[1][2] At the age of three, Martin was forced to leave his hometown with his mother Dubravka and older brother Stanislav due to the Siege of Vukovar, while his father Boris stayed and fought.

[1] The family were reunited in Zagreb before moving to Austria for six months and eventually settling in Germany for four years.

The quartet won the silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the men's quadruple sculls event.

Martin won the silver medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the men's single sculls event, losing to Mahé Drysdale in a photo finish and beating multiple-time world champion Ondřej Synek.

At the 2020 Summer Olympics, held in 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Martin won the bronze medal in the men's single sculls event.