Kaisa Mäkäräinen

Kaisa Mäkäräinen
Full name	Kaisa Leena Mäkäräinen
Association	Finland
birthday	11th January 1983 (age 37)
place of birth	Ristijärvi ,  Finland
size	171 cm
Weight	57 kg
Career
job	Student
society	Kontiolahden Urheilijat
Trainer	Jarmo Punkkinen
Admission to the national team	2004
Debut in the European Cup / IBU Cup	2003
Debut in the World Cup	2005
World Cup victories	27
status	resigned
End of career	March 14, 2020
Medal table
World Cup medals 1 × 1 × 4 × NFM medals 1 × 0 × 0 × SWM medals 4 × 0 × 0 ×
Biathlon world championships gold 2011 Khanty-Mansiysk persecution silver 2011 Khanty-Mansiysk sprint bronze 2012 Ruhpolding Mass start bronze 2015 Kontiolahti singles bronze 2016 Oslo Mass start bronze 2017 Hochfilzen Mass start  Summer biathlon world championships gold 2007 Otepää sprint gold 2007 Otepää persecution gold 2016 Otepää persecution gold 2016 Otepää Mixed relay
World Cup balance
Overall World Cup	1st ( 2010/11 , 2013/14 , 2017/18 ) 2nd ( 2014/15 ) 3rd ( 2016/17 )
Individual World Cup	1. (2014/15)
Sprint World Cup	1. (2013/14)
Pursuit World Cup	1. (2010/11, 2013/14, 2014/15)
Mass start world cup	1. (2017/18)
Podium placements 1. 2. 3. singles 2 4th 1 sprint 8th 17th 7th persecution 13 11 9 Mass start 4th 2 7th
last change: end of career

Kaisa Leena Mäkäräinen (born January 11, 1983 in Ristijärvi ) is a former Finnish biathlete .

Since her World Cup debut in 2005, Kaisa Mäkäräinen has won 27 individual races, a total of six medals at biathlon world championships , has won the overall World Cup three times and is therefore one of the most successful biathletes. Since her third success in winter 2017/18 , she has been the oldest overall women's World Cup winner. The Finn is also one of the dominant cross-country skiers in recent years in the Biathlon World Cup. In 2011 she was the first ever female biathlete to be voted Finnish Sportswoman of the Year .

Life

Mäkäräinen in spring 2012

Kaisa Mäkäräinen comes from Ristijärvi in northeastern Finland, where she was born and raised. Part of her family still lives there today. Today she lives several hundred kilometers further south in Joensuu , not far from Kontiolahti . She started for the Kontiolahden Urheilijat and used, among other things, the Kontiolahti biathlon stadium to prepare for the competitions. Whenever she found time besides training and competitions, she studied mathematics and physics to become a teacher at Joensuu University. In the past she worked as a sports reporter for the local newspaper Karjalainen . Her fiancé Jarkko Siltakorpi is employed as a ski technician for the Finnish Biathlon Association.

When Mäkäräinen was expected to comment on her future as a competitive athlete after the 2015/16 season , she did not surprise with the decision for or against the sport on April 7, 2016, but presented her new project, which she is committed to in addition to her athletic career. She accompanied the construction of her house with regular pictures and words in social networks under the title "Kaisa goes home" ( English for "Kaisa goes home").

Career

Beginnings in biathlon (2003 to 2007)

The student Kaisa Mäkäräinen started biathlon in 2003 after having previously been active in cross-country skiing. She started for Kontiolahden Urheilijat (Kontiolahti Sport Club) and was initially trained by Tomi Kuutti. At the end of January 2004, she contested her first international race at the Junior World Championships in Haute-Maurienne , where a 23rd place in the individual competition was her best result, and has been part of the Finnish national team since 2004. In March 2005, Mäkäräinen took part in the biathlon world championships in Hochfilzen for the first time and achieved 49th place as the best result, again in an individual competition. The Finn has been competing in the World Cup since the 2005/06 season . After she had finished 14th in the relay in Östersund and clearly missed the qualification for the pursuit in the sprint as 94th, she achieved her first World Cup points a week later in Hochfilzen as 29th of the sprint. At the end of the season she finished 62nd in the overall World Cup. The following winter, Mäkäräinen was regularly among the top 30 in the World Cup and at the end of January 2007 came seventh in the Pokljuka mass start for the first time among the top ten. She was able to confirm this result at the World Championships in Antholz when she was eighth in the individual and seventh in the mass start. In the overall World Cup, she was able to improve to 27th place.

First successes in the World Cup (2007 to 2010)

The Finn finished the world championships in summer biathlon 2007 in Otepää as double world champion in sprint and in pursuit on roller skis. In the winter of 2007/08 , shortly before Christmas, she was second in the Pokljuka sprint and made it into the top three in a World Cup race for the first time. At the World Championships in Östersund, 15th place in the mass start was her best result. In the overall World Cup she succeeded after another podium place (3rd in the pursuit race in Ruhpolding ) and some placements among the top ten, a further increase to 13th place. In 2008/09 she was able to maintain this level, achieved two more podium places in the World Cup and was 14th in the Overall World Cup. At the 2009 World Championships in Pyeongchang, she was defeated in the pursuit of the Russian Olga Saizewa in the finish sprint and came fourth. At the end of the season she won the sprint title at the Finnish championships . In the following winter her performance stagnated after a good start (3rd place in the sprint of Östersund), so that she only finished 22nd in the overall World Cup this winter. Her first Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver in February 2010 were not very successful for the Finn either: the best result she achieved was 45th in the pursuit.

World Championship title and overall World Cup victory (2010/2011)

After winning the gold medal in Khanty-Mansiysk

For the 2010/11 World Cup season , Mäkäräinen was trained by the Austrian Josef Obererlacher . She was already in good running form at the singles in Östersund with the best running time of all participants. In the following sprint, she also failed in shooting and won her first World Cup race ahead of Miriam Gössner , who was also flawless and a little faster on the trail, but slower at the shooting range. In the pursuit that followed, after another flawless shooting, she achieved the second victory, again ahead of Gössner. Kaisa Mäkäräinen achieved her greatest success so far at the 2011 World Championships in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia . After a second place in the sprint behind Magdalena Neuner , she succeeded in winning the gold medal in the subsequent pursuit with an error-free shooting. Mäkäräinen is the first Finnish biathlon world champion in history. In the competitions at the end of the season on Holmenkollen , she ran into the top ten for the twentieth time during the season and, thanks to her consistency, was the first Finn to secure the overall biathlon world cup. In 2011 she was also voted Sportswoman of the Year in Finland.

Establishment among the world's best (2011 to 2013)

After a coach change, Mäkäräinen could not quite build on the successes of the previous year in the 2011/12 World Cup season. Although she was in phenomenal running form again at the beginning of the season, she was unable to keep up with dominant women such as Magdalena Neuner and Darja Domratschawa over the winter, mainly due to poor shooting performance . Nevertheless, she achieved several podium finishes in the World Cup, including winning the individual in Nové Město na Moravě . In front of her home crowd in Kontiolahti , just a few kilometers from where she lives in Joensuu , the Finnish woman secured first place in the pursuit after finishing second in the sprint at almost -20 ° C. After three disappointing competitions at the 2012 Biathlon World Championships in Ruhpolding, in which she only reached the top 20 once, she secured the bronze medal behind Tora Berger and Marie-Laure Brunet in the last race, the 12.5 km mass start . In the overall World Cup she finished fourth behind Neuner, Domratschawa and Berger at the end of the season, in the individual and sprint World Cup she reached the top 3. She also won the World Team Challenge with the Swede Carl Johan Bergman in the Arena auf Schalke in Gelsenkirchen .

In preparation for the 2012/13 World Cup season , she was supported by Juha Hirvi as a shooting coach. The Finn was a six-time Olympic participant and won the silver medal in the small- bore three-position battle at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney . In the World Cup she did not win this winter, but made it onto the podium six times and finished fifth in the overall World Cup. At the 2013 World Championships in Nové Město na Moravě, however, she could not win a medal. In summer 2013 she won the Lysebotn Opp, a hill climb in Norway over 7.5 km on a serpentine road, in which traditionally the fastest cross-country skiers and biathletes in the world take part.

Second success in the overall World Cup and Olympic Games (2013/2014)

Tora Berger , Kaisa Mäkäräinen and Dorothea Wierer in Pokljuka

In the winter of 2013/14 , Mäkäräinen achieved second place in Annecy - Le Grand-Bornand only once in the top 10 until the Christmas break and at that time was ranked eleventh in the overall World Cup ranking. But already in Oberhof she managed to jump onto the podium again with two second places. She came third in the overall World Cup to the Winter Olympics in Sochi , Russia . There she took part in all four individual competitions, but remained without a medal. Only in the individual (9th) and in the mass start (6th) did she make it into the top ten. At home in Kontiolahti , she achieved her first hat trick by clearly winning the two sprint races and the pursuit race. At the final World Cup in Oslo, she secured victory in the Sprint and Pursuit World Cups with her results and was able to win the overall World Cup for the second time in her career with a narrow margin of only four points over last year's winner Tora Berger .

Home World Championships and Holmenkollen (2014 to 2016)

The following season began as successfully for Mäkäräinen as the last ended. After she had to settle for second place behind Darja Domratschawa in the first competition, she took back the yellow jersey and initially determined the events in the World Cup from the sprint in Östersund. Before the Christmas break, the Finn was on the podium seven times in eight individual races - including four wins, two second places and a third place. After the break she was still in top form and dominated the running times together with Domratschawa. However, she made too many mistakes on the shooting range and the Belarusian was able to shorten the gap in the overall World Cup. Up to the home world championship in Kontiolahti , Finland , Mäkäräinen achieved three more podium finishes in addition to winning the individual race in Oslo , in which she was clear in all four shooting positions, but she lost the yellow jersey to her Belarusian competitor. At the world championships, Kaisa Mäkäräinen was the big favorite. However, the bronze medal in individual, which she secured with an outstanding mileage, remained her only medal.

At the final World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk , Mäkäräinen made the fight for the overall World Cup exciting again by reducing the gap to the World Cup lead to nine points after her sprint victory. In the subsequent pursuit, she reached fourth place and, in addition to the small crystal ball, also won the individual pursuit world cup. In the final mass start, she stayed behind Domratschawa with five shooting errors and thus achieved second place in the overall World Cup.

After the end of the season, there was speculation about whether the 32-year-old athlete would end her career after her home world championships. At the end of April, however, she made it clear in a video that she would contest the 2015/16 season . After last year's winner Darya Domracheva of mononucleosis is ill and paused all season, it was regarded as the favorite to win the overall World Cup. Mäkäräinen won two races up to the 2016 Biathlon World Championships in Oslo, Norway, and was on the podium a total of six times, but with many results outside the top 10, she could not keep up with the Czech Gabriela Soukalová , who consistently delivered better results. At the world championships she won a medal again. In the last race, the mass start, she won the bronze medal with one mistake and the fastest time behind the French Marie Dorin-Habert and the German Laura Dahlmeier . With the medal in his luggage, Mäkäräinen traveled to the last World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk . In the two final races, the sprint and the pursuit, she celebrated her third and fourth victories of the season.

Third success in the overall World Cup (2016 to 2018)

Mäkäräinen with two crystal balls in Tyumen after the last race of the 2017/18 World Cup season

In the spring of 2016 there was again speculation as to whether Mäkäräinen would end her career. There was no decision on this, which was expected for April 7, 2016. It wasn't until April 28 that she announced that she wanted to continue her career. After the Finnish coach resigned, she made her decision dependent on the person of the new coach. With Antti Leppävuori as head coach, she would like to continue in the World Cup for up to two years. A major goal in addition to the Biathlon World Championships 2017 in the Austrian Hochfilzen the Nordic World Ski Championships 2017 in Finland Lahti where they - where possible - would like to participate. If she continues to feel good, she would like to start the following season and take part in the 2018 Winter Olympics . After only a 24th place in the first race of the 2016/17 season , the individual race in Östersund , which was characterized by difficult and changeable wind conditions, two second places followed by the turn of the year and - with the exception of an 11th place in the pursuit race in Nové Město in the Czech Republic na Moravě - only top 10 placements. After a second and a third place in January 2017 in Oberhof , she won her first World Cup race on German soil a week later in the sprint in Ruhpolding . In the pursuit that followed, she confirmed this achievement by also winning this race. At the World Cup in Antholz , the Finnish women's relay started with an unusual line-up, because Kaisa Mäkäräinen was usually the starting runner. However, after Laura Toivanen , Sanna Markkanen and Mari Laukkanen, she was the last athlete to take to the track and finished the race in 8th place, which is her personal best in the relay and the best result for a Finnish women's relay since 6th place in the biathlon World Championships 2003 . As so often before, her performance at the World Championships fell short of her expectations and also below her potential. Nevertheless, she secured the last possible medal in the title fights and won - as at the World Championships in 2012 and 2016 - the bronze medal in the mass start behind Laura Dahlmeier and the surprising runner-up Susan Dunklee . Shortly after the World Championships, Mäkäräinen announced that she would not go to the Nordic World Ski Championships. The Finnish federation could not give her a start guarantee because she had not competed in cross-country races that winter. In addition, there were good chances for her to win the sprint or pursuit World Cup at this point, which is why she did not want to miss any races. In Pyeongchang she kept a good starting position with a fourth place in the sprint and a second place in the pursuit race, but with places 49 and 31 in her home races in Kontiolahti she missed her chance to win these ratings again. In the last race of the season, the mass start in Oslo , she finished third. This was the 70th podium finish in her career.

At the beginning of the 2017/18 season , Mäkäräinen proved that - although she is now one of the oldest active biathletes - she is still one of the fastest cross-country skiers in the World Cup. Also thanks to a slightly improved standing shooting, after the competitions in Hochfilzen after her first podium place of the winter, a second place in the pursuit race, she took over the yellow jersey of the leaders in the overall World Cup for a long time. In the relay race in Oberhof Mäkäräinen was able to improve her personal best in a relay race when she reached seventh place together with the new athlete in the Finnish World Cup team Venla Lehtonen as well as Mari Laukkanen and Laura Toivanen . It was also the best result for a Finnish women's relay since sixth place at the 2003 Biathlon World Championships . Mäkäräinen celebrated her first World Cup victory of the winter in January 2018 at the mass start in Ruhpolding , after she was able to overtake Laura Dahlmeier , who was in the lead, shortly before the finish line . At the next World Cup in Antholz , Italy , she was again on the podium in the mass start as third place. At the 2018 Winter Olympics , she was again without a medal after 2010 and 2014 . During the penultimate World Cup of the season in Oslo , Norway , Mäkäräinen was awarded the Holmenkollen Medal . She won the penultimate race of the winter, the pursuit race in Tyumen , Russia , and went into the final mass start as the leader of the overall World Cup in the yellow jersey. With a sixth place she secured for the third time in her career the overall world cup title and for the first time the mass start classification. She is the oldest female athlete to win an overall world cup title.

Last years as an active biathlete (2018 to 2020)

On May 14, 2018, Kaisa Mäkäräinen announced with an Instagram video that she would also compete in the World Cup in the 2018/19 season . In the first two stations on the Pokljuka and in Hochfilzen , she was able to build on the successful previous season with three wins and a second place and in the overall standings she was able to take second place behind Dorothea Wierer . Then in Nové Město na Moravě there was a sharp deterioration in the shooting results, which led to Mäkäräinen ending up outside of the points several times and not being able to achieve a place in the top 20 at the beginning of January 2019. Only in Antholz did this change with a second place in the sprint, at the World Cup in Soldier Hollow she came second in the sprint and third in the pursuit. She finished the season in seventh place in the overall World Cup ranking and for the first time since the 2009/10 season could not place in the top 5 overall. At the 2019 World Championships in Östersund , Sweden - for the first time since the 2013 World Championships - she did not win a medal.

Award ceremony at the last World Cup victory in Oberhof with Tiril Eckhoff and Marte Olsbu Røiseland

With a 53rd place in the first individual race of the season 2019/20 , the Sprint in Swedish Östersund, started Kaisa Mäkäräinen no points in the new World Cup season. After two 13th places in the Östersund individual competition and the sprint in Hochfilzen , she achieved her first top 10 position of the season with seventh place in the pursuit race. She finished the sprint in Annecy / Le Grand-Bornand in 56th place again without World Cup points, in the mass start she missed the podium by a good ten seconds as fourth. In January 2020 she won the mass start in Oberhof and, for the first time ever, a World Cup race at this venue. With placings outside the top 10 in Ruhpolding and on the Pokljuka plateau and especially with a 65th place in the individual competition in Pokljuka, she only drove to the 2020 Biathlon World Championships in Antholz as an outsider . There she was only able to achieve a top 10 placement in the mixed relay race - together with Mari Eder , Tero Seppälä and Olli Hiidensalo . In the individual races, especially with a 40th place in the sprint, she clearly missed the podium. Also in the mass start, her best discipline this winter and also the only discipline in which she was able to win several medals at world championships, she came home empty-handed after five penalty loops in 14th place. At the penultimate World Cup of the season in Nové Město na Moravě in the Czech Republic, which took place without spectators due to the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, she finished again after a 14th place in the sprint and a 16th place in the relay race with a seventh place in the mass start a top 10 placement. Although she was repeatedly asked about a possible end of her career and about her future before and during the winter, Mäkäräinen did not comment on a specific retirement date or on her sporting future. In an interview with Kati Wilhelm , which was recorded during the World Cup in Kontiolahti in Mäkäräinen's neighboring hometown of Joensuu and broadcast on ARD on the day of the sprint on March 13, 2020 , Mäkäräinen did not make any specific statements on this topic. Shortly before the start of the pursuit race in Kontiolahti - after the cancellation of the season finale in Oslo and the relay competitions on the following day - as the last biathlon race of winter 2019/20, Kaisa Mäkäräinen announced on social networks that she would be following this pursuit race Career will end. Although Mäkäräinen planned her last biathlon race differently and wished it differently and even if it was a very emotional decision for her and her last winter was difficult, she does not regret this decision. She argued that neither the results of winter nor that abrupt end of winter and her career and the fact that she would have to contest her last race without a spectator would not take away "all the good things" that biathlon is in her has brought in recent years. She is also wholeheartedly looking forward to her last biathlon race, which she will enjoy with all of her “wonderful colleagues”. In her last race, Mäkäräinen once again set the fastest time, despite four shooting errors, she improved from 18th to fourth place and missed the medal ranks by just a few seconds.

Awards

At the beginning of January 2012, Kaisa Mäkäräinen was the first ever biathlete to be voted Finland's Sportsman of the Year 2011 . In 2016 she was awarded the Most Exciting Moment in Sport award at the Finnish Sports Gala for receiving the bronze medal at the home world championships in Kontiolahti . In 2018 she received the Holmenkollen Medal , the highest Norwegian award in skiing.

Performance development

Cross-country skiing

Mäkäräinen and Magdalena Neuner at the World Cup in Kontiolahti in February 2012

Mileage Kaisa Mäkäräinen (World Cup excluding relay races), source: IBU Datacenter

Mileage Kaisa Mäkäräinen (World Cup excluding relay races), source: IBU Datacenter

Mäkäräinen at the World Cup in Oberhof in January 2018

Mileage Kaisa Mäkäräinen (World Cup excluding relay races), source: IBU Datacenter

Kaisa Mäkäräinen was one of the best-running biathletes in the entire World Cup. By the end of her career in March 2020, she set the fastest time in 66 races and was among the three fastest athletes in a total of 172 individual races. Together with athletes such as B. Magdalena Neuner , Darja Domratschawa , Laura Dahlmeier or Tiril Eckhoff they determined the running level in the Biathlon World Cup .

At the beginning of her World Cup career, however, her mileage was only average by international standards. Although Mäkäräinen switched from cross-country skiing to biathlon, in her first season in the World Cup she only achieved one result within the 20 fastest times, the opening race in Östersund , Sweden , she finished 94th with the 81st running time. In the following season , she was able to increase her times on the trail a good bit. With two times in the top 10 and a total of 17 times in the top 30, it clearly exceeded its previous rate. In the period from 2007/08 up to and including 2009/10 , their mileage was at a fairly constant level. During this time she achieved the results in this sub-discipline between the 13th and 15th time of all athletes in individual races. She achieved her first fastest time in a race in the sprint in Oberhof in January 2010, which she finished in 20th place after four shooting errors.

Her big breakthrough came in the 2010/11 season , in which she won the overall world cup title for the first time. In the course of the season she set two fastest times, four second and five third times. Only in two races was her run time just outside the top ten. With a good hit rate at the shooting range and the completion of all races - with the exception of a disqualification in the mass start in January 2011 in Antholz , Italy - this performance was the basis for their success in the overall World Cup.

In the following years, Mäkäräinen was able to steadily improve this rate. It had its strongest season - in terms of running times - in the winter of 2014/15 . She set the fastest time in more than half of the 25 races, with the exception of two races she was always among the three fastest of the whole field. Nevertheless, she could not win the overall World Cup, as Darja Domratschawa , who was similarly strong, had a slightly better placement rate than Mäkäräinen and won the overall World Cup with 48 points ahead of the results.

Although there were rumors of resignation after this season, the now 32-year-old Mäkäräinen competed again in the 2015/16 Biathlon World Cup . In the course of the season it became clear that although she was still one of the fastest in the Biathlon World Cup, the backlogs of several competitors were no longer as great as in previous years. It was, among others, the later winner of the overall World Cup Gabriela Soukalová as well as Dorothea Wierer , Marie Dorin-Habert and the Germans Laura Dahlmeier and Franziska Hildebrand , who were partly equal to Mäkäräinen in terms of running or who were able to keep the arrears on the fast Finn to a minimum. Since these athletes had an average of up to 10 percentage points better hit rate at the shooting range, Mäkäräinen only finished fourth overall behind Soukalová, Dorin-Habert and Wierer. This season she again set the fastest time in nine races and finished more than two-thirds of her races as one of the three fastest in a race.

For the 2016/17 season , Mäkäräinen was just as strong as in the previous year. Although she was the oldest athlete among the top ten women in the overall World Cup, she was still one of the fastest biathletes in the World Cup. She set the fastest time in eight races and was among the three fastest runners in the field in more than two thirds of all races. Only in five races was their running time outside the top three of a race, but always within the top ten.

In direct comparison with her competitors, Mäkäräinen was also one of the fastest cross-country skiers among biathletes in winter 2017/18 . She set the fastest time in five races, the second fastest in seven races and the third fastest time in four races. In the remaining six races, she finished fourth, fifth or seventh fastest. Her physical performance, in connection with a slightly improved hit rate at the shooting range, was the basis for the overall World Cup title, which she won for the third time this winter.

In 2018/19 , Mäkäräinen was still among the best in the world when it comes to running times. She set the fastest time in four races, the second-best in three more and the third-best time in two. Overall, she placed in 19 out of 24 races within the top ten runners. She won three races and was on the podium in four more, but a poor hit performance prevented further good placements.

In her last season as an active biathlete, Mäkäräinen - although she was the oldest biathlete in the entire field after Magdalena Gwizdoń - was even faster on the trail than last year. She again set the fastest time in four races, the second in six races and the third-best in three races. In 21 races, their running time was to be found in 20 races with the ten fastest athletes of the World Cup. Since her hit performance deteriorated further compared to the previous season, she achieved the only podium place with first place at the mass start in Oberhof , at the mass start in Annecy - Le Grand-Bornand and in the pursuit race in Kontiolahti , the fourth just missed the podium. The pursuit race at her home World Cup in Kontiolahti was also the last biathlon race of her career, in this race she once again set the fastest time.

shoot

Mäkäräinen shooting, Oberhof World Cup 2018

Shooting performance Kaisa Mäkäräinen up to 2010/11
(World Cup including all relay races), source: IBU Datacenter

Shooting performance Kaisa Mäkäräinen from 2011/12
(World Cup including all relay races), source: IBU Datacenter

Mäkäräinen at the World Cup in Oberhof 2018

Shooting performance Kaisa Mäkäräinen from 2015/16
(World Cup including all relay races), source: IBU Datacenter

In contrast to her strong mileage, Kaisa Mäkäräinen's hit rate was only in the midfield. On average, their overall quota was 82%. It is noticeable that - in contrast to many other athletes - the difference between the prone and standing quota was usually very small. While the hit rate in the lying position was 15 percentage points better in its first season than in the standing position, these two values ​​have converged more and more over the years and often only varied by a few percentage points. In addition, Mäkäräinen has seen strong fluctuations in the hit rate over the course of her career.

She had her best results in this sub-discipline in the 2010/11 season . At that time she was looked after by the Austrian Josef Obererlacher , who attached great importance to the Finnish woman's shooting training. With an average hit rate of 86%, she was well above the performance of her fiercest competitor Magdalena Neuner . Although Mäkäräinen was still slightly inferior at the time, both the good performance at the shooting range and the fact that, unlike Neuner, she did not have to miss a World Cup due to illness, were the basis for winning the overall World Cup this year.

After Obererlacher left the Finnish federation after only a year, Mäkäräinen's performance at the shooting range deteriorated. A year later, she therefore sought the support of Juha Hirvi in preparation for the 2012/13 season . This won the silver medal in the small bore three-position battle at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. However, during the winter it became apparent that this training could not have a positive effect on their hit rate. As a result, their performance deteriorated further and at the end of the competition winter their overall quota was only 77%. A deterioration of almost 10 percentage points compared to her best season to date, 2010/11, means that she can score one hit less per competition in sprint races or two fewer hits in individual, pursuit and mass start races.

In the next few years Mäkäräinen worked consistently on her shooting performance and trained several times with Joar Himle. The Norwegian is considered a very experienced shooting coach, who in this role not only looks after the Norwegian team, but also regularly supports foreign athletes and teams. Mäkäräinen's hit rate stabilized again over 80%, especially when standing, she was able to increase her performance from 70% to 82% within two years. In connection with her very fast running times she was able to win the overall world cup title 2013/14 after the Olympic Games without a medal . After the hit rates for prone and standing shooting were almost the same in 2014/15 and 2015/16 , they were 87% and 79% further apart in the 2016/17 season, and came closer together with 87% and 84% in the winter of 2017/18 however again on. On average, however, their shooting performance remained at a fairly constant level over these years. A slight improvement over the 2017/18 season, combined with the usual fast running times, formed the basis for the third overall world cup title in her career.

At the beginning of the 2018/19 season , Mäkäräinen clearly won both the sprint and the pursuit race on the Pokljuka plateau after faultless shooting . This chase was also the last race in Mäkäräinen's career that she completed without a shooting error. In Hochfilzen she was just as successful with a second place in the sprint and victory in the pursuit race, from the last World Cup in December 2018 her shooting performance deteriorated drastically. Despite the good performance at the beginning of the season, this averaged only 79% and was hardly better than in their worst season 2012/13 .

In Mäkäräinen's last season , their hit rate worsened by another percentage point and stood at 78%. With one exception, she made at least two mistakes in every race, only at the mass start in Oberhof in January 2020 she only made one mistake in four bouts and won this race. It was her only podium finish until the end of the season. Although she was still one of the best-running biathletes in the World Cup, poor shooting results prevented better placements in the races.

Competition balance

Kaisa Mäkäräinen is one of the most successful biathletes of all time with three overall victories in the biathlon world cup in 2010/11 , 2013/14 and 2017/18, after Magdalena Forsberg with six successes together with Magdalena Neuner , who also won the overall ranking three times.

She took part in the Winter Olympics in 2010 , 2014 and 2018 , but never won a medal. Her best result was a sixth place in the 2014 mass start race in Sochi and in the 2018 mixed relay race in Pyeongchang . In direct comparison, the athletes who won the overall World Cup between 2005 and 2020 during Mäkäräinen's active career were more successful at the Winter Olympics. Only Helena Ekholm can not show any success at the winter games, Sandrine Bailly and Dorothea Wierer each won two Olympic medals in relay races. All of the other overall World Cup winners, with one exception, have won at least one gold medal in individual races. Gabriela Koukalová won silver in the mass start and mixed relay race in Sochi in 2014.

Between 2005 and 2020 Kaisa Mäkäräinen took part in twelve full world championships and in 2006 and 2010 in the biathlon mixed relay world championships on the Pokljuka plateau and in Khanty-Mansiysk . She won her first and only world championship title at the 2010 Biathlon World Championships in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, in the pursuit race, after winning the silver medal in the sprint race the day before. This was followed by four bronze medals, which they won in the 2012 mass start race in Ruhpolding , in 2015 in the individual race at their home world championships in Kontiolahti , and in the mass start in Oslo in 2016 and in Hochfilzen in 2017 . Of all the athletes who won the overall World Cup during Mäkäräinen's active career, only Sandrine Bailly and Gabriela Koukalová were each able to win an individual gold medal at the Biathlon World Championships , all the others were successful several times. With a total of six gold medals in individual races, Magdalena Neuner is the most successful athlete at world championships at this time. The medal statistics are somewhat skewed by the lack of success of the Finnish relays. While other nations such as Germany, Norway, Sweden or the Czech Republic were often able to provide very successful teams for relay races, a Finnish women's team only won a bronze medal in three races. The last success was in 1998 , when the non-Olympic competitions were held in Hochfilzen. At that time Katja Holanti , Tiina Mikkola , Mari Lampinen and Sanna-Leena Perunka won bronze in the team competition behind Russia and Norway.

In the Biathlon World Cup , Kaisa Mäkäräinen was on the podium in a total of 85 individual races, with 27 victories she finished sixth in the list of the best after World Cup victories . Only Tora Berger with 28, Uschi Disl with 30, Darja Domratschawa with 31, Magdalena Neuner with 34 and Magdalena Forsberg with 42 wins were more successful . Of these athletes, only Forsberg was on the podium as often as Mäkäräinen with 85 top 3 placements, all the others - as well as the athletes who won the overall World Cup during Mäkäräinen's career - have fewer podium placements. Mäkäräinen finished second in 34 races and third in 24 races in the World Cup. She reached her first podium on December 15, 2007 when she was second in the sprint on the Pokljuka plateau behind Sandrine Bailly . She won her first World Cup victory almost three years later, when she won the sprint in Östersund on December 3, 2010, ahead of Miriam Gössner and Darja Domratschawa. Her last World Cup victory at the mass start in Oberhof on January 12, 2020 in front of Tiril Eckhoff and Marte Olsbu Røiseland was also her last podium finish in the Biathlon World Cup and also the only podium finish in her last World Cup season .

In 2007 and 2016 , Mäkäräinen also took part in the Summer Biathlon World Championships , which were held in Otepää in these two years . She won gold in the sprint and pursuit race in 2007, gold again in the pursuit in 2016 and - together with Mari Laukkanen , Tuomas Grönman and Olli Hiidensalo - in the mixed relay race.

In the summer months, Mäkäräinen took part in many biathlon and cross-country skiing events such as the city ​​biathlon or the Blinkfestivalen . In the summer of 2013 she won the Lysebotn Opp as part of the Blinkfestival , a hill climb in Norway over 7.5 km on a serpentine road, in which traditionally the fastest cross-country skiers and biathletes in the world take part.

From 2010 to 2012 she took part in the World Team Challenge three times in a row in the Arena auf Schalke in Gelsenkirchen . Together with the Swede Carl Johan Bergman , she won the World Team Challenge 2011 as a mixed Swedish-Finnish team .

statistics

World Cup placements

The table shows all placements (depending on the year, including the Olympic Games and World Championships).

• 1st - 3rd Place: Number of podium placements
• Top 10: Number of placements in the top ten (including podium)
• Points ranks: Number of placements within the point ranks (including podium and top 10)
• Starts: Number of races run in the respective discipline
• Relay: including mixed relays

placement	singles	sprint	persecution	Mass start	Season	total
1st place	2	8th	13	4th		27
2nd place	4th	17th	11	2		34
3rd place	1	7th	9	7th		24
Top 10	16	67	59	37	21st	200
Scoring	33	128	94	65	69	389
Starts	43	138	103	66	69	419
Status: end of career

World Cup victories

Mäkäräinen wins the chase in Tyumen ahead of Anaïs Bescond

No.	date	place	discipline
1.	0Dec 3, 2010	Ostersund	sprint
2.	0Dec 5, 2010	Ostersund	persecution
3.	06th Mar 2011	Khanty-Mansiysk (WM)	persecution
4th	Jan. 11, 2012	Nové Město	singles
5.	Feb 12, 2012	Kontiolahti	persecution
6th	0March 8 2014	Pokljuka	persecution
7th	13 Mar 2014	Kontiolahti	sprint
8th.	15th Mar 2014	Kontiolahti	sprint
9.	16. Mar. 2014	Kontiolahti	persecution
10.	07th Dec 2014	Ostersund	persecution
11.	Dec 12, 2014	Hochfilzen	sprint
12.	Dec 14, 2014	Hochfilzen	persecution
13.	Dec 21, 2014	Pokljuka	Mass start
14th	Feb 12, 2015	Oslo	singles
15th	20 Mar 2015	Khanty-Mansiysk	sprint
16.	0Dec 6, 2015	Ostersund	persecution
17th	Dec 20, 2015	Pokljuka	Mass start
18th	17th Mar 2016	Khanty-Mansiysk	sprint
19th	19 Mar 2016	Khanty-Mansiysk	persecution
20th	Jan. 14, 2017	Ruhpolding	sprint
21st	Jan 15, 2017	Ruhpolding	persecution
22nd	Jan. 14, 2018	Ruhpolding	Mass start
23.	24 Mar 2018	Tyumen	persecution
24.	0Dec 8, 2018	Pokljuka	sprint
25th	0Dec 9, 2018	Pokljuka	persecution
26th	Dec 15, 2018	Hochfilzen	persecution
27.	Jan. 12, 2020	Oberhof	Mass start

World championships

Mäkäräinen at the World Championships in Östersund

World Championship		singles	sprint	persecution	Mass start	Season	Mixed relay	Single mixed relay
year	place
2005	Hochfilzen	49.	73.			18th
2006	Pokljuka (Mixed Relay World Championship)						19th
2007	Antholz	8th.	29	25th	7th	12.	16.
2008	Ostersund	31.	55.	DNS	15th	15th	10.
2009	Pyeongchang	30th	23.	4th	17th		6th
2010	Khanty-Mansiysk (Mixed Relay World Championship)						18th
2011	Khanty-Mansiysk	28.	2.	1.	4th	10.	9.
2012	Ruhpolding	28.	27.	20th	3.	18th	16.
2013	Nové Město	8th.	9.	10.	17th	21st	18th
2015	Kontiolahti	3.	35.	12.	14th	17th	9.
2016	Oslo	19th	9.	7th	3.	17th	18th
2017	Hochfilzen	15th	12.	7th	3.	15th	10.
2019	Ostersund	45.	12.	17th	23.	-	10.	12.
2020	Antholz	21st	40.	22nd	14th	11.	9.	-

winter Olympics

winter Olympics		singles	sprint	persecution	Mass start	Season	Mixed relay
year	place
2010	Vancouver	45.	58.	44.	-	-
2014	Sochi	9.	30th	16.	6th	-	-
2018	Pyeongchang	25th	22nd	13.	10.	15th	6th

World Cup ratings

Mäkäräinen 2018 in Tyumen

Results at biathlon world cups (discipline and overall world cup) according to the point system

season	singles		sprint		persecution		Mass start		total
	space	Points	space	Points	space	Points	space	Points	space	Points
2005/06	54.	4th	63.	10	63.	4th			62.	18th
2006/07	8th.	79	29	60	47.	16	16.	74	27.	230
2007/08	43.	11	10.	180	15th	108	14th	80	13.	388
2008/09	27.	47	17th	192	10.	178	9.	140	14th	577
2009/10	43.	26th	17th	202	28.	84	16.	106	22nd	418
2010/11	6th	131	2.	391	1.	343	8th.	140	1.	1005
2011/12	2.	116	3.	401	4th	350	5.	187	4th	1007
2012/13	6th	104	5.	324	5.	255	5.	171	5.	834
2013/14	20th	31	1.	367	1.	350	3.	130	1.	861
2014/15	1.	162	2.	364	1.	348	5.	193	2.	1044
2015/16	8th.	93	4th	309	4th	324	4th	179	4th	892
2016/17	11.	69	3.	337	3.	368	3.	207	3.	971
2017/18	3.	84	3.	258	2.	280	1.	216	1.	822
2018/19	57.	11	5.	280	5.	286	21st	96	7th	673
2019/20	21st	48	23.	117	7th	146	4th	195	11.	506

Web links

Commons : Kaisa Mäkäräinen  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• www.kaisamakarainen.fi; Kaisa Mäkäräinen website (Finnish, English)
• Kaisa Mäkäräinen in the IBU database (English)
• Kaisa Mäkäräinen in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Kaisa Mäkäräinen. Eurosport , accessed February 23, 2020 . 
2. ↑ Kaisa on kaisamakarainen.fi, accessed January 23, 2018
3. ↑ KaisaGoesHome on facebook.com
4. ↑ Kaisa Mäkäräinen on Vuoden urheilija
5. ↑ Kaisa Mäkäräinen - I know what I'm doing (video) on youtube.com, accessed on March 1, 2016
6. ↑ CU next season by kaisamakarainen on instagram.com, accessed on May 15, 2018
7. ↑ The K question on ardmediathek.de, accessed on March 14, 2020
8. ↑ Kaisa Mäkäräinen on instagram.co, accessed on March 14, 2020
9. ↑ Urheilugaala: Vuoden urheilija on Kaisa Mäkäräinen! at www.is.fi, accessed on March 15, 2020
10. ↑ Kaisa Mäkäräinen on urheilugaala.fi, accessed on March 15, 2020
11. ↑ Holmenkollmedaljen til Mäkäräinen on skiforeningen.no, accessed on March 15, 2020
12. ↑ Final Results Pokljuka Sprint (PDF) in the IBU Datacenter, accessed on March 15, 2020
13. ↑ Competition Analysis Östersund Sprint (PDF) in the IBU Datacenter, accessed on March 15, 2020
14. ↑ Final Results Ostersund Mass Start (PDF) in the IBU Datacenter, accessed on March 15, 2020