During that time he was the second best German ski jumper after
Jens Weißflog. Thoma was not the first known ski jumper in the family: his uncle
Georg Thoma was both
world and
Olympic champion in the
nordic combined. Thoma won his first competition in 1990 when he won the
Four Hills Tournament. He also won
Ski-flying World Championships in
Vikersund at the end of the 1989-90 season. Before the start of the 1993-94 season, Thoma changed his technique from
jumping with parallel skis to the
V-style, and was a part of the German team who won the team competition at the
1994 Winter Olympics in
Lillehammer. He also won a bronze medal in the individual normal hill in
Lillehammer, then won a silver medal in the team large hill competition at the
1998 Winter Olympics in
Nagano. Thoma also won a bronze in the
FIS Ski-Flying World Championships 1998 in
Oberstdorf. Thoma won five medals at the
FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, including one gold (Team large hill: 1999), two silvers (Team large hill: 1995, Individual large hill: 1997), and two bronzes (Team large hill: 1991 and 1997). Thoma retired after the 1998/99 season. == World Cup ==