- Michael Greis
-
Michael Greis 
Personal information Full name Michael Greis Born August 18, 1976
Füssen, GermanyHeight 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in) Professional information Club SK Nesselwang World Cup Seasons 2001- Wins 11 Additional podiums 21 Total podiums 32 Updated on January 4, 2011. Medal record Competitor for 
GermanyMen's biathlon Winter Olympics Gold 2006 Turin 20 km individual Gold 2006 Turin 4×7.5 km relay Gold 2006 Turin 15 km mass start World Championships Gold 2008 Östersund Mixed relay Gold 2007 Antholz-Anterselva 15 km mass start Gold 2004 Oberhof 4×7.5 km relay Silver 2011 Khanty-Mansiysk Mixed relay Silver 2007 Antholz-Anterselva 20 km individual Silver 2005 Hochfilzen 20 km individual Bronze 2009 Pyeongchang 4×7.5 km relay Bronze 2009 Pyeongchang mixed relay Bronze 2008 Östersund 4×7.5 km relay Bronze 2007 Antholz-Anterselva 4×7.5 km relay Bronze 2005 Khanty-Mansiysk Mixed relay Michael Greis (born August 18, 1976, in Füssen, Bavaria) is a German triple Olympic gold medalist in biathlon.
Greis first competed at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, finishing 15th and 16th in the 10 km sprint and 12.5 km pursuit events in the biathlon.
Greis won the World Cup in the individual category in 2004/05, and was a member of the winning 4×7.5 km relay team in the 2004 Biathlon World Championships, and took silver in the individual 20 km category at the 2005 World Championships.
At the 2006 Winter Olympics, Greis came into the games heading the World Cup standings and took the first Olympic gold of the games with victory in the individual 20 km ahead of the defending Olympic champion Ole Einar Bjørndalen. He was also a member of the German team that won the 4×7.5 km relay.
On February 25, 2006, Greis won the men's 15 km event and became the first person to capture three gold medals at the Turin Olympic Games. (Koreans Jin Sun-Yu and Ahn Hyun Soo became the second and third later on the same day with victories in short track speed skating.)
Greis was named German sportsman of the year, along with fellow biathlete Kati Wilhelm, by journalists.[1]
In the 2006/07 World Cup season, Greis won the Overall and the Sprint competition.
In the 2007/08 World Cup season Greis managed onto the podium on a regular basis, attaining three victories, three 2nd places as well as three 3rds. At the season's World Champs in Östersund Greis did not participate in the sprint and in the pursuit but being anchor both in the men's Relay and the mixed Relay, helped to secure a gold and a bronze for his team.
Prior to the 2008/09 World Cup season Greis had had a serious disagreement with the Germans' head coach Frank Ullrich the reason being Ulrich's authoritative management of the team, which resulted in Greis' departure from Ulrich's jurisdiction to train on his own. This yielded him quite a solid performance throughout the year, with another two World Cup victories and the relay bronze at the Biathlon World Championships 2009 in South Korea.
Greis participated in the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver, Canada which turned to be a disappointing performance for his fans as he finished in the mediocre 10th place twice, in the Individual and the Mass Start, along with coming 5th in the relay and the pursuit, adding to a streak of unsuccessful Olympic performances by the German biathlon male team when not a single German managed to win any medal in biathlon for the first time in the Olympic history.
To date, Michael Greis is an active top-class athlete who continues to compete at a very high level.
Achievements
- Winter Olympics
- 2006 3x Gold (Individual, Mass Start, Relay)
- Biathlon World Championships
- 2004 1x Gold (Relay)
- 2005 1x Silver (Individual), 1x Bronze (Mixed relay)
- 2007 1x Gold (Mass start), 1x Silver (Individual), 1x Bronze (Men's relay)
- 2008 1x Gold (Mixed relay)
- 2009 2x Bronze (Mixed relay, Men's relay)
- Biathlon World Cup
- 1 Overall winner (2006/07)
- 11 victories
References
External links
Awards Preceded by
Ronny AckermannGerman Sportsman of the Year
2006Succeeded by
Fabian HambüchenOlympic champions in men's biathlon – 20 km individual 1960: Klas Lestander (SWE) · 1964: Vladimir Melanin (URS) · 1968: Magnar Solberg (NOR) · 1972: Magnar Solberg (NOR) · 1976: Nikolay Kruglov (URS) · 1980: Anatoly Alyabyev (URS) · 1984: Peter Angerer (FRG) · 1988: Frank-Peter Roetsch (GDR) · 1992: Eugeni Redkine (EUN) · 1994: Sergey Tarasov (RUS) · 1998: Halvard Hanevold (NOR) · 2002: Ole Einar Bjørndalen (NOR) · 2006: Michael Greis (GER) · 2010: Emil Hegle Svendsen (NOR)
Olympic champions in men's biathlon – 15 km mass start 2006: Michael Greis (GER) · 2010: Evgeny Ustyugov (RUS)
1977–78: Frank Ullrich (GDR) · 1978–79: Klaus Siebert (GDR) · 1979–80: Frank Ullrich (GDR) · 1980–81: Frank Ullrich (GDR) · 1981–82: Frank Ullrich (GDR) · 1982–83: Peter Angerer (FRG) · 1983–84: Frank-Peter Roetsch (GDR) · 1984–85: Frank-Peter Roetsch (GDR) · 1985–86: André Sehmisch (GDR) · 1986–87: Frank-Peter Roetsch (GDR) · 1987–88: Fritz Fischer (FRG) · 1988–89: Eirik Kvalfoss (NOR) · 1989–90: Sergey Tchepikov (URS) · 1990–91: Sergey Tchepikov (URS) · 1991–92: Jon Åge Tyldum (NOR) · 1992–93: Mikael Löfgren (SWE) · 1993–94: Patrice Bailly-Salins (FRA) · 1994–95: Jon Åge Tyldum (NOR) · 1995–96: Vladimir Dratchev (RUS) · 1996–97: Sven Fischer (GER) · 1997–98: Ole Einar Bjørndalen (NOR) · 1998–99: Sven Fischer (GER) · 1999–2000: Raphaël Poirée (FRA) · 2000–01: Raphaël Poirée (FRA) · 2001–02: Raphaël Poirée (FRA) · 2002–03: Ole Einar Bjørndalen (NOR) · 2003–04: Raphaël Poirée (FRA) · 2004–05: Ole Einar Bjørndalen (NOR) · 2005–06: Ole Einar Bjørndalen (NOR) · 2006–07: Michael Greis (GER) · 2007–08: Ole Einar Bjørndalen (NOR) · 2008–09: Ole Einar Bjørndalen (NOR) · 2009–10: Emil Hegle Svendsen (NOR) · 2010-11: Tarjei Bø (NOR)
Categories:- 1976 births
- Living people
- People from Füssen
- Olympic biathletes of Germany
- Biathletes at the 2002 Winter Olympics
- Biathletes at the 2006 Winter Olympics
- Biathletes at the 2010 Winter Olympics
- German biathletes
- Olympic gold medalists for Germany
- Olympic medalists in biathlon
- Winter Olympics
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