Lars Berger
Template:Short description Template:Infobox biathlete Lars Berger (born 1 May 1979) is a former Norwegian biathlete and cross-country skier.
Life and careerEdit
Fellow former biathlete Tora Berger is his sister.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Berger's family moved to Lesja Municipality in Oppland county in 1985. At the age of six, Berger started cross-country skiing, but during his teens he decided to try out biathlon.
Berger joined the national biathlon team in 2001. During the 2004 Biathlon World Championships in Oberhof, Germany, he won silver medals in the 15 km mass start and the 4 × 7.5 km relay. Berger also won two gold medals in the military world championships that same year (cross-country and patrol). Berger finished fifth in the 2004 overall World Cup, and won several gold medals from the Norwegian Biathlon Championships. At the 2007 Biathlon World Championships in Rasen-Antholz, Italy, Berger was part of the Norwegian team that won silver in the 4 × 7.5 km relay. After several disappointing races, mainly due to unstable shooting, Berger was thrown off the Norwegian national team ahead of the 2008/2009 season. He revenged this by retrieving two world cup victories in sprint events, a silver in the World Championship sprint, and contributed to the gold in the men's relay. He was regarded as perhaps the fastest skier on the biathlon tour, but his lack of shooting accuracy often prevented him from producing consistent and winning results.
Berger also competed in cross-country skiing from 2002. He won the 30 km and relay at the 2003 Norwegian cross-country skiing championships in Molde Municipality. Berger won a gold in the 4 × 10 km at the 2005 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Oberstdorf and finished 4th in the 15 km in those same championships. Berger won the gold medal in the 15 km at the Nordic Skiing World Championships in Sapporo in 2007.
Berger is the first person to win medals at the World Championships in biathlon and Nordic skiing in the same year. He is also the only athlete to win gold in relays in both World Championships (in Nordic skiing in 2005 and 2007, in biathlon in 2009).
In 2014, Berger won gold medal in the men's 15 km cross county skiing in the military world championship in Sodankylä, Finland.
On 27 April 2015, Berger announced his retirement from the sport. He cited a "chronic knee injury" as his reason for retiring.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Though Berger only participated in the 2010 Olympics, in both cross-country skiing and biathlon, he did travel to the Olympic Games as a reserve athlete in biathlon in both 2002 and 2014.
Biathlon resultsEdit
All results are sourced from the International Biathlon Union.<ref name="IBUprofile">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Olympic GamesEdit
| Event | Individual | Sprint | Pursuit | Template:Nowrap | Relay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Template:Flagicon 2010 Vancouver | — | 46th | 23rd | — | — |
World ChampionshipsEdit
5 medals (1 gold, 4 silver)
| Event | Individual | Sprint | Pursuit | Template:Nowrap | Relay | Template:Nowrap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Template:Flagicon 2004 Oberhof | 24th | 14th | 11th | Silver | Silver | Template:N/a |
| Template:Flagicon 2005 Hochfilzen | — | 44th | 32nd | — | — | — |
| Template:Flagicon 2006 Pokljuka | Template:N/a | Template:N/a | Template:N/a | Template:N/a | Template:N/a | 23rd |
| Template:Flagicon 2007 Antholz-Anterselva | 49th | 14th | 11th | 17th | Silver | — |
| Template:Flagicon 2009 Pyeongchang | 34th | Silver | 5th | 29th | Gold | 4th |
| Template:Flagicon 2011 Khanty-Mansiysk | 65th | 14th | 19th | 14th | — | — |
| Template:Flagicon 2012 Ruhpolding | — | 32nd | 40th | — | — | — |
- *During Olympic seasons competitions are only held for those events not included in the Olympic program.
- **The mixed relay was added as an event in 2005.
Overall recordEdit
| Result | Individual | Sprint | Pursuit | Mass start | Relay | Mixed relay | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st place | – | 7 | – | – | 4 | – | 11 |
| 2nd place | – | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | – | 10 |
| 3rd place | – | 3 | 1 | – | 2 | – | 6 |
| 4–10 | 2 | 14 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 30 |
| 11–20 | – | 14 | 16 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 41 |
| 21–40 | 7 | 24 | 25 | 12 | – | 1 | 69 |
| 41–60 | 10 | 21 | 7 | – | – | – | 38 |
| Others | 4 | 4 | – | – | – | – | 8 |
| DNF | – | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| DSQ | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | 1 |
| Starts | 23 | 89 | 60 | 23 | 16 | 3 | 214 |
- *Results in all UIPMB and IBU World Cup races.<ref name="IBUprofile"/>
Junior/Youth World ChampionshipsEdit
| Event | Individual | Sprint | Pursuit | Relay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Template:Flagicon 1999 Pokljuka | 11th | 9th | 5th | — |
Individual victoriesEdit
7 victories (7 Sp)
| Season | Date | Location | Discipline | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003–04 3 victories (3 Sp) |
11 December 2003 | Template:Flagicon Hochfilzen | 10 km sprint | Biathlon World Cup |
| 27 February 2004 | Template:Flagicon Lake Placid | 10 km sprint | Biathlon World Cup | |
| 11 March 2004 | Template:Flagicon Oslo Holmenkollen | 10 km sprint | Biathlon World Cup | |
| 2008–09 2 victories (2 Sp) |
20 December 2008 | Template:Flagicon Hochfilzen | 10 km sprint | Biathlon World Cup |
| 13 March 2009 | Template:Flagicon Vancouver | 10 km sprint | Biathlon World Cup | |
| 2010–11 1 victory (1 Sp) |
14 January 2011 | Template:Flagicon Ruhpolding | 10 km sprint | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2013–14 1 victory (1 Sp) |
6 December 2013 | Template:Flagicon Hochfilzen | 10 km sprint | Biathlon World Cup |
- *Results are from UIPMB and IBU races which include the Biathlon World Cup, Biathlon World Championships and the Winter Olympic Games.
Cross-country skiing resultsEdit
All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).<ref name="FISprofile">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Olympic GamesEdit
- 1 medal – (1 silver)
| Year | Age | 15 km individual |
30 km skiathlon |
50 km mass start |
Sprint | 4 × 10 km relay |
Team sprint |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 30 | — | — | — | — | Silver | — |
World ChampionshipsEdit
- 3 medals – (3 gold)
| Year | Age | 15 km individual |
30 km skiathlon |
50 km mass start |
Sprint | 4 × 10 km relay |
Team sprint |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 25 | 4 | — | — | — | Gold | — |
| 2007 | 27 | Gold | — | — | — | Gold | — |
World CupEdit
Season standingsEdit
| Season | Age | Discipline standings | Ski Tour standings | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | Distance | Sprint | Nordic Opening |
Tour de Ski |
World Cup Final | ||
| 2004 | 24 | 81 | 54 | — | Template:N/a | Template:N/a | Template:N/a |
| 2005 | 25 | 93 | 59 | — | Template:N/a | Template:N/a | Template:N/a |
| 2006 | 26 | Template:Abbr | Template:Abbr | — | Template:N/a | Template:N/a | Template:N/a |
| 2007 | 27 | 78 | 46 | — | Template:N/a | — | Template:N/a |
| 2008 | 28 | 144 | 85 | — | Template:N/a | — | — |
| 2010 | 30 | 130 | 84 | — | Template:N/a | — | — |
| 2012 | 32 | 107 | 67 | — | — | — | — |
Team podiumsEdit
- 1 victory – (1 Template:Abbr)
- 2 podiums – (2 Template:Abbr)
| No. | Season | Date | Location | Race | Level | Place | Teammates |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2003–04 | 23 November 2003 | Template:Flagicon Beitostølen, Norway | 4 × 10 km Relay C/F | World Cup | 2nd | Svartedal / Hjelmeset / Hofstad |
| 2 | 2011–12 | 20 November 2011 | Template:Flagicon Sjusjøen, Norway | 4 × 10 km Relay C/F | World Cup | 1st | Rønning / Krogh / Northug |
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
Template:S-start Template:S-ach Template:Succession box Template:S-end
Template:Footer World Champions Biathlon Relay Men Template:Footer World Champions XC 15km Men Template:Footer World Champions XC Relay Men