Raphaël Poirée

Medal record

Raphaël Poirée in Antholz (2006)
Men's Biathlon
Winter Olympics
Silver 2002 Salt Lake City 12.5 km pursuit
Bronze 2002 Salt Lake City 4 x 7.5 km relay
Bronze 2006 Turin 4 x 7.5 km relay
World Championships
Gold 2007 Antholz-Anterselva 20 km individual
Gold 2004 Oberhof 20 km individual
Gold 2004 Oberhof 10 km sprint
Gold 2004 Oberhof 15 km mass start
Gold 2001 Pokljuka 15 km mass start
Gold 2001 Pokljuka 4 x 7.5 km relay
Gold 2000 Holmenkollen 15 km mass start
Silver 2007 Antholz-Anterselva mixed relay
Silver 2004 Oberhof 12.5 km pursuit
Silver 2001 Pokljuka 12.5 km pursuit
Bronze 2007 Antholz-Anterselva 15 km mass start
Bronze 2006 Pokljuka mixed relay
Bronze 2005 Hochfilzen 15 km mass start
Bronze 2004 Oberhof 4 x 7.5 km relay
Bronze 2003 Khanty-Mansiysk 15 km mass start
Bronze 2000 Holmenkollen 12.5 km pursuit
Bronze 1998 Pokljuka 12.5 km pursuit

Raphaël Poirée (born 9 August 1974) is a retired French biathlete who was active from 1995 to 2007. With his 44 World cup victories and several World Championship medals he ranks among the most successful biathletes ever.

Contents

Biography

He was born in Rives, Isère in France and his physical measurements are: 174 cm / 5'9", 70 kg / 154 lb, 11 st. He is married to fellow retired biathlete Liv Grete Skjelbreid Poirée from Norway. They have three daughters together, Emma (b. 27 January 2003), Anna (b. 10 January 2007) and Lena (b. 10 October 2008). They have a flat in La Chapelle-en-Vercors, France, but live mostly in Liv's hometown of Hålandsdalen, Norway.The Poirées are the only husband and wife to win medals in the same Olympics for different nations. At the 2002 Winter Olympics, France’s Raphaël and Norway’s Liv won matching silver medals in the biathlon.

In 2009, Poirée was involved in a horrific quad-bike accident which nearly left him paralysed. One month after undergoing neck and back surgery he was released from hospital.[1]

He speaks French, English, Norwegian and Italian and like the rest of his colleagues in the French biathlon and cross-country skiing team, was a sport soldier.

Sports career

Poirée has four IBU World Cup titles (1999−00, 2000−01, 2001−02 and 2003−04). He has also come second once, in 2005−06 and third once, in the 2004−05 season. Poirée has had 103 World Cup podium finishes, 44 in first place, 39 in second, and has come third 20 times. In the Winter Olympics, Poiree has one silver and two bronze medals. At the World Championships however, he has eight gold medals, three silver and seven bronze.

Raphaël Poirée was the best Mass start biathlete of his time, with 9 1st places, 4 2nd places, and 3 3rd places in his World Cup career. He also won 4 out of the 7 World Championships Mass start races he took part in.

Poirée also had five victories at the Holmenkollen ski festival biathlon competition with three Mass starts (2000, 2002, and 2004), one Pursuit (2004) and one Individual (2007).

After winning the gold medal at the World Championships in Antholz in 2007, Poiree announced the end of his career after that World Cup season.[2] He eventually chose to retire after the Holmenkollen World Cup meet (i.e. before the season's last WC meet, in Khanty-Mansyisk in Russia the week after); his last competition was the Mass start race on Sunday 11 March, where he finished in second place after a cm-close last sprint to the finish line against his long-time competitor Ole Einar Bjørndalen of Norway.[3]

Achievements

Winter Olympics

Biathlon World Championships

Biathlon World Cup

References

  1. ^ "Poiree finally leaves hospital following quad-bike crash" Article from CTV, 26 January 2010
  2. ^ "Poiree wins Gold in Individual and announces retirement" – Article from biathlonworld.com, 4 February 2007
  3. ^ "Adieu Raphaël Poirée!"

External links