Silvia Schmitt

Silvia Schmitt was on the West German handball squad that finished fourth in the round-robin tournament at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Eight years later she again finished fourth with the now re-unified German team, losing the bronze medal match 24-20 against the Unified Team of Former Soviet Nations. She won 245 international caps and scored 751 goals. At the B World Championships she won a bronze medal in 1985 and a gold medal in 1989. In 1997 and 1998 she added two bronze medals at the World Championships.

Domestically, Schmitt played from 1980-2005 with SpVgg Cannstatt, VfL Sindelfingen, VfL Neckargartach, TV Lützellinden, TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Borussia Dortmund, Wernauer SF, SV Winnenden, HSG Bensheim / Auerbach and finally HSG Kleenheim (at the age of 42). In 1991 she won the DHB Cup with Neckargartach, and was named Handball Player of the Year in 1998.

In 2001, Schmitt had a brief stint as chief national coach of the German women’s team, but later worked as a product manager. She also got involved as an honorary ambassador for the Joachim-Deckarm-Fonds from 2009 and has been helping to maintain support for the ex-national player.