website=International Gymnastics Federation |access-date=4 March 2023 |date=21 November 2021}}

=2022=

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.{{cite web |title=USA claims the most medals ahead of Japan and Australia at the Rimini Trampoline World Cup |url=https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/news/displaynews.php?urlNews=3518638 |website=International Gymnastics Federation |access-date=4 March 2023 |date=30 May 2022}} At the Coimbra World Cup, he won the gold medal in synchro with Reegan Laidlaw.{{cite web |title=Japan writes a golden trilogy on the trampoline at the Coimbra World Cup |url=https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/news/displaynews.php?urlNews=3556400 |website=International Gymnastics Federation |access-date=4 March 2023 |date=28 June 2022}} At the 2022 World Championships in Sofia, Schmidt qualified for the individual final in first place.{{cite web |title=Portuguese, Chinese teams take World Trampoline gold on eventful night in Sofia |url=https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/news/displaynews.php?urlNews=3724821 |website=International Gymnastics Federation |access-date=4 March 2023 |date=18 November 2022}} He then won the gold medal in the individual event by over two points ahead of France's Allan Morante.{{cite web |last1=Gunston |first1=Jo |title=Mori Hikaru wins double gold on final day of Trampoline World Championships |url=https://olympics.com/en/news/mori-hikaru-claims-two-world-trampoline-titles-sofia |website=International Olympic Committee |access-date=3 March 2023 |date=19 November 2022}} 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.{{cite web |title=Mori stars with double gold on final day of Trampoline Worlds |url=https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/news/displaynews.php?urlNews=3725376 |website=International Gymnastics Federation |access-date=4 March 2023 |date=19 November 2022}}{{cite web |title=With four golds, Great Britain tops the table at Trampoline Gymnastics Worlds |url=https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/news/displaynews.php?urlNews=3726524 |website=International Gymnastics Federation |access-date=4 March 2023 |date=21 November 2022}}

=2023–2024=

Schmidt finished third in the individual event at the Santarem World Cup.{{cite web |title=Olympic champion Zhu wins two at Trampoline World Cup in Santarem |url=https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/news/displaynews.php?urlNews=3882666 |website=International Gymnastics Federation |access-date=23 May 2024 |date=3 July 2023}} Then at the Palm Beach World Cup, he won the silver medal behind China's Wang Zisai.{{cite web |title=A golden haul for USA at the Trampoline World Cup |url=https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/news/displaynews.php?urlNews=3944738 |website=International Gymnastics Federation |access-date=23 May 2024 |date=9 August 2023}} He only finished 14th in the qualification round at the Varna World Cup and did not advance into the final.{{cite web |title=A clean sweep for China in Varna |url=https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/news/displaynews.php?urlNews=401569 |website=International Gymnastics Federation |access-date=23 May 2024 |date=10 October 2023}} At the World Championships, he came off the trampoline during the qualification round and still advanced to the semi-finals,{{cite web |title=Page and Li lead as curtain rises on Trampoline Gymnastics Worlds |url=https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/news/displaynews.php?urlNews=4033749 |website=International Gymnastics Federation |access-date=23 May 2024 |date=9 November 2023}} but he was eliminated in the semi-finals.{{cite web |title='21 again? Page, Yan repeat as world champions on final day of Trampoline in Birmingham |url=https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/news/displaynews.php?urlNews=4036624 |website=International Gymnastics Federation |access-date=23 May 2024 |date=12 November 2023}}

In April 2024, Schmidt was selected to represent New Zealand at the 2024 Summer Olympics.{{cite web |title=Trampoline Athletes Dylan Schmidt and Maddie Davidson Named to New Zealand Olympic Team |url=https://www.gymnasticsnz.com/enews/trampoline-athletes-dylan-schmidt-and-maddie-davidson-named-to-new-zealand-olympic-team/ |website=Gymnastics New Zealand |access-date=23 May 2024 |date=23 April 2024}}{{cite web |title=From Youth Olympic champion to Olympic medallist, Dylan Schmidt bouncing toward Paris 2024 with purpose |url=https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/news/displaynews.php?urlNews=4153604 |website=International Gymnastics Federation |access-date=23 May 2024 |date=26 April 2024}}

Media

Schmidt was a castaway on the 2022 series of the New Zealand reality television show Celebrity Treasure Island.{{cite web |last1=Van Der Zwan |first1=Sebastian |title=Olympic hero Dylan Schmidt is jumping into the unknown on Celebrity Treasure Island |url=https://www.nowtolove.co.nz/celebrity/tv/celebrity-treasure-island-dylan-schmidt-46090 |website=Woman's Day |access-date=3 March 2023 |date=2 October 2022}} He was eliminated in episode 15 but won $10,000 for Special Olympics New Zealand.{{cite web |last1=Rohan |first1=Lillie |title=Celebrity Treasure Island ep 15: Radio host Cam Mansel's secret scheme revealed |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/celebrity-treasure-island-ep-15-radio-host-cam-mansels-secret-scheme-revealed/K4653QD5RUQCQFB4ZK3VKKWBKA/ |website=The New Zealand Herald |access-date=4 March 2023 |date=5 October 2022}}

Personal life

Outside of gymnastics, Schmidt enjoys hunting, fishing, and playing golf. As an ambassador for the New Zealand Olympic Committee, Schmidt travels to schools around the country to share his story. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Auckland.{{cite web |title=Dylan Schmidt |url=https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/student-support/personal-support/high-performance-support-programme/meet-our-athletes-/dylan-schmidt.html |website=University of Auckland |access-date=3 March 2023}} As of 2024, he is dating fellow trampoline gymnast Maddie Davidson.{{cite web |last1=Ransom |first1=Ian |title=New Zealand trampoline couple fall head over heels before Paris |url=https://www.reuters.com/sports/new-zealand-trampoline-couple-fall-head-over-heels-before-paris-2024-04-25/ |website=Reuters |access-date=23 May 2024 |date=25 April 2024}}