Erik Lesser

Erik Lesser (born 17 May 1988) is a German biathlete. In 2010, he ran his first single World Cup Race. At the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi he won a silver medal at Men's individual.[1] At the Biathlon World Championships 2013 he won a bronze medal with the German team in Men's relay.

Erik Lesser
Lesser in 2018
Personal information
NationalityGerman
Born (1988-05-17) 17 May 1988
Suhl, East Germany
Height1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)
Weight71 kg (157 lb)
Professional information
SportBiathlon
ClubSV Eintracht Frankenhain
World Cup debut2010
Olympic Games
Teams2 (2014, 2018)
Medals3 (0 gold)
World Championships
Teams6 (2013–2020)
Medals7 (2 gold)
World Cup
Seasons10 (2010/11–)
Individual victories2
All victories5
Individual podiums10
All podiums33
Overall titles0
Discipline titles0
Medal record
Olympic Games
2014 Sochi20 km individual
2014 Sochi4 × 7.5 km relay
2018 Pyeongchang4 × 7.5 km relay
World Championships
2015 Kontiolahti12.5 km pursuit
2015 Kontiolahti4 × 7.5 km relay
2016 Oslo4 × 7.5 km relay
2019 Östersund4 × 7.5 km relay
2020 AntholzSingle mixed relay
2013 Nové Město4 × 7.5 km relay
2020 Antholz4 × 7.5 km relay
European Championships
2010 Otepää4x7.5 km relay
2012 Osrblie4x7.5 km relay
2010 Otepää12.5 km pursuit
2012 Osrblie20 km individual

His grandfather Axel Lesser competed in cross-country skiing for East Germany at the 1976 Winter Olympics.[2]

Career

Erik Lesser, grandson of Axel Lesser, lives in Zella-Mehlis and trained mainly in Oberhof. His coach is Mark Kirchner, before Peter Sendel. Lesser began cross-country skiing at the age of six and took up biathlon in 1999 at the age of eleven. A graduate of the Sports Gymnasium Oberhof, he started his competitive career with the club SV Eintracht Frankenhain.

In 2008 he started in Ruhpolding at his first Junior World Championship, where he was seventh in the individual, 16th in the sprint and eighth in the pursuit. A year later he won in Canmore a bronze medal in the individual competition, finished eleventh in sprint and pursuit and took the first leg in the men's relay, where together with Simon Schempp, Benedikt Doll and Florian Graf he took a gold medal. In the summer he won at the Junior Summer World Championships in Oberhof, taking the sprint and pursuit titles on roller skis.

In his World Cup debut in Kontiolahti on 12 March 2010 Lesser finished second in the German mixed relay with Kati Wilhelm, Magdalena Neuner and Simon Schempp. In his debut in solo competition, he finished 44th in the sprint, qualifying him for the subsequent pursuit where he finished 51st. In 2011 he improved his performance and at Holmenkollen in Oslo he finished 24th in the pursuit and 40th in the sprint. At the first race of the 2013 in Östersund Lesser stood for the first time on the World Cup podium. He finished third in the individual, achieving a clear shoot.

In the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi Erik Lesser won silver medals in the individual competition and with the German men's relay squad. On the final day of the Games, he also took part in the 50km cross-country freestyle race and finished 42nd among 64 starters.

In the 2015 World Championships Erik Lesser finished fifth in the sprint race. In the ensuing pursuit, he won the gold medal and thus also celebrated his first World Cup victory ever. With the season victory in the World Cup Lesser was double world champion.

Biathlon results

All results are sourced from the International Biathlon Union.

Olympic Games

3 medals (2 silver, 1 bronze)

Event Individual Sprint Pursuit Mass Start Relay Mixed Relay
2014 Sochi Silver 21st 16th 26th Silver –
2018 Pyeongchang 9th 11th 11th 4th Bronze 4th
*The mixed relay was added as an event in 2014.

World Championships

7 medals (2 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze)

Event Individual Sprint Pursuit Mass Start Relay Mixed Relay Single mixed Relay
2013 Nové Město na Moravě 34th 12th 14th 5th Bronze — N/A
2015 Kontiolahti 18th 5th Gold 17th Gold —
2016 Oslo 7th 19th 7th 14th Silver —
2017 Hochfilzen 4th 37th 28th 21st 4th —
2019 Östersund 11th 8th 11th 27th Silver — 4th
2020 Antholz — — — — Bronze — Silver
*During Olympic seasons competitions are only held for those events not included in the Olympic program.
**The single mixed relay was added as an event in 2019.

World Cup Highlights
2010,  Finland, Kontiolahti, 2nd in mixed relay (with Wilhelm / Neuner / Schempp)
2012,  Sweden, Östersund, 3rd in individual
2013,  Germany, Oberhof, 3rd in team relay (with Schempp / Peiffer / Graf)
2013,  Norway, Holmenkollen, 3rd in mass start
2013,  Russia, Sochi, 2nd in team relay (with Birnbacher / Peiffer / Doll)
2013,  France, Annecy, 2nd in pursuit
2013,  France, Annecy, 2nd in team relay (with Birnbacher / Peiffer / Schempp)
2014,  Germany, Ruhpolding, 2nd in team relay (with Stephan / Birnbacher / Schempp)
2014,  Italy, Antholz, 3rd in team relay (with Birnbacher / Peiffer / Schempp)
2015,  Germany, Ruhpolding, 2nd in team relay (with Birnbacher / Peiffer / Schempp)
2015,  Italy, Antholz, 2nd in team relay (with Boehm / Peiffer / Schempp)
2015,  Norway, Holmenkollen, 2nd in team relay (with Birnbacher / Peiffer / Schempp)
2016,  Germany, Ruhpolding, 1st in mass start
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References
  1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Erik Lesser". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2016-12-04.
  2. "Athletes – Erik Lesser". Sochi2014. Retrieved 13 February 2014.
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