Mike Dixon (biathlete)

Michael Dixon (born 21 November 1962), is a Scottish cross-country skier and biathlete. He has represented Great Britain at six Olympic Games in cross-country skiing and biathlon.[1] He is only the seventh athlete from any country to have competed at six Winter Games[2] and is one of fewer than fifty athletes to have competed in at least six Olympic Games.

For other people named Michael Dixon, see Michael Dixon (disambiguation).

Mike Dixon
Personal information
Full nameMichael Dixon
Born (1962-11-21) 21 November 1962
Fort William, Scotland, United Kingdom
Height1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Websitemikedixonolympian.co.uk
Professional information
SportBiathlon
Cross-country skiing
Club35 Engineer Regiment Hameln
World Cup debut18 December 1986
Retired20 February 2002
Olympic Games
Teams5 (1988, 1992, 1994, 1998, 2002)
1 (1984)
Medals0
World Championships
Teams14 (1987, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001)
Medals0
World Cup
Seasons16 (1986/87–2001/02)
All podiums0

He is a former Royal Engineer in the British Armed Forces, reaching the rank of Staff Sergeant, and currently a Nordic skiing and biathlon coach.

Career

At the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, he competed as a cross-country skier, coming 60th in the 15 km[3] and 14th in the 4x10km relay. Shortly afterwards, he switched to the Biathlon for the rest of his career, competing in his first event at the Biathlon World Championships in 1987 at Lake Placid.[4]

At the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, he came 21st in the 10 km sprint, 13th in the 20 km, and 13th in the 4 x 7.5 km relay.

At the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, he came 60th in the 10 km sprint, 12th in the 20 km, and 18th in the 4 x 7.5 km relay. In the 20km race, he was one of only three competitors (including gold medallist Yevgeniy Redkin) not to miss any targets.[5]

At the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, illness forced him into 54th place in the 20 km. His team came 17th in the 4 x 7.5 km relay. He was Britain's flag bearer at these Games, as he would be for the 1998 and 2002 Games as well.

At the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, he came 47th in the 10 km sprint and 33rd in the 20 km.

At his final Olympics, the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City, he came 74th in the 10 km sprint, 79th in the 20 km, and 19th in the 4 x 7.5 km relay.[6] He was given a surprise party at Soldier Hollow in honour of his sixth appearance by his teammates and the international biathlon community.[7]

After retiring, he has been working as a commentator for Eurosport.[8]

He led his team to victory in the BBC reality show Hercules Challenge in 2005.[9]

Personal life

He is affiliated with the 35 Engineer Regiment, Hameln and the Lochaber Athletic Club.[6] He speaks English and German and enjoys photography, canoeing and mountain-marathons.[10] He is married with two children and works with junior roller skiers and biathletes in Kingussie, Scotland.[11] His son Scott is also a biathlete and is aiming to be selected for the 2018 Winter Olympics.[12] He also works as a motivational speaker and fitness instructor.

Biathlon results

All results are sourced from the International Biathlon Union.[13]

Olympic Games
Event Individual Sprint Pursuit Relay
1988 Calgary 13th 21st N/A 13th
1992 Albertville 12th 60th N/A 18th
1994 Lillehammer 55th — N/A 17th
1998 Nagano 33rd 47th N/A —
2002 Salt Lake City 79th 74th — 19th
*Pursuit was added as an event in 2002.

World Championships
Event Individual Sprint Pursuit Mass start Team Relay
1987 Lake Placid 55th 46th N/A N/A N/A 13th
1989 Feistritz 48th 56th N/A N/A — 13th
1990 Minsk 12th 62nd N/A N/A — —
1991 Lahti 41st 41st N/A N/A 14th 14th
1992 Novosibirsk N/A N/A N/A N/A 9th N/A
1993 Borovets 88th 85th N/A N/A 20th 21st
1994 Canmore N/A N/A N/A N/A 10th N/A
1995 Antholz-Anterselva 45th — N/A N/A 19th 17th
1996 Ruhpolding 48th 52nd N/A N/A 18th 20th
1997 Brezno-Osrblie 50th — — N/A — —
1998 Pokljuka N/A N/A 42nd N/A 14th N/A
1999 Kontiolahti 36th 80th — — N/A 16th
2000 Oslo Holmenkollen 55th — — — N/A 18th
2001 Pokljuka 68th 55th 55th — N/A 19th
*During Olympic seasons competitions are only held for those events not included in the Olympic program.
**The team event was added in 1989 and subsequently removed in 1998, pursuit having been added in 1997 with mass start being added in 1999.

See also

References
  1. "Team GB - Official home of the British Olympic Association - London 2012 | Team GB". Olympics.org.uk. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  2. "Great Britain's Winter Olympics Hall of Fame - 21-25". More than the games. 8 December 2008. Archived from the original on 21 April 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  3. "cross-country skiing at the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Games: Men's 15 kilometres | Olympics at". Sports-reference.com. 13 February 1984. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  4. Archived 27 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  5. "Biathlon at the 1992 Albertville Winter Games: Men's 20 kilometres | Olympics at". Sports-reference.com. 20 February 1992. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  6. "Mike Dixon Biography and Olympic Results | Olympics at". Sports-reference.com. 21 November 1962. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  7. "British biathlete honoured". BBC News. 17 February 2002.
  8. Gillon, Doug (24 February 2010). "Mike Dixon still has sights set on Olympic Games – at 47". Glasgow: The Herald. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
  9. "Domain name registration | Domain names | Web Hosting | 123-reg". Herculeschallenge.com. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  10. "DIXON Michael personal data, photos". Biathlon.com.ua. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  11. "Kingussie High School - Summer Newsletter" (PDF). kingussiehigh.highland.sch.uk. June 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  12. "Biathlon - Dixon doing all he can to succeed as a biathlete". Yahoo Sports. 16 November 2013. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
  13. "Mike Dixon". IBU Datacenter. International Biathlon Union. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
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