Frank Ullrich

Frank Ullrich (German pronunciation: [fʁaŋk ˈʊlʁɪç], audio ; born 24 January 1958) is a German former biathlete and current trainer of the German national team.

Frank Ullrich
Frank Ullrich in 1982.
Personal information
Full nameFrank Ullrich
Born (1958-01-24) 24 January 1958
Trusetal, East Germany
Height1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Professional information
SportBiathlon
ClubASK Vorwärts Oberhof
World Cup debut13 January 1978
Olympic Games
Teams3 (1976, 1980, 1984)
Medals4 (1 gold)
World Championships
Teams6 (1977, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983)
Medals14 (9 gold)
World Cup
Seasons7 (1977/78–1983/84)
Individual victories16
Individual podiums28
Overall titles4 (1977–78, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1981–82)

Career
Frank Ullrich in Ruhpolding 2005

Biathlon was in Ullrich's family as his father was a biathlon referee. His first appearance was in 1967 at the GDR Children Championships. In 1972, he placed second over 5 km at the Spartakiad, in 1975 he became Youth World Champion in relay. He won a bronze medal at the 1976 Winter Olympics with the 4 × 7.5 km relay team. At the 1980 Winter Olympics he won 3 medals with silvers in the 20 km individual and the 4 × 7.5 km relay and a gold medal in the 10 km sprint,[1] an event he dominated at world level between 1978 and 1981.

In 1982 his wife fell ill and died, soon after which he switched to training.[2] He undertook a period of study at the National Academy for Body Culture and then, in 1987, became the trainer of the East German national team, and, following German reunification, national trainer for the sprint.

Speaking to Ullrich's dominance in the World Cup, even though he retired in the mid-80s, only five male biathletes have surpassed him in terms of World Cup victories. Sven Fischer won his 17th World Cup victory on 18 March 2000, Ole Einar Bjørndalen won his on 12 January 2001, Raphaël Poirée won on 18 January 2002, whilst Emil Hegle Svendsen won on 2 December 2010 and Martin Fourcade won on 12 January 2013.

Biathlon results

All results are sourced from the International Biathlon Union.[3]

Olympic Games

4 medals (1 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze)

Event Individual Sprint Relay
1976 Innsbruck — N/A Bronze
1980 Lake Placid Silver Gold Silver
1984 Sarajevo 5th 17th 4th
*Sprint was added as an event in 1980.

World Championships

14 medals (9 gold, 4 silver, 1 bronze)

Event Individual Sprint Relay
1977 Lillehammer — — Bronze
1978 Hochfilzen Silver Gold Gold
1979 Ruhpolding 4th Gold Gold
1981 Lahti Silver Gold Gold
1982 Minsk Gold Silver Gold
1983 Antholz-Anterselva Gold 8th Silver
*During Olympic seasons competitions are only held for those events not included in the Olympic program.

Individual victories

17 victories (6 In, 11 Sp)

Season Date Location Discipline Level
1977–78
3 victories
(1 In, 2 Sp)		22 February 1978 Antholz-Anterselva20 km individualBiathlon World Cup
4 March 1978 Hochfilzen10 km sprintBiathlon World Championships
27 March 1978 Murmansk10 km sprintBiathlon World Cup
1978–79
1 victory
(1 Sp)		31 January 1979 Ruhpolding10 km sprintBiathlon World Championships
1979–80
5 victories
(1 In, 4 Sp)		19 January 1980 Ruhpolding10 km sprintBiathlon World Cup
26 January 1980 Antholz-Anterselva10 km sprintBiathlon World Cup
19 February 1980 Lake Placid10 km sprintWinter Olympic Games
22 March 1980 Hedenäset10 km sprintBiathlon World Cup
27 March 1980 Murmansk20 km individualBiathlon World Cup
1980–81
2 victories
(2 Sp)		31 January 1981 Ruhpolding10 km sprintBiathlon World Cup
14 February 1981 Lahti10 km sprintBiathlon World Championships
1981–82
4 victories
(2 In, 2 Sp)		16 January 1982 Egg am Etzel10 km sprintBiathlon World Cup
23 January 1982 Antholz-Anterselva10 km sprintBiathlon World Cup
28 January 1982 Ruhpolding20 km individualBiathlon World Cup
10 February 1982 Minsk20 km individualBiathlon World Championships
1982–83
2 victories
(2 In)		9 February 1983 Antholz-Anterselva20 km individualBiathlon World Cup
24 February 1983 Antholz-Anterselva20 km individualBiathlon World Championships
*Results are from UIPMB and IBU races which include the Biathlon World Cup, Biathlon World Championships and the Winter Olympic Games.

References
  1. Olympic results Archived 25 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Achim Leoni (as interviewer); Frank Ullrich (as interviewee) (18 February 2006). "In meiner Stasi-Akte erkannte ich zwölf Leute". newspaper interview. Hamburger Abendblatt.
  3. "Frank Ullrich". IBU Datacenter. International Biathlon Union. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
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