Sven Fischer

This article is about the German biathlete. For the German footballer, see Sven Fischer (footballer).

Medal record
Sven Fischer, Oberhof, 2003
Competitor for Germany
Men's biathlon
Winter Olympics
Gold	2006 Turin	10 km sprint
Gold	2006 Turin	4×7.5 km relay
Gold	1998 Nagano	4×7.5 km relay
Gold	1994 Lillehammer	4×7.5 km relay
Silver	2002 Salt Lake City	10 km sprint
Silver	2002 Salt Lake City	4×7.5 km relay
Bronze	2006 Turin	12.5 km pursuit
Bronze	1994 Lillehammer	20 km individual
World Championships
Gold	2004 Oberhof	4 x 7.5 km relay
Gold	2003 Khanty-Mansiysk	4 x 7.5 km relay
Gold	1999 Kontiolahti	20 km individual
Gold	1999 Kontiolahti	15 km mass start
Gold	1997 Brezno-Osrblie	4 x 7.5 km relay
Gold	1995 Antholz-Anterselva	4 x 7.5 km relay
Gold	1993 Borovets	team event
Silver	2005 Hochfilzen	10 km sprint
Silver	2005 Hochfilzen	15 km mass start
Silver	2003 Khanty-Mansiysk	15 km mass start
Silver	2002 Oslo	15 km mass start
Silver	1998 Hochfilzen	team event
Silver	1996 Ruhpolding	4 x 7.5 km relay
Bronze	2007 Antholz-Anterselva	4 x 7.5 km relay
Bronze	2005 Hochfilzen	12.5 km pursuit
Bronze	2001 Pokljuka	15 km mass start
Bronze	2001 Pokljuka	12.5 km pursuit
Bronze	2000 Oslo	4 x 7.5 km relay
Bronze	1999 Kontiolahti	12.5 km pursuit
Bronze	1993 Borovets	4 x 7.5 km relay

Sven Fischer (born April 16, 1971) is a former German biathlete. He trained with the WSV Oberhof club, and was coached by Frank Ullrich and Fritz Fischer (national coaches) and Klaus Siebert (club coach). After the 2006/07 biathlon season, he retired.

Background

Fischer, who stands at 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) and weighs 85 kg (190 lb), was born in Schmalkalden, Thuringia (former East Germany). His apparent talents for athletics was discovered early and already in third grade he was training three times a week in the BSG Werkzeugkombinat sports club. In the fifth grade, he became district champion of his age class.

In September 1983, the boarding school Kinder- und Jugendsportschule (KJS) accepted him on a biathlon youth scholarship. After his exam in 1989, he joined the army studying to become a sports teacher. The German reunification and the fall of the Berlin wall and subsequent unification of the East and West German armies, forced him to leave the military in 1990.

He instead started training for international sport events, but in 1989, when Fischer was eighteen, he had problems with both his kneecaps after a growth spurt as a youth: "I grew too fast and didn't stretch well." As a result he sat out the whole of the 1989 season and thought he might have to retire from the sport at his young age. However, in the 1990 season when he came back he found that he had become more powerful than before his injury, and in December 1990, he celebrated his first European cup victory in sprint in Hochfilzen. One week later he participated in his first world cup relay. He was soon rewarded B–status and because of success in the German Championship in 1992 he qualified for the world cup in Pokljuka in December 1992.

In 1993, he won a World Championship gold medal in the 10 km Team in Borovets, Bulgaria, and a world cup race, in sprint, in Kontiolahti, Finland. In 1994, he won the Olympic bronze medal in the 20 km individual.

Fischer was an integral part of the German biathlon team until his retirement.

Fischer has eight biathlon victories at the Holmenkollen ski festival, three in individual (1995, 1999, 2004), two in sprint (1995, 1999), two in pursuit (2002, 2004), and one in mass start (2001).

Present day

Fischer has won the World Cup on two occasions (1996/97 and 1998/99), he's also come second twice (1993/94 and 2004/05), and third three times (1995/96, 1997/98, and 1999/2000). In the 2004/05 season Fischer lost the World Cup by only eleven points, which he most probably would have earned had he competed in the final race of the year, but he missed it because of a cold.

In the Olympics, Fischer has won four gold medals, one of them in the sprint in 2006 Winter Olympics, and the other three in the relay (1994, 1998, and 2006). He also has won two silver, and two bronze.

In the World Championships, Fischer has amassed seven gold medals, six silver, and seven bronze. Four of his gold medals were won in relays, one in the team event, one in the individual, and one in the mass start. In the sprint he has one of his silver medals (Hochfilzen 2005). He has three bronze from the pursuit (Kontiolahti 1999, Pokljuka 2001, and Hochfilzen 2005). In the mass start he has one gold (Oslo Holmenkollen 1999), two silver (Khanty-Mansiysk 2003 and Hochfilzen 2005), and one bronze (Pokljuka 2001). His remaining silver and two bronze came in the relay (silver in Ruhpolding 1996, bronzes in Borovetz 1993 and Lahti 2000).

Olympic Winter Games

Games	Individual	Sprint	Pursuit	Relay
1994 Winter Olympics	Bronze	7th	-	Gold
1998 Winter Olympics	14th	29th	-	Gold
2002 Winter Olympics	29th	Silver	12th	Silver
2006 Winter Olympics	17th	Gold	Bronze	Gold

World championships

Event	Individual	Sprint	Pursuit	Mass Start	Team	Relay
1993 Borowetz	DNS	20th	-	-	Gold	Bronze
1995 Antholz	DNS	26th	-	-	14th	Gold
1996 Ruhpolding	22nd	19th	-	-	6th	Silver
1997 Osrblie	5th	24th	22nd	-	-	Gold
1998 Pokljuka	-	-	4th	-	Silver	-
1999 Kontiolahti	Gold	7th	Bronze	Gold	-	4th
2000 Oslo	19th	40th	13th	13th	-	Bronze
2001 Pokljuka	11th	5th	Bronze	Bronze	-	12th
2002 Oslo	-	-	-	Silver	-	-
2003 Khanty Mansiysk	12th	11th	22nd	Silver	-	Gold
2004 Oberhof	16th	8th	23rd	11th	-	Gold
2005 Hochfilzen	Silver	Bronze	4th	Silver	-	6th
2007 Antholz	20th	43rd	17th	5th	-	Bronze

References

• "IBU Profile of Sven Fischer". International Biathlon Union. http://data.biathlonworld.com/data/archives.aspx?IbuId=BTGER11604197101. Retrieved 2008-01-25. 

External links

• Fan page