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Sven Fischer (born April 16 , 1971 ) is a German World Cup and Olympic level professional Biathlete . He trains with the WSV Oberhof club, and is coached by Frank Ullrich and Fritz Fischer (national coaches) and Klaus Siebert (club coach). Sven Fischer is widely considered one of the best biathletes in the world. BACKGROUND Fischer, who stands at 185 cm and weighs 85 kg, was born in Schmalkalden , Thuringia (former GDR )). His apparent talents for athletics was discovered early and already in 3rd grade he was training 3 times a week in the BSG Werkzeugkombinat sports club. In the 5th grade he became district champion of his age class. In September 1983 the boarding school Kinder–und Jugendsportschule (KJS) accepted him on a biathlon youth scholarship. After his exam in 1989 he joined the army studying to become a sports teacher. The German Reunion and the fall of the Berlin Wall and subsequent unification of the East and West German armies, forced him to leave the military in 1990 . He instead started training for international sport events, but in 1989 when Fischer was 18 he had problems with both his kneecaps after a growth spurt as a youth. "I grew too fast and didn't stretch well." As a result he sat out the whole of the 1989 season and thought he might have to retire from the sport at the age of 18. However in the 1990 season when he came back he found that he had become more powerful than before his injury, and in December 1990 he celebrated his first European cup victory in sprint in Hochfilzen . One week later he participated in his first world cup relay. He was soon rewarded B–status and because of success in the German Championship in 1992 he qualified for the world cup in Pokljuka in December 1992 . In 1993 he won a World Championship gold medal in the 10km Team in Borowetz , Bulgaria and a world cup race, in sprint, in Kontiolahti , Finland 99. In 1994 he won the Olympic bronze medal in the 20k individual. Since then Sven Fischer has been an integral part of the German biathlon team. As of 2006 , Fischer has eight biathlon victories at the Holmenkollen Ski Festival , three in individual ( 1995 , 1999, 2004), two in sprint (1995, 1999), two in pursuit (2002, 2004), and one in mass start (2001). PRESENT DAY Fischer currently lies third in the World Cup standings, 74 points behind Ole Einar Bjørndalen . He is fourth in the individual score, 56 points behind fellow countryman Michael Greis . Fischer finished the sprint season in fourth place, 24 points behind Tomasz Sikora . He is in second place in the pursuit, 28 points behind Bjørndalen, and in the mass start he is in fourth place, 33 points behind Poiree. Germany top the relay and nations cup, but the biathletes receive no extra points. Fischer has won the World Cup on two occasions (1996/1997 & 1998/99), he's also come second twice (1993/94 & 2004/05), and third three times (1995/96, 1997/98, and 1999/00). In the 2004/2005 season Fischer lost the World Cup by only eleven points, which he most probably would have earned had he competed in the final race of the year, but he missed it because of a cold. In the Olympics, Fischer has four gold medals, one of them in the sprint in 2006 Winter Olympics , and the other three in the relay (1994, 1998, and 2006). He also has two silver, and two bronze. In the World Championships, Fischer has amassed six gold medals, four silver, and six bronze. Four of his gold medals are in the relay, he has one from the individual, and one from the mass start. In the sprint he has one of his silver medals ( Hochfilzen 2005). He has three bronze from the pursuit ( Kontiolahti 1999, Pokljuka 2001, and Hochfilzen 2005). In the mass start he has one gold (Oslo Holmenkollen 1999), two silver ( Khanty-Mansiysk 2003 & Hochfilzen 2005), and one bronze (Pokljuka 2001). His remaining silver and two bronze came in the relay (silver in Ruhpolding 1996, bronzes in Borovetz 1993 & Lahti 2000). TRIVIA
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