Andreas Birnbacher, nicknamed "Birnei", was a sports soldier in the German Armed Forces and there in the sports promotion group , most recently he held the rank of sergeant major . Initially, Birnbacher wanted to be a marksman. He came to biathlon when Birnbacher's father asked his friend Fritz Fischer to take his son under his wing. In 2002 he was awarded the Bavarian Sports Prize in the category “Outstanding Young Athlete”. He had previously won one gold, two silver and one bronze medal at the Junior World Championships in 2000 in Hochfilzen , three gold medals at the Junior World Championships in 2001 in Khanty-Mansiysk and the relay gold medal at the European Championships in Kontiolahti . In the same year he became German champion with the relay. A year later he became German sprint champion for the first time. In the following years he won the German championship in sprint, pursuit and relay several times. At the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, he was part of the German Olympic team for the first time , but was not used. In the 2006/07 season he achieved successes in the World Cup for the first time. In the first race of the season over 20 km in Östersund he finished second. At the 2007 World Championships in Antholz , he secured his first World Championship medal. In the mass start race over 15 kilometers, he won the silver medal behind the winner Michael Greis . In 2008 Birnbacher became world champion in Östersund with the mixed relay and third with the men's relay. Birnbacher reached 15th place in the mass start at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver. He celebrated his first World Cup victory on March 17, 2011 in the sprint competition at Holmenkollen in Oslo. Exactly nine months later, on December 17, 2011, he secured his second individual success in the World Cup in the 12.5 kilometer pursuit, which was held in Hochfilzen as an alternative for Le Grand-Bornand - Annecy due to lack of snow . In the mass start he celebrated two successes of the season with victories in Oberhof and Antholz . He also secured victory in the mass start world cup. In the 2014/15 season in Hochfilzen, Austria, he achieved a podium finish for the first time in almost two years with a third place in the sprint. Due to a respiratory infection, he had to do without a start at the 2015 World Championships . On March 8, 2016, Birnbacher announced that he would end his career at the end of the 2015/16 season. He made his last appearance on March 10, 2016, in an individual race at the World Championships and finished ninth once again in the top 10. He decided not to start in the mass start on March 13 for health reasons. Although he would have been qualified, he should still not have started because four Germans were classified before him and no more than four athletes per nation were allowed to start at the World Championships. Had Birnbacher been healthy, Benedikt Doll would have waived his start in Birnbacher's favor.
Biathlon coach
After his active career, Birnbacher began training at the Cologne Trainer Academy . At the same time, he began to pass on his knowledge to other athletes, especially young athletes, as a "trainer trainee" at the base in Ruhpolding. In the winter of 2018/2019 he was the discipline trainer responsible for the women in performance group II.
Private
Andreas Birnbacher lives in Schleching, Bavaria, and was trained by Fritz Fischer at the biathlon performance center in Ruhpolding, a few kilometers away. He married on April 13, 2012 in Reit im Winkl . Two months later he took part in the 1st Chiemsee Triathlon in Chieming . On his triathlon debut, he came in 9th place in the field, which is heavily occupied by numerous professionals. He is the father of two children.
Record in the World Cup and title fights
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
1
3
2
8th
2nd place
2
1
2
9
14th
3rd place
3
1
1
9
14th
Top 10
11
33
27
20th
32
123
Scoring
29
81
69
42
35
256
Starts
36
105
76
42
35
294
Status: end of career
World Cup victories
All victories at biathlon world cups, listed separately according to individual and relay races. The columns can be sorted by clicking the symbol in the table header.
Germany
Vancouver
Sochi
Hochfilzen
Pokljuka
Antholz
Ostersund
Nové Město na Moravě
Oslo
