Mark Kirchner

Mark Kirchner (born 4 April 1970) is a German former biathlete.

Mark Kirchner
Personal information
Full nameMark Kirchner
Born (1970-04-04) 4 April 1970
Neuhaus am Rennweg, Thuringia, East Germany
Height1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Professional information
SportBiathlon
World Cup debut14 December 1989
Olympic Games
Teams2 (1992, 1994)
Medals4 (3 gold)
World Championships
Teams6 (1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997)
Medals10 (7 gold)
World Cup
Seasons9 (1989/90–1997/98)
Individual victories7
Individual podiums12
Discipline titles1:
1 Individual (1990–91)

Life and career

Kirchner won gold in the 10 km sprint at the Albertville Olympics in 1992 and followed that up by taking silver in the 20 km individual and gold in the relay.[1] An out-of-the-blue win by Eugeni Redkine of Russia in the 20 km individual prevented him taking honours as the absolute champion of these Games.

In 1994 in Lillehammer, he was his country's flag bearer and was part of the gold-medal winning relay team. He was the youngest ever triple Olympic Champion in biathlon, at the age of just 23 years and 10 month.

Kirchner came second in the overall World Cup standings twice, behind Sergei Tchepikov of the USSR in the 1990–91 season and behind Mikael Löfgren of Sweden in 1991–92.

In addition Kirchner became World Champion multiple times.

He retired relatively early, at the age of 28, in 1998.

Subsequently, Kirchner was employed as an assistant to Frank Ullrich, the German biathlon male team head coach, with responsibilities including youth development. In April 2014, he was appointed as men's coach for the national team.[2]

Biathlon results

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

Olympic Games

4 medals (3 gold, 1 silver)

Event Individual Sprint Relay
1992 Albertville Silver Gold Gold
1994 Lillehammer 7th 12th Gold

World Championships

10 medals (7 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronze)

Event Individual Sprint Pursuit Team Relay
1990 Minsk 13th Gold N/A Gold Bronze
1991 Lahti Gold Gold N/A — Gold
1993 Borovets 20th Gold N/A — Bronze
1995 Antholz-Anterselva 15th 52nd N/A — Gold
1996 Ruhpolding — 36th N/A 6th —
1997 Brezno-Osrblie 43rd 32nd 14th Silver —
*During Olympic seasons competitions are only held for those events not included in the Olympic program.
**Pursuit was added as an event in 1997.

Individual victories

11 victories (6 In, 5 Sp)

Season Date Location Discipline Level
1989–90
1 victory
(1 Sp)		10 March 1990 Oslo Holmenkollen10 km sprintBiathlon World Championships
1990–91
4 victories
(3 In, 1 Sp)		31 January 1991 Oberhof20 km individualBiathlon World Cup
19 February 1991 Lahti10 km sprintBiathlon World Championships
24 February 1991 Lahti20 km individualBiathlon World Championships
7 March 1991 Oslo Holmenkollen20 km individualBiathlon World Cup
1991–92
2 victories
(1 In, 1 Sp)		12 February 1992 Albertville10 km sprintWinter Olympic Games
10 March 1992 Skrautvål20 km individualBiathlon World Cup
1992–93
3 victories
(1 In, 2 Sp)		19 December 1992 Pokljuka10 km sprintBiathlon World Cup
13 February 1993 Borovets10 km sprintBiathlon World Championships
11 March 1993 Östersund20 km individualBiathlon World Cup
1996–97
1 victory
(1 In)		6 March 1997 Nagano20 km individualBiathlon World Cup
*Results are from UIPMB and IBU races which include the Biathlon World Cup, Biathlon World Championships and the Winter Olympic Games.

References
  1. "PROFILE - MARK KIRCHNER (GER)". International Biathlon Union. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  2. "Coaching Changes in Germany and Austria". International Biathlon Union. 8 April 2014. Archived from the original on 26 December 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
  3. "Mark Kirchner". IBU Datacenter. International Biathlon Union. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
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