For the American football player, see Mark Kirchner (American football).
Mark Kirchner
FullnameMark Kirchner
Birth date4 April 1970 (age 56)
Birth placeNeuhaus am Rennweg, Thuringia, East Germany
Height1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
DisciplinesBiathlon
Wcdebut14 December 1989
Olympicteams2 (1992, 1994)
Olympicmedals4
Olympicgolds3
Worldsteams6 (1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997)
Worldsmedals10
Worldsgolds7
Wcseasons9 (1989/90–1997/98)
Wcwins7
Wcpodiums12
Wctitles1:
1 Individual (1990–91)

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

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 the Unified Team 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 1992–93.

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)

EventIndividualSprintRelay
1992 AlbertvilleSilverGoldGold
1994 Lillehammer7th12thGold

World Championships

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

EventIndividualSprintPursuitTeamRelay
1990 Minsk13thGoldGoldBronze
1991 LahtiGoldGold—Gold
1993 Borovets20thGold—Bronze
1995 Antholz-Anterselva15th52nd—Gold
1996 Ruhpolding—36th6th—
1997 Brezno-Osrblie43rd32nd14thSilver—
*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)

SeasonDateLocationDisciplineLevel
1989–90
1 victory
(1 Sp)		10 March 1990Oslo Holmenkollen10 km sprintBiathlon World Championships
1990–91
4 victories
(3 In, 1 Sp)		31 January 1991Oberhof20 km individualBiathlon World Cup
19 February 1991Lahti10 km sprintBiathlon World Championships
24 February 1991Lahti20 km individualBiathlon World Championships
7 March 1991Oslo Holmenkollen20 km individualBiathlon World Cup
1991–92
2 victories
(1 In, 1 Sp)		12 February 1992Albertville10 km sprintWinter Olympic Games
10 March 1992Skrautvål20 km individualBiathlon World Cup
1992–93
3 victories
(1 In, 2 Sp)		19 December 1992Pokljuka10 km sprintBiathlon World Cup
13 February 1993Borovets10 km sprintBiathlon World Championships
11 March 1993Östersund20 km individualBiathlon World Cup
1996–97
1 victory
(1 In)		6 March 1997Nagano20 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.