Mark Kirchner

Mark Kirchner
Personal information
Full name	Mark Kirchner
Born	4 April 1970 (age 54); Neuhaus am Rennweg, Thuringia, East Germany
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Professional information
Sport	Biathlon
World Cup debut	14 December 1989
Olympic Games
Teams	2 (1992, 1994)
Medals	4 (3 gold)
World Championships
Teams	6 (1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997)
Medals	10 (7 gold)
World Cup
Seasons	9 (1989/90–1997/98)
Individual victories	7
Individual podiums	12
Discipline titles	1:; 1 Individual (1990–91)
Medal record
Men's biathlon
Representing Germany
Olympic Games
World Championships
Representing East Germany
World Championships

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

Life and career[edit]

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[edit]

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

Olympic Games[edit]

4 medals (3 gold, 1 silver)

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

World Championships[edit]

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

Event	Individual	Sprint	Pursuit	Team	Relay
1990 Minsk	13th	Gold	—	Gold	Bronze
1991 Lahti	Gold	Gold	—	—	Gold
1993 Borovets	20th	Gold	—	—	Bronze
1995 Antholz-Anterselva	15th	52nd	—	—	Gold
1996 Ruhpolding	—	36th	—	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[edit]

11 victories (6 In, 5 Sp)

Season	Date	Location	Discipline	Level
1989–90 1 victory (1 Sp)	10 March 1990	Oslo Holmenkollen	10 km sprint	Biathlon World Championships
1990–91 4 victories (3 In, 1 Sp)	31 January 1991	Oberhof	20 km individual	Biathlon World Cup
	19 February 1991	Lahti	10 km sprint	Biathlon World Championships
	24 February 1991	Lahti	20 km individual	Biathlon World Championships
	7 March 1991	Oslo Holmenkollen	20 km individual	Biathlon World Cup
1991–92 2 victories (1 In, 1 Sp)	12 February 1992	Albertville	10 km sprint	Winter Olympic Games
1991–92 2 victories (1 In, 1 Sp)	10 March 1992	Skrautvål	20 km individual	Biathlon World Cup
1992–93 3 victories (1 In, 2 Sp)	19 December 1992	Pokljuka	10 km sprint	Biathlon World Cup
	13 February 1993	Borovets	10 km sprint	Biathlon World Championships
	11 March 1993	Östersund	20 km individual	Biathlon World Cup
1996–97 1 victory (1 In)	6 March 1997	Nagano	20 km individual	Biathlon World Cup

*Results are from UIPMB and IBU races which include the Biathlon World Cup, Biathlon World Championships and the Winter Olympic Games.

References[edit]

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

External links[edit]

Mark Kirchner at IBU BiathlonWorld.com
Mark Kirchner at IBU BiathlonResults.com

[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.

[IBUprofile-3] "Mark Kirchner". IBU Datacenter. International Biathlon Union. Retrieved 8 June 2015.

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[2]

[3]

v t e World champions in men's biathlon – Team event
4 × 20 km (time)	1958: (Adolf Wiklund, Olle Gunneriusson, Sture Ohlin, Sven Nilsson)
3 × 20 km (time)	1959: (Vladimir Melanin, Dmitri Sokolov, Valentin Pzhenitsyn) 1961: (Kalevi Huuskonen, Paavo Repo, Antti Tyrväinen) 1962: (Vladimir Melanin, Valentin Pzhenitsyn, Nikolay Puzanov) 1963: (Vladimir Melanin, Nikolay Mezharyakov, Valentin Pzhenitsyn) 1965: (Olav Jordet, Ola Wærhaug, Ivar Nordkild)
4 × 20 km	1989: (Juri Kashkarov, Sergei Bulygin, Alexandr Popov, Sergei Tchepikov) 1990: (Raik Dittrich, Mark Kirchner, Birk Anders, Frank Luck) 1991: (Hubert Leitgeb, Gottlieb Taschler, Simon Demetz, Wilfried Pallhuber) 1992: (Evgeny Redkin, Alexander Tropnikov, Anatoly Zhdanovich, Alexandr Popov) 1993: (Fritz Fischer, Frank Luck, Steffen Hoos, Sven Fischer)
4 × 10 km	1994: (Pieralberto Carrara, Hubert Leitgeb, Andreas Zingerle, Wilfried Pallhuber) 1995: (Frode Andresen, Dag Bjørndalen, Halvard Hanevold, Jon Åge Tyldum) 1996: (Oleg Ryzhenkov, Petr Ivashko, Alexandr Popov, Vadim Sashurin) 1997: (Oleg Ryzhenkov, Petr Ivashko, Alexandr Popov, Vadim Sashurin) 1998: (Egil Gjelland, Halvard Hanevold, Sylfest Glimsdal, Ole Einar Bjørndalen)