Career
Schumann has participated in seven consecutive Olympic Games since 1988, setting a new record for most Olympic appearances by a German athlete. After this, the targets were changed, lowering results considerably, but Schumann"s hegemony has only increased. He scored 596 points on several occasions before raising the World Record to 597 in 1995, which he equalled in 2000.
After the major rule change in 2005, he beat the world record again with 588 points, bettered by Sergei Alifirenko later the same year.
He also held the pre-2005 final World Record and the Olympic records (from 1996), excelling in the four-second final shooting. Most notable among these is his performance in the Sydney Olympics in 2000, when at the prospect of winning his third Olympic gold medal (something no RFP shooter before has managed) he only finished fifth.
Ralf has worked as a precision mechanic during his shooting career, and his employers have sponsored his competitive shooting by offering Ralf a 3-month paid leave of absence each year to train. He also designed a custom.22 caliber pistol which is sold by Italian manufacturer Pardini.