The former top biathlete and ex-national coach Mark Kirchner turns 55. He shaped the golden generation around Arnd Peiffer-as intense, became even clearer with his surprising resignation two years ago.
He shaped the German biathlon for more than three decades before and behind the scenes – how much, was only really aware of many when he surprisingly caught two years ago.
At the end of 2023, Legende Mark Kirchner visibly moved his resignation as a national national coach. Today the former top biathlete becomes 55 – and can look back on an enormous legacy in his sport.
One of the best biathletes of the nineties
The Thuringian, born on April 4, 1970 in Neuhaus am Rennweg, won his first two World Cup titles for the GDR in the year of reunification at the World Cup in Oslo, followed by five more World Cup gold medals and three Olympic wins.
In 1992 in Albertville Kirchner won the sprint and also won gold with the season, in 1994 in Lillehammer – where Kirchner was also a flag bearer at the opening ceremony – followed another season triumph with Ricco Groß, Frank Luck and Sven Fischer. Kirchner finished second in the overall World Cup.
Mark Kirchner (left) won Olympic gold in 1992 in Albertville before Ricco Groß
After an intermezzo as a cross -country skier and the final resignation in 1999, Kirchner became a coach after studying in Cologne, initially primarily at the Oberhof base, where he also learned his craft himself. In 2007 he became an assistant to national coach Frank Ullrich, his former home trainer and mentor. In 2010 he became his successor – and was responsible for a golden era.
A father figure for Peiffer, Lesser and Co.
Kirchner formed Arnd Peiffer, Simon Schempp, Erik Lesser and Benedikt Doll. Peiffer’s 2018 Olympic victory was a highlight of Kirchner’s work.
Kirchner never pushed himself in the foreground, neither as more active nor as a coach. It was primarily valued for his meticulous work and sensitive manual. He did not see himself as an authoritarian boss and guru of his athletes, more as a partner and mental coach, who attended his own strengths of his protégés and, above all, the belief in it.
Kirchner also knew how to protect his athletes from the outside as his task and consistently defend them. Among other things, he was a father figure of the Golden Generation of the 2010s. Erik Lesser celebrated him as the “best coach in the world”.
Unexpected resignation 2023
The three -time family man rank with tears when he praised his loved ones for the years of support for his professional path: “I would like to thank my wife and family in the very first line. Without them, such a trip would not have been possible. It would not be possible to give 100 percent for competitive sports if the family is not behind you.”
Kirchner – Formally also formally responsible for the women, but not involved in their care – the German Ski Association (DSV) remained as an overarching young coach, the “strategic athletes development” is now his topic.