Bettina Schmidt grew up in a sporting family, as her father was a very successful East German handball coach. She herself started as a breaststroke swimmer, changed to the shot put, and then in 1974 began lugeing. In 1978, Schmidt won a silver medal at the European Junior Championships and the following year won the title in that competition. In 1981 she finished second at the Worlds and in 1982 crowned herself European champion.
After 1984, Cerstin Schmidt, no relation, replaced her on the East German national team. Bettina Schmidt later married, had two children and worked as a coach for the Tobogganing Federation of Northrhine-Westfalia.