Ricco Groß

Ricco Groß

Ricco Groß in Antholz-Anterselva in 2006.
Personal information
Full name Ricco Groß
Born (1970-08-22) 22 August 1970
Bad Schlema, East Germany
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Website ricco-gross.de
Professional information
Sport Biathlon
Club Ski Club Ruhpolding
Retired 18 March 2007
Olympic Games
Teams 5 (1992, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006)
Medals 8 (4 gold)
World Championships
Teams 15 (1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007)
Medals 20 (9 gold)
World Cup
Seasons 17 (1990/91–2006/07)
Individual victories 9
All victories 33
Individual podiums 52
All podiums 95
Discipline titles 1:
1 Individual (1996–97)

Ricco Groß (born 22 August 1970) is a former German biathlete whose exploits made him one of the most successful biathletes of all time at the Winter Olympics and the World Championships.

Career

He has been married to his wife Kathrin since 1994 and they have three sons: Marco (born 1995), Simon (b. 1998), and Gabriel (b. 2004). He is a Hauptfeldwebel (Sergeant First Class) in the German Bundeswehr.

Groß started out as a cross-country skier but switched to biathlon at the age of 13. He made his World Cup debut at the age of 20.[1] His first club was the SG Dynamo Klingenthal until 1991. In the Biathlon World Cup of 1997/1998, he came second in the overall competition. In the biathlon competition at the 1992, 1994, and 1998 Winter Olympics, he won gold medals as part of the men's 4 × 7.5 km relay team. At the 2002 Winter Olympics in the 4 × 7.5 km relay for men the German team won silver and at the 12.5 km pursuit for men, he won bronze for himself. He took a total of eight Olympic medals during his career, including four relay golds.[2]

In the Biathlon World Championships sprint (10 km) he won bronze in 1995, and silver in 2003 and 2004. In 1999, 2003, and 2004, he won gold in the pursuit (12.5 km). In the individual (20 km), he won gold in 1997, silver in 1999, and bronze in 2003 and 2005. Groß took a total of 53 individual podium finishes in World Cup competition, including nine race wins.[2]

After retiring from competition Groß settled in Ruhpolding. He has worked as a commentator on biathlon for German television and was appointed as coach of the German women's biathlon team in 2010.[1] He was subsequently announced as senior trainer for the German IBU Cup team in April 2014.[3] In August 2015 he became a senior coach for the Russian men's biathlon squad, agreeing a contract up to the 2017-18 season.[2]

Biathlon results

All results are sourced from the International Biathlon Union.[4]

Olympic Games

8 medals (4 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze)

Event Individual Sprint Pursuit Mass start Relay
France 1992 Albertville — Silver N/A N/A Gold
Norway 1994 Lillehammer — Silver N/A N/A Gold
Japan 1998 Nagano 6th 17th N/A N/A Gold
United States 2002 Salt Lake City 4th 4th Bronze N/A Silver
Italy 2006 Turin 11th 6th 12th — Gold
*Pursuit was added as an event in 2002, with mass start being added in 2006.

World Championships

20 medals (9 gold, 5 silver, 6 bronze)

Event Individual Sprint Pursuit Mass start Team Relay Mixed relay
Finland 1991 Lahti — 16th N/A N/A 4th Gold N/A
Bulgaria 1993 Borovets 6th 64th N/A N/A — — N/A
Italy 1995 Antholz-Anterselva 55th Bronze N/A N/A 14th Gold N/A
Germany 1996 Ruhpolding 9th 12th N/A N/A 6th Silver N/A
Slovakia 1997 Brezno-Osrblie Gold 34th 26th N/A — Gold N/A
Slovenia 1998 Pokljuka N/A N/A 7th N/A Silver N/A N/A
Finland 1999 Kontiolahti Silver 6th Gold 8th N/A 4th N/A
Norway 2000 Oslo Holmenkollen 9th 7th 18th 6th N/A Bronze N/A
Slovenia 2001 Pokljuka 7th 27th 14th 4th N/A 12th N/A
Norway 2002 Oslo Holmenkollen N/A N/A N/A 11th N/A N/A N/A
Russia 2003 Khanty-Mansiysk Bronze Silver Gold 22nd N/A Gold N/A
Germany 2004 Oberhof 4th Silver Gold 29th N/A Gold N/A
Austria 2005 Hochfilzen Bronze 7th 6th 7th N/A 6th Bronze
Slovenia 2006 Pokljuka N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 10th
Italy 2007 Antholz-Anterselva 9th — — — N/A Bronze —
*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.

Individual victories

9 victories (3 In, 1 Sp, 4 Pu, 1 MS)

Season Date Location Discipline Level
1996–97
2 victories
(2 In) 		9 January 1997 Germany Ruhpolding20 km individualBiathlon World Cup
7 February 1997 Slovakia Brezno-Osrblie20 km individualBiathlon World Championships
1997–98
1 victory
(1 In) 		3 March 1998 Slovenia Pokljuka20 km individualBiathlon World Cup
1998–99
1 victory
(1 Pu) 		13 February 1999 Finland Kontiolahti12.5 km pursuitBiathlon World Championships
1999–2000
2 victories
(1 Sp, 1 MS) 		12 January 2000 Germany Ruhpolding15 km mass startBiathlon World Cup
15 January 2000 Germany Ruhpolding10 km sprintBiathlon World Cup
2002–03
1 victory
(1 Pu) 		16 March 2003 Russia Khanty-Mansiysk12.5 km pursuitBiathlon World Championships
2003–04
1 victory
(1 Pu) 		8 February 2004 Germany Oberhof12.5 km pursuitBiathlon World Championships
2005–06
1 victory
(1 Pu) 		20 January 2006 Italy Antholz-Anterselva12.5 km pursuitBiathlon World Cup
*Results are from UIPMB and IBU races which include the Biathlon World Cup, Biathlon World Championships and the Winter Olympic Games.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Ricco Gross - Olympic Athlete". olympic.org. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 "Ricco Gross Heads to Russia as Senior Men's Coach". International Biathlon Union. 13 August 2015. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  3. ↑ "Coaching Changes in Germany and Austria". International Biathlon Union. 8 April 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
  4. ↑ "Ricco Groß". IBU Datacenter. International Biathlon Union. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
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