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Frank Ullrich

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Frank Ullrich
Ullrich in 2021
Personal information
Full nameFrank Ullrich
Born (1958-01-24) 24 January 1958 (age 66)
Trusetal, East Germany
Height1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Professional information
SportBiathlon
ClubASK Vorwärts Oberhof
World Cup debut13 January 1978
Olympic Games
Teams3 (1976, 1980, 1984)
Medals4 (1 gold)
World Championships
Teams6 (1977, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983)
Medals14 (9 gold)
World Cup
Seasons7 (1977/78–1983/84)
Individual victories17
Individual podiums28
Overall titles4 (1977–78, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1981–82)
Medal record
Men's biathlon
Representing  East Germany
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1980 Lake Placid 10 km sprint
Silver medal – second place 1980 Lake Placid 20 km individual
Silver medal – second place 1980 Lake Placid 4 × 7.5 km relay
Bronze medal – third place 1976 Innsbruck 4 × 7.5 km relay
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1978 Hochfilzen 10 km sprint
Gold medal – first place 1978 Hochfilzen 4 × 7.5 km relay
Gold medal – first place 1979 Ruhpolding 10 km sprint
Gold medal – first place 1979 Ruhpolding 4 × 7.5 km relay
Gold medal – first place 1981 Lahti 10 km sprint
Gold medal – first place 1981 Lahti 4 × 7.5 km relay
Gold medal – first place 1982 Minsk 20 km individual
Gold medal – first place 1982 Minsk 4 × 7.5 km relay
Gold medal – first place 1983 Antholz-Anterselva 20 km individual
Silver medal – second place 1978 Hochfilzen 20 km individual
Silver medal – second place 1981 Lahti 20 km individual
Silver medal – second place 1982 Minsk 10 km sprint
Silver medal – second place 1983 Antholz-Anterselva 4 × 7.5 km relay
Bronze medal – third place 1977 Lillehammer 4 × 7.5 km relay

Frank Ullrich (German pronunciation: [fʁaŋk ˈʊlʁɪç], audioⓘ; born 24 January 1958) is a German politician of the SPD and former biathlete and trainer of the German national team. Since 2021, he has been a member of the Bundestag.

Career

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Ullrich in 1982

Biathlon was in Ullrich's family as his father was a biathlon referee. His first appearance was in 1967 at the GDR Children Championships. In 1972, he placed second over 5 km at the Spartakiad, in 1975 he became Youth World Champion in relay. He won a bronze medal at the 1976 Winter Olympics with the 4 × 7.5 km relay team. At the 1980 Winter Olympics he won 3 medals with silvers in the 20 km individual and the 4 × 7.5 km relay and a gold medal in the 10 km sprint,[1] an event he dominated at world level between 1978 and 1981.

In 1982 his wife fell ill and died, soon after which he switched to training.[2] He undertook a period of study at the National Academy for Body Culture and then, in 1987, became the trainer of the East Germany national team, and, following German reunification, national trainer for the sprint.

Speaking to Ullrich's dominance in the World Cup, even though he retired in the mid-80s, only five male biathletes have surpassed him in terms of World Cup victories. Sven Fischer won his 17th World Cup victory on 18 March 2000, Ole Einar Bjørndalen won his on 12 January 2001, Raphaël Poirée won on 18 January 2002, whilst Emil Hegle Svendsen won on 2 December 2010 and Martin Fourcade won on 12 January 2013.

Politics

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Ullrich, who has a working class background and whose grandfather was a "passionate social democrat", was a direct candidate for the SPD in the 2021 German federal election. He won his electoral constituency (Suhl – Schmalkalden-Meiningen – Hildburghausen – Sonneberg in Thuringia) with 33.5 %, making him a member of the 20th Bundestag. The local election was observed closely by the German public because Ullrich ran against Hans-Georg Maaßen, the controversial former head of the German domestic intelligence service.[3]

Biathlon results

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All results are sourced from the International Biathlon Union.[4]

Olympic Games

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4 medals (1 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze)

Event Individual Sprint Relay
Austria 1976 Innsbruck — — Bronze
United States 1980 Lake Placid Silver Gold Silver
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 1984 Sarajevo 5th 17th 4th
*Sprint was added as an event in 1980.

World Championships

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14 medals (9 gold, 4 silver, 1 bronze)

Event Individual Sprint Relay
Norway 1977 Lillehammer — — Bronze
Austria 1978 Hochfilzen Silver Gold Gold
West Germany 1979 Ruhpolding 4th Gold Gold
Finland 1981 Lahti Silver Gold Gold
Soviet Union 1982 Minsk Gold Silver Gold
Italy 1983 Antholz-Anterselva Gold 8th Silver
*During Olympic seasons competitions are only held for those events not included in the Olympic program.

Individual victories

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17 victories (6 In, 11 Sp)

Season Date Location Discipline Level
1977–78
3 victories
(1 In, 2 Sp)		 22 February 1978 Italy Antholz-Anterselva 20 km individual Biathlon World Cup
4 March 1978 Austria Hochfilzen 10 km sprint Biathlon World Championships
27 March 1978 Soviet Union Murmansk 10 km sprint Biathlon World Cup
1978–79
1 victory
(1 Sp)		 31 January 1979 West Germany Ruhpolding 10 km sprint Biathlon World Championships
1979–80
5 victories
(1 In, 4 Sp)		 19 January 1980 West Germany Ruhpolding 10 km sprint Biathlon World Cup
26 January 1980 Italy Antholz-Anterselva 10 km sprint Biathlon World Cup
19 February 1980 United States Lake Placid 10 km sprint Winter Olympic Games
22 March 1980 Sweden Hedenäset 10 km sprint Biathlon World Cup
27 March 1980 Soviet Union Murmansk 20 km individual Biathlon World Cup
1980–81
2 victories
(2 Sp)		 31 January 1981 West Germany Ruhpolding 10 km sprint Biathlon World Cup
14 February 1981 Finland Lahti 10 km sprint Biathlon World Championships
1981–82
4 victories
(2 In, 2 Sp)		 16 January 1982 Switzerland Egg am Etzel 10 km sprint Biathlon World Cup
23 January 1982 Italy Antholz-Anterselva 10 km sprint Biathlon World Cup
28 January 1982 West Germany Ruhpolding 20 km individual Biathlon World Cup
10 February 1982 Soviet Union Minsk 20 km individual Biathlon World Championships
1982–83
2 victories
(2 In)		 9 February 1983 Italy Antholz-Anterselva 20 km individual Biathlon World Cup
24 February 1983 Italy Antholz-Anterselva 20 km individual Biathlon World Championships
*Results are from UIPMB and IBU races which include the Biathlon World Cup, Biathlon World Championships and the Winter Olympic Games.

References

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  1. ^ Olympic results Archived 25 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Achim Leoni (as interviewer); Frank Ullrich (as interviewee) (18 February 2006). "In meiner Stasi-Akte erkannte ich zwölf Leute". newspaper interview. Hamburger Abendblatt. {{cite web}}: |author1= has generic name (help)
  3. ^ "Bundestagswahl 2021: Wer ist Maaßen-Bezwinger Frank Ullrich?". 26 September 2021.
  4. ^ "Frank Ullrich". IBU Datacenter. International Biathlon Union. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
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