Kati Wilhelm

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Women's Biathlon
Olympic medalist
Kati Wilhelm in July 2006
Medal record
Olympic Games
Gold	2006 Turin	10 km Pursuit
Gold	2002 Salt Lake City	7.5 km Sprint
Gold	2002 Salt Lake City	4x7.5 km Relay
Silver	2006 Turin	12.5 km Mass start
Silver	2006 Turin	4x6 km Relay
Silver	2002 Salt Lake City	10 km Pursuit
World Championships
Gold	2001 Pokljuka	Sprint 7.5 km
Gold	2007 Antholz-Anterselva	Relay 4 x 6 km
Silver	2001 Pokljuka	Relay 4 x 7.5 km
Silver	2005 Hochfilzen	Relay 4 x 6 km
Bronze	2003 Khanty-Mansiysk	Relay 4 x 7.5 km
Bronze	2004 Oberhof	Relay 4 x 6 km
Bronze	2005 Khanty-Mansiysk	Mixed Relay 4 x 6 km
Bronze	2007 Antholz-Anterselva	Mass start 12.5 km

Kati Wilhelm (born August 2, 1976) is a professional biathlete born in Schmalkalden in the Federal State of Thuringia, Germany. Like most German biathletes she is also a member of the German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) with the rank of sergeant (Hauptfeldwebel). She currently resides in Steinbach-Hallenberg, also in the Federal State of Thuringia.

Kati Wilhelm started training cross-country skiing as a child in 1983 and was a member of the German cross-country ski team at the 1998 Nagano Olympic Games. In 1999, while attending the Military World Games, she came into contact with biathlon and was hooked. Her decision to switch to biathlon proved to be a good one. The next year she experienced her first successes including a World Cup victory. During the Salt Lake City Olympic Games in 2002, she was the most decorated female biathlete, winning gold medals in the 7.5 km sprint and the 4 X 6 km relay. She also won a silver medal in the 10 km pursuit. After two years of struggling, she finally moved to Ruhpolding, Bavaria in 2004. She regained her strength and placed second in the 2004-05 World Cup season, defeated only by Frenchwoman Sandrine Bailly. At the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy she carried the German flag at the opening ceremony. After winning her third Olympic gold medal in the 10 km pursuit as well as silver in the mass start and with the German relay, she became the best female biathlete at the Olympics ever. Moreover, she dominated the 2005-06 World Cup season, winning six races and the overall World Cup trophy. She was elected "biathlete of the year 2006" as well as "German sportswoman of the year 2006". In total she has 16 IBU Biathlon World Cup wins.

In the 2006-07 World Cup season, she is currently in 2nd place behind Sweden's Anna Carin Olofsson.

The German media gave her the nickname "Rotkäppchen" (Little Red Riding Hood) because of her characteristic red hair and the red cap she uses in competition. She was able to translate her Olympic victories into multiple endorsement deals, including print and television advertising.

[edit] Achievements

Winter Olympics
- 2002 2x Gold (Sprint, Relay), 1x Silver (Pursuit)
- 2006 1x Gold (Pursuit), 2x Silver (Mass Start, Relay)

Biathlon World Championships
- 2001 1x Gold (Sprint), 1x Silver (Relay)
- 2003 1x Bronze (Relay)
- 2004 1x Bronze (Relay)
- 2005 1x Silver (Relay), 1x Bronze (Mixed Relay)
- 2007 1x Gold (Relay), 1x Bronze (Mass Start)