Bjorn Michel

Björn Michel (born February 7, 1975 in Wiesbaden ) is a German hockey player who became world champion in 2002.

Björn Michel grew up in Bernried am Starnberger See , where his father, as a doctor, ran a rehabilitation facility. Dirk Michel himself was a national hockey player from 1966 to 1971 and trained his sons and other young people in Bernried. Initially Björn Michel was only brought to Münchner SC on match days . Björn Michel did not take part in club training until he was a B-youth, once a week when his father was in Munich on business.

Björn Michel played 91 international matches in various youth national teams. In 1993 he became junior world champion under coach Bernhard Peters . In 1993 he made his debut in the German national hockey team , playing center-back and libero as in the junior teams. It was not until 1998 that he was used as a striker in the national team. In total, he played 334 international matches, 27 of them indoors. With 229 goals, the penalty corner specialist is the record scorer of the German national team. (As of 2008) He was also a record international player, but was later surpassed by Philipp Crone .

In 1995 he won the European Championships, in 1997 he became European Indoor Champion. The 1998 world championship bronze was followed by two European championship titles in 1999, when the team won both indoors and outdoors. When he first participated in the Olympics in 2000 , he was only fifth. The 2001 indoor European championship title was followed by victory in the FIH Champions Trophy , Michels second after 1997. In 2002 , Michel became world champion with the German team in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia). In 2003 Michel was part of the winning team at three championships in a row: He became European champion, indoor world champion and indoor European champion. At the end of his career, Michel won the bronze medal at the 2004 Olympic Games , with Björn Michel himself scoring the final decisive goal.

For this, he and the team were awarded the Silver Laurel Leaf on March 16, 2005.

literature

• National Olympic Committee for Germany: Athens 2004. The German Olympic team . Frankfurt am Main 2004

Web links

• Portrait from January 11, 2004 (accessed August 1, 2008)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Wiesbadener Kurier from August 28, 2004  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved August 1, 2008  
2. ↑ Press release of the Office of the Federal President of March 16, 2005 .... Awarding of the Silver Laurel Leaf to the medal winners of the 2004 Olympic and Paralympic Games ...