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

Mark Kirchner
Personal information
Full nameMark Kirchner
Born (1970-04-04) 4 April 1970 (age 54)
Neuhaus am Rennweg, Thuringia, East Germany
Height1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Professional information
SportBiathlon
World Cup debut14 December 1989
Olympic Games
Teams2 (1992, 1994)
Medals4 (3 gold)
World Championships
Teams6 (1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997)
Medals10 (7 gold)
World Cup
Seasons9 (1989/90–1997/98)
Individual victories7
Individual podiums12
Discipline titles1:
1 Individual (1990–91)
Medal record
Men's biathlon
Representing  Germany
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1992 Albertville 4 × 7.5 km relay
Gold medal – first place 1992 Albertville 10 km sprint
Gold medal – first place 1994 Lillehammer 4 × 7.5 km relay
Silver medal – second place 1992 Albertville 20 km individual
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1991 Lahti 20 km individual
Gold medal – first place 1991 Lahti 10 km sprint
Gold medal – first place 1991 Lahti 4 × 7.5 km relay
Gold medal – first place 1993 Borovets 10 km sprint
Gold medal – first place 1995 Antholz-Anterselva 4 × 7.5 km relay
Silver medal – second place 1997 Brezno-Osrblie Team event
Bronze medal – third place 1993 Borovets 4 × 7.5 km relay
Representing  East Germany
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1990 Oslo 10 km sprint
Gold medal – first place 1990 Oslo Team event
Bronze medal – third place 1990 Kontiolahti 4 × 7.5 km relay

Life and career

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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

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

Olympic Games

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4 medals (3 gold, 1 silver)

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

World Championships

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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

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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
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

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  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.
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