Retired stars. Bosom friends. Tragedy and doping Antonio Pettigrew

Let's start the second part of the material with a small football drama in which the famous Russian player. Who are we talking about? The highlight of the program will be Yegor Titov, for whom Spartak and Football in general have long been the meaning of life. This is one of the most titled Russian football players, certainly among the attacking midfielders, whose career was full of both outstanding victories and unpleasant incidents.

Biography of Yegor Titov and doping scandal

Now about all of the above, but in as much detail and detail as possible. So, Yegor Ilyich Titov is a Russian football player who played as a midfielder. Most of my professional career He spent his time in Moscow, playing for Spartak, where he won many awards, including gold at the Russian Championship and the Russian Cup. He was also a player of the national team, and even served as its captain for some time. As part of the Russian national team, Egor Titov played 41 matches and scored 7 goals, the statistics are impressive - 21 wins, 10 draws and the same number of defeats (he played for the national team from 1998 to 2007).

Was born Egor Titov V sports family and we can say that his biography, career and fate in general were determined in advance (he was obliged to become an outstanding athlete, which ultimately happened). By the way, the boy’s father (a master of sports in skating) dreamed that his son would follow in his footsteps and become a speed skater, but Yegor was much more attracted to football with its passion and team play. Therefore, from the age of eight future champion started studying at football school“Spartak”, under the auspices of the best specialists.

Starting in 1992, Yegor Titov played for Spartak (on the team from the age of 16), and since 1995 - in the main team. He joined the national team a few years later, in 1998. He made his debut in the qualifying match for the European Championship against France, which ended in a disappointing defeat for the Russians with a score of 2-3. By the way, a year later Russian football players again, as part of the qualifying round, they again clashed with the French and managed to take revenge on the opponent’s field. The final result, 3-2 in favor of Russia, was sensational in many ways.

Biography of Yegor Titov in 2008 was marked by one extremely unpleasant incident. The footballer, having quarreled with the head coach of Spartak, was forced to leave the team (at that time, as part of the club, he had already repeatedly won the Russian Championship, the Russian Cup and other prestigious competitions). As a result, by agreement with former teammate Sergei Yuran, Egor moved to Khimki, without any compensation.

In the new club football player Egor Titov, whose goal statistics were outstanding, did not play long: on February 12, 2009, he left Khimki, and on the fifteenth he entered into a new agreement, this time his team was Lokomotiv Astana. But here, too, Yegor did not stay long, because in March 2010 (19th) he announced his retirement from big-time sports and his retirement. However, we note that the official end to the football player’s career was set only in 2012. September 9 took place farewell match Egor Titov against Dynamo Kyiv, which ended with a score of 5-3 in favor of Spartak. The game took place at the Lokomotiv stadium with full stands and was covered by many television channels.

Where is doping in this whole story and did Yegor Titov take it at all? There was doping, namely prohibited drugs, and a serious scandal unfolded against its background, with disqualification as a punishment. An incident occurred in 2004 on the eve of the European Championship. As it turned out, Yegor Titov used Bromantan (a nootropic drug) illegal in sports, so he was given a one-year disqualification.

Everything would have been fine, and the disqualification would not have been so terrible, because football player Yegor Titov at that time was already a famous athlete and his career, in fact, was not in jeopardy. However, due to the removal from official competitions Egor was forced to miss the 2004 European Championship for a year, one of the largest tournaments for national teams, each victory in which is worth a lot of money, prestige and points in the UEFA rankings.

By the way, many fans, and even experts, believe that it was precisely because Yegor Titov did not go to the tournament that the Russian national team performed so poorly, losing 2 out of 3 of their matches in the group stage. This statement is, to put it mildly, strained, but perhaps there is some truth in it. Who knows, maybe Yegor Titov, for whom football was more than a job, as a captain and player of the main team could really bring meaning to the game of the national team and influence his comrades. For reference: “Russia” won its only victory in the match against “Greece”, the future sensational winner of the entire tournament.

Doping of cyclist Denis Galimzyanov

Now let's talk a little about cycling and consider, perhaps, one of the most famous scandals that occurred in this discipline. We deliberately do not touch Lance Armstrong, because, firstly, not everything is so obvious and clear, and secondly, everyone has known his story for a long time. It has been discussed so many times on television and in the press that there is hardly a person who has not heard about Lance and the drugs he allegedly consumed.

To the point: born on March 7, 1987 in the city of Sverdlovsk, he is a famous Russian road cyclist who has competed for “Team Katusha” for a long time. He is a representative of a small Russian sports a layer of sprinters who achieved a huge number of victories at world stages (from 2006 to 2011, he won more than fifteen different races, showing excellent results).

A little about the biography and career that cyclist Denis Galimzyanov can rightfully be proud of. He began his performances in amateur team“Premier” (“Premier”), being a member of which he won several different stages of multi-day races, as well as, no less important, the “Five Rings of Moscow” tournament and the Mayor’s Cup. In 2008, after several outstanding performances, Denis moved to professional club“Tinkoff Credit Systems”, which soon changed its name and general concept and became “Team Katusha”.

Denis Galimzyanov took part in his first Vuelta (one of the most prestigious cycling races, along with the Tour de France) in September 2010 and showed good results. He finished in the top ten five times, but eventually retired. The following year, the cyclist was already more confident and purposeful - he won two stages of stage races, but at the main start of the season (we are talking about the Tour de France), unfortunately, he retired at the equator. Denis Galimzyanov earned the most important achievement in his career in September 2011 - he won one of the oldest cycling races in the world, Paris-Brussels, after which he was awarded the honor of becoming captain of the team and taking part in the group race at the World Championships.

Unfortunately at the World Cup cyclist Denis Galimzyanov faced another setback. More specifically, in the last kilometers of the race he lost the wheel of his partner who was taking him to the head of the peloton and eventually finished only 11th. This incident did not bother me Russian athlete and within a week and a half he started at the first Tour of Beijing in China, where at the second stage he lost only to Heinrich Haussler, losing to him by a few centimeters. There was also a victory in Beijing - athlete Denis Galimzyanov, as Wikipedia suggests, left all his rivals in the dust, finishing first in the final stage race (as a result he was also recognized as the best sprinter).

And now to the most interesting thing: in March of the year before last, 2012, during a test analysis, it turned out that Denis Galimzyanov used doping, prohibited drugs (the sample was taken as part of an out-of-competition doping control). More specifically, it was found that the cyclist used erythropoietin drugs, which help increase endurance and a number of other indicators. In an open letter, Denis fully admitted his guilt and confessed to doping, refusing the now unnecessary opening of the sample.

At the same time, Denis Galimzyanov clarified that he made the decision to use erythropoietin himself, and the team members were not aware of his action. He soon also added that he used doping for the first time shortly before the sample was taken, and purchased the drug itself on the Internet from one of the anonymous distributors. The management of the Katyusha team took this event very seriously and decided to suspend the athlete from all competitions until the end of the investigation and statement from the Federation cycling Russia. In December 2012, Denis Ramilievich Galimzyanov learned the price of his action; it was a two-year disqualification for using the above-mentioned erythropoietin.

Frank Luke's Illicit Drugs

Once again biathlon and again a major scandal, however, this time the athlete himself, without pressure from the press or public, admitted that he used doping drugs (Turinabol) to improve his physical fitness. But let’s not get too ahead of ourselves, but rather tell you who we are talking about and why we turned our attention to this particular case.

Frank Luke is the most famous and, perhaps, the most titled German biathlete, born on December 5, 1967 in the city of Schmalkalden, Germany, then the GDR, who has already officially ended his career. The athlete has many awards of the highest standard, won at the most prestigious world tournaments: 2 gold and 3 silver at the Olympic Games, 11 gold medals, 5 silver and 4 bronze at the World Championships (all this not counting victories and achievements of a smaller/local scale).

Frank Luke began competing and conquering biathlon for the GDR national team, and later for the German team, back in the late eighties/early nineties. Since childhood, the guy was interested in cross-country skiing, but fate decreed that in the 80s he had to switch to biathlon. Already in 1988, at the Olympic Games held in Calgary, Frank received the right to start with national team. His debut cannot be called the most successful in history, but it was not a failure either - he took a fairly high sixth place in the sprint race.

The following year, Frank Luke, as Wikipedia writes, makes an incredible breakthrough and becomes a two-time world champion. Medals were won in the sprint race and relay race at the World Championships in Feistritz (Austria). Then Luke’s career developed offensively - his results grew, his achievements increased, but, unfortunately, in 1992, on the eve of the Olympics, he fell ill and, as a result, was unable to defend the colors of the national team.

Everything was corrected at the next Olympic Games in Lillehammer, where Frank Luke, as part of the national team, won gold in the 4 x 7.5 km relay race, and also won a silver medal in the most difficult individual race of 20 kilometers, losing only to Sergei Tarasov.

Subsequent Olympic Games 1998 and 2002, in which biathlete Frank Luke He already performed as a multiple world champion and an Olympic champion, which were also quite successful for the athlete. At the tournament in Nagano he won gold - again in the 4 x 7.5 team relay race, and in Salt Lake City - two silvers (20 km individual race and 4 x 7.5 relay).

In the meantime, competing at the World Championships from 1998 to 2004, Frank Luke, whose biography is full of ups and downs, continued to prove his superiority again and again. During this period, he won the following awards at world championships: 4 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze medals. In general, at the time of the official retirement in the 2003-2004 season, Frank became one of the most titled German biathletes, demonstrating excellent results in both running and shooting (accuracy indicators in the 2003/2004 season: lying - 93% of hits, standing - 90% hits, overall accuracy 91%).

You ask where is the doping, and when did Frank Luke take it? And here it is: in 2004, after finishing his sports career, the athlete made a statement in which he confirmed the use of prohibited drugs (presumably repeated use). According to the biathlete, he resorted to doping, namely the drug Oral Turinabol, while competing for the national team of the GDR, i.e. up until 1990.

For reference: Oral Turinabol or simply Turinabol, which was used by biathlete Frank Luke for a long time, is a steroid that helps increase strength indicators, which gives an increase in endurance and allows you to achieve an increase in dryness and hardness muscle mass. It was developed in the GDR in the middle of the 20th century (in 1961). By the way, you can buy Turinabol and order many other relevant and effective drugs in sports (fat burners, peptides, antiestrogens, etc.) easily and reliably in our store.

Tragedy and doping Antonio Pettigrew

Let's go back to athletics and consider another, quite famous scandal that occurred in this area. The culprit this time was Antonio Pettigrew, who at the time of the incident was already both a renowned world champion and an Olympic champion as part of the national team (he won the relay race).

First, let’s tell you what the athlete’s biography is and what he is famous for Antonio Pettigrew, what awards he had (he was and still are), where and how he performed, and so on. So, the future champion was born on November 3, 1968 in the small town of Macon, in the central part of Georgia in the USA. He became interested in sports at a young age and this interest was so strong that by the age of 23 Antonio was able to reach heights unattainable not only for most of his peers, but also for many veterans of athletics.

If we look at everything from a sporting point of view, then Antonio Pettigrew is, first of all, a famous American athlete who won the 400-meter race at the World Championships in Tokyo in 1991, and also won Olympic gold in the 4x400-meter relay in 2000 year in Sydney. Subsequently, he was stripped of his medal, as were his compatriots who fled with him, but more on that later. He also had other prestigious achievements, in particular, in the same year 1991 (World Championships in Tokyo), as part of the national team he managed to finish second in the 4x400 relay race, bringing a silver medal to the USA. Then Antonio Pettigrew, as a runner, won the relay races at the 1997 World Championships in Athens, 1999 in Seville and 2001 in Edmonton. In general, he had many titles in his career.

However, as with most of the stories told above, Antonio's career had not only major ups, but also major downs. What is it about? About an incident that occurred in 2008: during the trial of former coach Antonio Pettigrew admitted that he had repeatedly used growth hormone and erythropoietin as doping since 1996. The consequences were not long in coming - the athlete and his teammates were deprived Olympic awards for winning the relay in 2000, he was also stripped of his World Championship gold medals and the titles he had won since 1997.

After what happened runner Antonio Pettigrew, almost all of whose career achievements had been crossed out, took up coaching, fortunately he had enough experience and skills. In particular, he led the University of North Carolina team for some time until tragedy occurred: on August 10, 2010, Pettigrew was found dead in the back seat of his personal car. Suspicious white powder (presumably drugs) was also found inside the car. The police in their statements expressed a theory about a possible suicide (there is no information about the results of the investigation).

Biography of track and field athlete Tim Montgomery

Again Athletics(one gets the impression that it is in this discipline that doping is most often used, but this is not so, it’s just that athletics accounts for most of the famous scandals regarding the use of prohibited drugs), and again a scandalous story involving a titled athlete who has won more than one gold medal.

But first, a biography: Tim (Timothy) Montgomery is an American track and field athlete, born on January 25, 1975. In 2005, he was accused of taking steroids, as a result, almost all of his achievements were annulled, including the world record at a distance of 100 meters - 9.78 seconds. After the forced end of his career, the athlete was convicted, but not for doping, but for forging checks in New York, as well as heroin trafficking (he was caught in Virginia). Since 2008, he has been imprisoned in a US prison.

But I think you are not interested in this (at least not only this), but in what kind of athlete Timothy Montgomery was, what medals he won and what he achieved. Let's start from afar: before taking up athletics, Timothy spent a long time professional level played American football and basketball. He studied first at Brenham College, and later, starting in 1994, at Norfolk State University, located in Hampton Roads and famous for its track and field team. First time competing in athletics during his studies - took part in several junior athletics competitions and showed good results in the sprint race and relay race.

In 1996, as a runner, he took part in qualifying tournament to the Olympic Games (in the 100-meter race), but, unfortunately, did not qualify, so in Atlanta he was involved only in the 4 x 100 relay race, in which, by the way, the Americans won a silver medal (they lost to the Canadian team). In 1997, Montgomery competed at his first World Championship. The result is a bronze medal in the 100-meter sprint. At the 1999 World Championships, he was unable to show the same high result in the individual sprint race, but he won a gold medal in the relay.

History partly repeated itself at the Olympic Games in Sydney (2000), where Timothy Montgomery again won the relay (he did not participate in the individual races). Let us separately note the year 2002, which for Montgomery became one of the most successful in his career. The fact is that this season he managed to set a world record. With a tailwind of 2.0 m/s, Tim Montgomery ran the 100-meter dash in 9.78 seconds, breaking the previous world record set by Maurice Green (a difference of 0.01 seconds).

By the way, on this sports biography Timothy Montgomery's run was over as he faced a lengthy suspension in the future. In more detail, shortly before qualifying competitions for the 2004 Olympics, which Tim failed miserably (qualified seventh), the US Anti-Doping Agency convicted him of using prohibited drugs. The athlete told the press that the steroids were given to him and several other athletes from the United States by specialists from the BALCO laboratory from San Francisco. The result of this incident was a severe disqualification of 4 years (a long period for a single offense).

However Timothy Montgomery, who was planning to attend both the World Championships and the Olympic Games, did not agree with this decision of the judges and filed an appeal to the Sports Court arbitration court, based in Lausanne. Here another failure awaited him - on December 12, 2005, the final verdict was adopted, according to which the disqualification was only slightly reduced - to two years. All the athlete’s results and awards won since March 31, 2001, including the world record, were also annulled.

After the verdict was announced, track and field athlete Tim Montgomery decided to end his career, leaving doping and the scandals associated with it in the past. It turned out poorly for him, to put it mildly, because in 2008 he was again caught using prohibited substances - this time before the 2000 Sydney Olympics (it is assumed that he used testosterone and growth hormone). But that’s not all: in 2006, the athlete was arrested in a money laundering case, and in 2008 he was accused of selling heroin (found guilty in both cases).

From: AthleticPharma.com

The first to come into the spotlight were the legendary German biathletes Katrin Apel, Ricco Gross and Uschi Diesl, who recently led the German team to victories and medals, and now watch its successes and failures from the sidelines.

Catherine APEL - not a day without sports

If you list all of Apel’s hobbies and interests, the lives of other ex-athletes will seem boring and monotonous. For example, immediately after retiring from her career due to health problems, a German woman trained as a physiotherapist and practices in a medical center. In addition, Apel is a true fitness fanatic and healthy eating. On her official website she talks in detail about what you can and should eat. With typical German pedantry, she calculates the caloric content of all dishes and tells how to burn these calories. Apel also promotes the new kind fitness - the so-called Nordic walking, or Nordic Walking. It uses special poles that resemble ski poles. Apel claims that this type of fitness allows you to burn much more calories than regular walking, and invites everyone to walk with her through the picturesque places of her native Germany.

For the second year now, the ex-biathlete together with famous athletes and German politicians participates in the charity program of the country's president - the Tour of Hope bike ride. The goal of the event is to raise funds for the treatment of children with cancer. Thus, during the “Tour of Hope 2009” we managed to earn almost one and a half million euros!

“During the bike ride, we met a woman whose daughter was cured thanks to the money received during the previous event,” recalls Apel. “There were tears of gratitude running down her cheeks, and I burst into tears too. After such meetings you realize that you are not living in vain.”

Giving happiness to others is wonderful, but Apel has not yet been able to build her own happy family. When Apel announced her retirement, she admitted that she dreams of a wedding with her lover Thomas Burmann, a big house and children. Burmann, by the way, is also a biathlete in the past, but against the backdrop of the successful Apel, his meager achievements, frankly speaking, pale into insignificance. However, Burmann has found himself in a different field - he holds a high position in a ski lubricant production company. This is the answer why at one time Apel’s skis glided better than others. Burmann and Apel have been together for a long time, but there is still no word about the wedding...

Ricco GROSS - a good fairy with a macho appearance

Gross is one of the most titled German biathletes. Four times he became Olympic champion, and won the world championship nine times. In 2007, Gross said goodbye to biathlon, after which the German men's team seemed to be orphaned. However, unlike Apel, the German does not miss big-time sports. Moreover, he is now on the other side of the barricades: he has been working as an expert for the German TV channel ARD for several years and will go to the Olympics as a journalist.

“I don’t feel nostalgic for the stress that always accompanies the lives of athletes,” says Gross. — For example, I received a pass to Vancouver a long time ago. All athletes are worried, but I am sure that I will be at the Olympics. The only downside is that I won’t bring a medal this time. But I’ll tell you everything about everyone!”

Gross successfully combines his work as a commentator with work with German junior biathletes, and is also involved in organizing regional competitions. It is Gross who has the know-how in educating young athletes: over the past three years, personal sponsors from large companies have been sought for the most talented in Germany. So Gross is a real good fairy for young people. True, this fairy has the appearance of a real macho. The German press claims that not today but tomorrow Gross will become the new coach of the women's national team.

However, Gross does not limit himself to work only. He considers the main achievement of his life not the Olympic gold medals, but his large family - his wife, three sons and a white Labrador. In his spare time, Gross enjoys riding motorcycles and playing golf professionally. By the way, the ex-biathlete is sure that it was his passion for golf that helped him improve his shooting quality, because in both cases extreme concentration is required. You can trust Gross’s words - in the 2003/2004 season he was recognized as the most accurate biathlete on the planet.

It is curious that his eldest sons followed in the footsteps of their athlete father: Marco had already achieved his first successes in ski jumping, and Simon preferred golf.

Ears DIZL - Love Virus

Another representative of the German team, Uschi Diesl, ended her phenomenal career immediately after the Games in Turin. At the age of sixteen, she changed skiing to biathlon and was not mistaken. Diesel is a medalist of five Winter Olympics, 19-time medalist and 8-time world champion. And ski training more than once helped the biathlete, who was not known for her accurate shooting. It was no coincidence that fans nicknamed her Turbo Diesel because she regularly won medals thanks to her speed despite numerous mistakes on the shooting range.

In January 2007, Diesl, who said goodbye to biathlon, gave birth to a daughter, Hannah. The former athlete herself decided to try herself as a commentator and began working on the ARD channel together with her former teammate Ricco Gross. However, three months ago, Diesl came to the conclusion that journalism was not her path. However, she immediately promised that she would never leave the world of sports. And she didn’t lie.

Now Diesel is the face of a company that produces equipment for cyclists, and regularly participates in various advertising campaigns. The ex-biathlete herself, by the way, is also not averse to going on a bike ride with little Hannah.

It also turned out that Diesel is a big lover of pets. For several years now she has had a black dog named Virus, who loves nothing more than to lie on her owner’s bed. Diesel only scolds him for this, but never drives him away. The athlete is also reluctant to leave Virus at home alone, but nothing can be done - she has to travel all over the world for work. Sometimes business trips turn into more serious problems. Returning from a trip to Sweden in December, mother and daughter felt unwell. It turned out that they had caught swine flu. Fortunately, Diesel and her child recovered quickly. But the superstitious athlete still insists that all the bad things happen when the family is not together.

But really, what about the family? Where is Hannah's dad and why does the faithful dog Virus always stay home alone? Well, let's reveal the secret. Diesl's beloved is the serviceman of the Norwegian national team, a native of Sweden, Thomas Soderberg. Well, he can’t leave Ole Einar Bjoerndalen and Emil Svendsen to their fate, and therefore he’s constantly on the road. So poor Diesel has to be torn between work, her daughter and her beloved man. So, the other day she promised on her official website that she would definitely come to Ruhpolding for the World Cup. And we will believe that the athlete simply missed... biathlon.

Sportbox.ru continues a series of materials dedicated to biathlon stars of past years who, having “retired”, are looking for themselves in new areas of life. This time we will talk about married couples brought together by biathlon - Liv-Gret and Raphael Poire, Magdalena and Henrika Forsberg, Florence and Julien Robert, as well as Ole Einar Bjoerndalen's wife Nathalie Santer.

Liv-Gret and Raphael Poiret are biathlon parents

In the last days of the past year, the famous French biathlete Raphael Poiret had an accident while riding an ATV near his home. Eight-time champion Mira underwent a difficult twelve-hour operation and is recovering very slowly, but, according to doctors, there is no threat to his life. Raphael's wife, the famous Norwegian Liv-Gret Poiret, says only one thing: “My husband is strong, he can handle it...”

The idyll in the Poiret family has always aroused admiration among fans and colleagues. The friendship of two successful biathletes, as happens in romance novels, one day grew into an ardent passion, which the athletes carefully hid for several years. But you can’t hide an awl in a bag. Their relationship became a national treasure after the 2000 World Cup, when the lovers celebrated their victories with a passionate public kiss. A few months later they got married, and Liv-Gret Skjelbreid became Madame Poiret. And three years later, on January 27, 2003, she gave her husband a daughter, Emma.

“A child is the best a person is capable of,” says Monsieur Poiret. — I’m not annoyed by children’s crying, or the fact that I often don’t get enough sleep. But every day I see my wife’s happy eyes, and this is the best reward for me!”

A year after the birth of her daughter, the beautiful Norwegian gained excellent physical fitness, and had perhaps her most successful season, becoming a World Cup winner and four-time world champion in Oberhof. Before her, none of the Norwegian biathletes had achieved such results. However, after an unsuccessful performance at the Games in Turin, she decided to say goodbye to the sport. “I want to break up with biathlon because of Emma,” the athlete explained. “I had a good childhood, and I don’t want to deprive my daughter of it.”

Soon her husband also hung up his rifle. In an unequal battle, family values prevailed over biathlon. As if in gratitude to her husband, Liv-Gret soon gave birth to a second girl, Anna, and at the end of 2008, a third, Lena. “Brides for the three sons of Ricco Gross,” fans joke.

What if another girl is born into the Poiret family? Then, in 15-20 years, an invincible relay team of sisters may appear on the biathlon arena! Another thing is, which country will she compete for? Currently, a large and friendly family lives in Norway. Moreover, Rafael shocked all the French when, in tandem with Olympic champion Egil Eland, he began working as a shooting coach in the Norwegian team. Athletes, especially young ones, idolize their mentor, because Poiret has always been an excellent shooter. And I learned the training methodology under the patronage of my former main rival, and now good friend, Ole Einar Bjoerndalen. At one time they even trained together.

The great Norwegian, by the way, is not going to follow in the footsteps of his friend Poiret. He doesn’t think about children, but plans to continue performing until the Olympic Games in Sochi. Bjoerndalen's wife, former Italian biathlete Natalie Santer, who has already finished her career, has repeatedly said that she wants children, but nevertheless treats her husband's life's work with understanding. However, Bjoerndalen promised that he would try to ensure a new addition to the family after he finished with sports.

But Liv-Gret Poiret does not share the position of her compatriot and skillfully combines business with pleasure. Namely, maternal responsibilities and work as an expert commentator on Norwegian television, and is also the marketing director of one large advertising project. Liv-Gret's fans still can't come to terms with the fact that their favorite is no longer on the track, and they live in hope that the athlete will come to her senses and return. However, Madame Poiret assures that she will never set foot in biathlon again, even at the level of competitions between veterans. “I love my family and my babies too much,” she says. “I deserve this happiness - to be a mother, and I’m not going to give it up!”

Magdalena and Henrik Forsberg - incomplete happiness

In 2002, Swedish biathlete Magdalena Forsberg ended her brilliant career. She became famous for her incredibly accurate shooting, thanks to which for six years, from 1997 to 2002, no one could move her from first place in the overall World Cup standings. Before her, no athlete in the world had managed this. winter species. Even legendary skier Bjorn Deli won the Crystal Globe only five times. Once Forsberg even had to return to the stage twice to take away all the prizes won at the end of the season... However, she never managed to become Olympic champion. Forsberg's achievements at the Games are limited to two bronze medals. So, during one of the races in Salt Lake City, the athlete needed just one accurate shot to make her dream come true. “Everyone expected gold from me so much that I simply couldn’t stand the pressure and failed shooting, although accuracy has always been my strong point,” she later said.

In the early 2000s, Forsberg's popularity in her native Sweden was off the charts, and TV ratings for races with her participation broke records. The current life of the ex-athlete is also connected with television. Following the example of many former colleagues, she works as a commentator and also hosts her own travel program on television. In addition, Forsberg is collaborating with a sports nutrition company.

A couple of years ago, Magdalena’s husband, Henrik Forsberg, also retired. Unlike his wife, he has never bathed in fame and does not have high titles. But, according to the ex-biathlete, he became the most the best man in the world. Their wedding took place in 1997, but the couple still has no children. To the question “why?” the athlete answers evasively: “Henrik and I dream of children, but... it won’t be now, a little later. To be honest, I don’t have enough time to get pregnant! I have a lot of work and too many plans. For example, she will go on a trip with her husband.”

Florence Baverel-Robert and Julien Robert - travel can wait

The Robert couple arrived at the same time big sport in 1994 and just as simultaneously left him in 2007. There is only one difference - at the beginning of their careers they were not husband and wife. Julien Robert has always been a good shooter, but ski training often let him down. The Frenchman considers his main achievements to be bronze medals as part of the relay quartet at the Olympic Games in Salt Lake and Turin, as well as gold at the 2001 World Championships in Pokljuka. But his wife Florence Baverel-Robert has more impressive awards in her piggy bank: olympic gold Turin in the sprint and nine medals at world championships.

Monsieur Robert admits that he does not miss sports at all and enjoys the freedom. The Robert family's hobby is traveling. However, the couple is in no hurry to travel around the world, preferring to first explore every corner of their native France. “It’s easier than going to, say, Korea or Russia,” says the ex-biathlete. “Not that far, but incredibly interesting.”

But in the next couple of years, the Roberts will have to hold off on traveling. For a very good reason, however. On October 2, 2008, Julien and Florence gave birth to their long-awaited daughter, Rose. Now happy parents spend all their free time with their baby. It is curious that the young lady was born almost simultaneously with the third daughter of the Poiret family, Lena, whose birthday is October 11.

For almost two decades, the German trio - Sven Fischer, Rico Gross and Frank Luke - shone on the world's biathlon arenas. As part of a series of materials about the stars of past years, Sportbox.ru talks about two inseparable champion friends - Luke and Fischer.

Ice and fire

They say that there is no friendship in sports, and that rivals remain competitors in life. Fischer and Luke are a prime example of the fact that there are exceptions to any rule.

In 1980, young Frank Luke, following the example of his father and grandfather, took up cross-country skiing, but soon changed it to biathlon. “It always seemed to me a more spectacular and emotional sport,” explains the athlete. Fischer was more original - first he tried his hand at the queen of sports - athletics, but the tartan track and starting blocks lost the battle to the rifle and the ski track. “I always liked shooting more than running,” Fischer admits. The friendship between the two future biathlon stars began during their school years. They met thanks to the fact that Fischer’s first coach was Luke’s uncle, Stefan.

Tall and energetic, Frank Luke distinguished himself already at a young age and in 1988, at the age of 21, he qualified to represent the GDR at the Winter Olympics in Calgary, where he achieved sixth place in the sprint race. For Fischer, everything did not go as smoothly as for his friend - he went to titles, as they say, through thorns. When Luke was already shining on the world stage, Fischer could only boast of his achievements at junior competitions in Germany. Fischer was an accelerator, that is, he grew very quickly, but this did not help him, but rather hindered him. The athlete had serious problems with his knees, which led to surgery. His career was at risk. Fortunately, Fischer began training soon after the operation, but show good results I couldn’t, and that was completely inappropriate. In the 90s, along with the unification of the Federal Republic of Germany and the GDR, the two strongest German schools biathlon Only the best of the best could get into the team. Frank Ullrich, who at that time, as now, led the men's team, believed in Fischer and gave him a chance to prove himself. And Fischer did not disappoint. Already in December 1991, at the European Cup, he won the sprint in Hochfilzen, and following the results of his debut season as part of the first team, he became sixth in the overall World Cup standings.

Dad for two

Three years later, Luke and Fischer went together to the Olympic Games in Lillehammer. There they stood shoulder to shoulder for the first time on the podium after a 20-kilometer race: Luke received silver, Fischer bronze. “The day Sven won his first Olympic medal was the happiest day of my life. After birth, children, of course. I will never forget him,” said the biathlete’s father, Willy Fischer, who for a long time was the manager of both his own son and his friend Luke.

“How many victories do I have? How many titles? I have not the foggiest idea. - Sven Fischer never tired of repeating. “Only my father knows that.” He keeps a close eye on all my titles, as well as Frank’s achievements.”

Since then, the friends have tried on medals of various denominations together more than once and become an integral part of the invincible “German machine” - the relay team. The incredibly fast Fischer and the amazingly accurate Luke, like ice and fire, merged into a single whole, leaving their opponents without even the thought of victory. In 2004, Luke decided to end his sports career, while Fischer fought for titles until 2007, and ended his performances for a completely understandable reason. But more on that later.

Failed Kinship

“Sven and I have been through a lot of things over the years of our friendship, both good and bad,” says Luke. — In 1992, we even got into a car accident together. But we have always managed to be rivals on the distance and brothers outside the stadium at the same time.”

Luke and Fischer, by the way, really managed to become related, but this relationship did not last long. Of the millions of beautiful women living on Earth, Luke chose Sven’s sister Andrea, who was two years older than the biathlete, as his wife. It is noteworthy that their wedding took place exactly in the year when the friends first stood on the Olympic podium. True, the story about “they lived happily for a long time and died on the same day” turned out to not be about Frank and Andrea. In 2001, Luke, who by that time had become a father twice, ran away from his wife to the famous German snowboarder Sandra Farmand. Many, by the way, did not believe until recently that such a seemingly happy marriage had broken up. There were rumors that all this was nothing more than a cunning move, and that the lovers were only evading taxes. But all the i’s were dotted in March 2007, the year the Luke-Farmand couple had a daughter. It is not surprising that journalists and fans suspected that the long-standing friendship between Fischer and Luke was over.

As always, dad-manager Willy Fischer brought order. “There was no black cat between me, my son and Frank,” Fischer Sr. said bluntly. — If people no longer love each other, this is not a reason to spoil business and personal relationships. Sven and Frank are still friends."

And he didn’t lie. Luke, who after finishing his sports career works as a journalist for German television, once personally helped Fischer clean up the mess before interviewing him. This is true male friendship!

Fischer, unlike Luke, family life approached in more detail. However, for a long time, the biathlete and his chosen one, Doren, lived, as our grandmothers said, “in sin,” that is, in a civil marriage (according to rumors, it was again a matter of tax evasion). Even the birth of their daughter, who was named Emilia Sophie, did not force Sven and Doren to tie the knot. However, this event could not help but touch the soul of the athlete.

“Once, when I returned home from the next stage of the World Cup, my daughter threw herself on my neck with the words: “Dad, dad, I miss you so much, when will you be able to be at home more often?” - recalls Fischer. “My heart sank, and I realized that if I didn’t change something in my life, I would miss my child’s entire childhood.”

This is the answer why the great biathlete decided to end his career. In 2007 he was 36 and, according to his father, Fischer could perform at high level for at least a couple more years.

“Honestly, I regret that my son finished biathlon without fully realizing himself,” says Vili Fischer. “But family is family, and no one has the right to condemn him.” He behaved like a real man."

After some time, the ex-biathlete finally decided to make drastic changes in his life. Contrary to public opinion that romance fades with age, Fischer came to his Doren, fell to his knees in front of her and asked for her hand. “He didn’t even fall to his knees at the finish line!” - his father laughs. On May 24, 2008, the long-awaited wedding took place. And soon Fischer had a son, Johan Alfrey.

Now Fischer, like Luke, works as an expert on the German TV channel ZDF. Friends are also used to relaxing together, fortunately they have similar hobbies. In their free time from work, ex-biathletes go hunting - this is their main hobby. Fischer is also a professional photographer, and is used to spending his holidays traveling with his family. I wonder, of course, whether the Fisher family invites the Luke couple along for company? But this, however, is a completely different story.
Prepared from materials: Sportbox.ru

To be continued.

The two-time Olympic champion does not hide the fact that he took doping.

11-time world champion and two-time Olympic champion in biathlon Frank Luke started with cross-country skiing in 1980, following the example of his father and grandfather, but soon went into biathlon. “It always seemed to me a more spectacular and emotional sport,” Frank explained.

Tony Lang on tour in Germany

Lang is a German skier and biathlete. He was born in April of eighty-two in the town of Hutturm, located in the federal states. He first began his performance in two thousand and seven in the World Cup. His most good result became thirty-second place in Holmenkollen in the pursuit race. In two thousand and nine, Tony dials five times cup points and becomes the winner of the last two relay races.

Frank Luke

Frank Luke is a German biathlete. He was born in December 1967 in the town of Schmalkalden, which is located in the federal states of Thuringia. He is a two-time Olympic champion, eleven-time world champion, multiple Olympic and World Championship medalist.

Currently Luke has completed sports career. Since childhood, Frank has been fond of cross-country skiing, but by the age of eightie he switched to biathlon. Eight years later, at the age of twenty, Frank received the main right to participate in the start at the Winter Olympic Games, which were held in Calgary, where he completed - and showed the sixth time. On next year Luke became a two-time world champion - he won two gold medals in the sprint and relay at the World Championships, which took place in Feistritz.

In the ninety-second year, as a result of illness, Frank was forced to miss the Winter Olympic Games held in Albertville, but two years later he became the champion at the Olympics, which was held in. Later there would be many more victories that would make Frank Luke one of the most titled biathletes of that time. However, he does not have a single World Cup to his credit. The season of two thousand three - two thousand four in his career was the last.