Raphaël Poirée

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.

Raphaël Poirée
Poirée in Antholz-Anterselva in 2006
Personal information
Full nameRaphaël Poirée
Born (1974-08-09) 9 August 1974
Rives, France
Height1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Professional information
SportBiathlon
ClubVercors Ski De Fond
SkisRossignol
World Cup debut9 March 1995
Retired11 March 2007
Olympic Games
Teams3 (1998, 2002, 2006)
Medals3 (0 gold)
World Championships
Teams12 (1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007)
Medals18 (8 gold)
World Cup
Seasons13 (1994/95–2006/07)
Individual victories44
All victories46
Individual podiums103
All podiums117
Overall titles4 (1999−00, 2000−01, 2001−02, 2003−04)
Discipline titles10:
2 Individual (2003−04, 2006–07);
1 Sprint (2003−04);
4 Pursuit (1998−99, 2000−01, 2001−02, 2003−04);
3 Mass start (1999−00, 2003−04, 2004–05)

Sports career

Poirée was born in Rives, Isère in France and like the rest of his colleagues in the French biathlon and cross-country skiing team, was a sport soldier.

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 seven gold medals, three silver and seven bronze.

Raphaël Poirée was one of the best mass start biathletes of his time, with 9 1st places, 4 2nd places, and 3 3rd places in his World Cup career, second only to Ole Einar Bjørndalen who got 10 1st places, 5 2nd places and 4 3rd places in the same time frame. Poirée also won 4 out of the 7 World Championship 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.[1] 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.[2]

Personal life

He married fellow Norwegian biathlete Liv Grete Skjelbreid Poirée on 27 May 2000 in Norway. They first met at the 1992 Junior World Championships and began dating in 1996. They have three daughters together, Emma (born 27 January 2003), Anna (born 10 January 2007) and Lena (born 10 October 2008). They have a flat in La Chapelle-en-Vercors, France, but live mostly in Liv Grete's home village of Hålandsdal, 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 July 2013, the couple announced that they were separating.[3]

In 2009, Poirée was involved in a quad-bike accident which nearly left him paralysed. One month after undergoing neck and back surgery he was released from hospital.[4]

He speaks French, English, Norwegian and Italian

Biathlon results

All results are sourced from the International Biathlon Union.[5]

Olympic Games

3 medals (1 silver, 2 bronze)

Event Individual Sprint Pursuit Mass start Relay
1998 Nagano 22nd DNF N/A N/A 7th
2002 Salt Lake City 10th 9th Silver N/A Bronze
2006 Turin 20th 8th DNF 12th Bronze
*Pursuit was added as an event in 2002, with mass start being added in 2006.

World Championships

18 medals (8 gold, 3 silver, 7 bronze)

Event Individual Sprint Pursuit Mass start Team Relay Mixed relay
1996 Ruhpolding 67th 23rd N/A N/A 10th 5th N/A
1997 Brezno-Osrblie 14th 59th — N/A 7th 5th N/A
1998 Pokljuka N/A N/A Bronze N/A 7th N/A N/A
1999 Kontiolahti 19th 26th 11th 9th N/A 12th N/A
2000 Oslo Holmenkollen 4th 6th Bronze Gold N/A 10th N/A
2001 Pokljuka 37th 7th Silver Gold N/A Gold N/A
2002 Oslo Holmenkollen N/A N/A N/A Gold N/A N/A N/A
2003 Khanty-Mansiysk 7th DNF — Bronze N/A 13th N/A
2004 Oberhof Gold Gold Silver Gold N/A Bronze N/A
2005 Hochfilzen 8th 13th 9th Bronze N/A 5th 6th
2006 Pokljuka N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A Bronze
2007 Antholz-Anterselva Gold 8th 6th Bronze N/A — Silver
*During Olympic seasons competitions are only held for those events not included in the Olympic program.
**Team was removed as an event in 1998, and pursuit was added in 1997 with mass start being added in 1999 and the mixed relay in 2005.

World Cup
Season Overall Individual Sprint Pursuit Mass start
Points Position Points Position Points Position Points Position Points Position
1994–950N/A0N/A0N/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
1995–9610817th5914th4920thN/AN/AN/AN/A
1996–9715016th2926th8713th3412thN/AN/A
1997–982495th4212th1612nd467thN/AN/A
1998–993655th2615th10711th1851st472nd
1999–004701st682nd1533rd1723rd771st
2000–019211st837th3752nd2781st1363rd
2001–028051st885th2333rd3621st1002nd
2002–035914th3223rd2264th1993rd1143rd
2003–0410101st1461st3581st3311st1401st
2004–058693rd996th2773rd3743rd1461st
2005–066952nd833rd2453rd2003rd1572nd
2006–077093rd1501st2076th1737th1473rd
*Pursuit was added as an event in the 1996–97 season, and mass start was added in the 1998–99 season.

Individual victories

44 victories (7 In, 13 Sp, 15 Pu, 9 MS)

Season Date Location Discipline Level
1997–98
1 victory
(1 Sp)		8 January 1998 Ruhpolding10 km sprintBiathlon World Cup
1998–99
4 victories
(3 Pu, 1 MS)		12 December 1998 Hochfilzen12.5 km pursuitBiathlon World Cup
13 January 1999 Ruhpolding15 km mass startBiathlon World Cup
17 January 1999 Ruhpolding12.5 km pursuitBiathlon World Cup
27 February 1999 Lake Placid12.5 km pursuitBiathlon World Cup
1999–2000
3 victories
(1 In, 1 Sp, 1 MS)		15 December 1999 Pokljuka20 km individualBiathlon World Cup
20 January 2000 Antholz-Anterselva10 km sprintBiathlon World Cup
26 February 2000 Oslo Holmenkollen15 km mass startBiathlon World Championships
2000–01
6 victories
(3 Sp, 2 Pu, 1 MS)		7 December 2000 Antholz-Anterselva10 km sprintBiathlon World Cup
8 December 2000 Antholz-Anterselva12.5 km pursuitBiathlon World Cup
15 December 2000 Antholz-Anterselva10 km sprintBiathlon World Cup
4 January 2001 Oberhof10 km sprintBiathlon World Cup
14 January 2001 Ruhpolding12.5 km pursuitBiathlon World Cup
9 February 2001 Pokljuka15 km mass startBiathlon World Championships
2001–02
7 victories
(2 Sp, 3 Pu, 2 MS)		16 December 2001 Pokljuka12.5 km pursuitBiathlon World Cup
12 January 2002 Oberhof15 km mass startBiathlon World Cup
18 January 2002 Ruhpolding10 km sprintBiathlon World Cup
27 January 2002 Antholz-Anterselva12.5 km pursuitBiathlon World Cup
14 March 2002 Lahti10 km sprintBiathlon World Cup
17 March 2002 Lahti12.5 km pursuitBiathlon World Cup
24 March 2002 Oslo Holmenkollen15 km mass startBiathlon World Championships
2002–03
2 victories
(1 Sp, 1 Pu)		19 December 2002 Brezno-Osrblie10 km sprintBiathlon World Cup
22 December 2002 Brezno-Osrblie12.5 km pursuitBiathlon World Cup
2003–04
11 victories
(2 In, 3 Sp, 4 Pu, 2 MS)		18 December 2003 Brezno-Osrblie20 km individualBiathlon World Cup
21 December 2003 Brezno-Osrblie12.5 km pursuitBiathlon World Cup
8 January 2004 Pokljuka10 km sprintBiathlon World Cup
25 January 2004 Antholz-Anterselva15 km mass startBiathlon World Cup
7 February 2004 Oberhof10 km sprintBiathlon World Championships
12 February 2004 Oberhof20 km individualBiathlon World Championships
15 February 2004 Oberhof15 km mass startBiathlon World Championships
29 February 2004 Lake Placid12.5 km pursuitBiathlon World Cup
4 March 2004 Fort Kent10 km sprintBiathlon World Cup
5 March 2004 Fort Kent12.5 km pursuitBiathlon World Cup
13 March 2004 Oslo Holmenkollen12.5 km pursuitBiathlon World Cup
2004–05
3 victories
(1 Pu, 2 MS)		19 December 2004 Östersund15 km mass startBiathlon World Cup
9 January 2005 Oberhof12.5 km pursuitBiathlon World Cup
19 March 2005 Khanty-Mansiysk15 km mass startBiathlon World Cup
2005–06
1 victory
(1 In)		8 December 2005 Hochfilzen20 km individualBiathlon World Cup
2006–07
6 victories
(3 In, 2 Sp, 1 Pu)		14 December 2006 Hochfilzen10 km sprintBiathlon World Cup
6 February 2007 Antholz-Anterselva20 km individualBiathlon World Championships
1 March 2007 Lahti20 km individualBiathlon World Cup
3 March 2007 Lahti10 km sprintBiathlon World Cup
4 March 2007 Lahti12.5 km pursuitBiathlon World Cup
8 March 2007 Oslo Holmenkollen20 km individualBiathlon World Cup
*Results are from UIPMB and IBU races which include the Biathlon World Cup, Biathlon World Championships and the Winter Olympic Games.

References
  1. "Poiree wins Gold in Individual and announces retirement" Archived 2007-09-29 at the Wayback Machine – Article from biathlonworld.com, 4 February 2007
  2. "Adieu Raphaël Poirée!" Archived 2007-03-13 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Liv Grete og Raphael Poirée separeres (in Norwegian) TV2, 5 July 2013, retrieved 9 July 2013
  4. "Poiree finally leaves hospital following quad-bike crash" Article from CTV, 26 January 2010
  5. "Raphaël Poirée". IBU Datacenter. International Biathlon Union. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
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