Martin Fourcade

Martin Fourcade
Association	France
birthday	14th September 1988 (age 31)
place of birth	Céret , France
size	185 cm
Weight	79 kg
Career
society	SC Font-Romeu Pyrénées 2000
Trainer	Vincent Vittoz / Patrick Favre
Debut in the European Cup / IBU Cup	2008
Debut in the World Cup	2008
World Cup victories	93 (79 individual victories)
status	resigned
End of career	March 14, 2020
Medal table
Olympic medals 5 × 2 × 0 × World Cup medals 13 × 10 × 5 × JWM medals 0 × 0 × 1 × SJWM medals 1 × 1 × 0 ×
winter Olympics silver 2010 Vancouver Mass start gold 2014 Sochi persecution gold 2014 Sochi singles silver 2014 Sochi Mass start gold 2018 Pyeongchang persecution gold 2018 Pyeongchang Mass start gold 2018 Pyeongchang Mixed relay  Biathlon world championships gold 2011 Khanty-Mansiysk persecution silver 2011 Khanty-Mansiysk sprint bronze 2011 Khanty-Mansiysk Mixed relay gold 2012 Ruhpolding sprint gold 2012 Ruhpolding persecution gold 2012 Ruhpolding Mass start silver 2012 Ruhpolding Season gold 2013 Nové Město singles silver 2013 Nové Město Mixed relay silver 2013 Nové Město sprint silver 2013 Nové Město persecution silver 2013 Nové Město Season gold 2015 Kontiolahti singles silver 2015 Kontiolahti Mixed relay bronze 2015 Kontiolahti Season gold 2016 Oslo Mixed relay gold 2016 Oslo sprint gold 2016 Oslo persecution gold 2016 Oslo singles silver 2016 Oslo Mass start gold 2017 Hochfilzen persecution silver 2017 Hochfilzen Season silver 2017 Hochfilzen Mixed relay bronze 2017 Hochfilzen sprint bronze 2017 Hochfilzen singles gold 2020 Antholz singles gold 2020 Antholz Season bronze 2020 Antholz sprint  Biathlon Junior World Championships bronze 2007 Martell Season  Junior Summer Biathlon World Championships gold 2008 Haute Maurienne sprint silver 2008 Haute Maurienne Season
World Cup balance
Overall World Cup	1. ( 2011/12 , 2012/13 , 2013/14 2014/15 , 2015/16 2016/17 , 2017/18 )
Individual World Cup	1. ( 2012/13 , 2015/16 , 2016/17 2017/18 , 2019/20 )
Sprint World Cup	1. ( 2011/12 , 2012/13 , 2013/14 2014/15 , 2015/16 , 2016/17 2017/18 , 2019/20 )
Pursuit World Cup	1. ( 2009/10 , 2011/12 , 2012/13 2013/14 , 2014/15 , 2015/16 2016/17 , 2017/18 )
Mass start world cup	1. ( 2012/13 , 2013/14 , 2015/16 2016/17 , 2017/18 )
Podium placements 1. 2. 3. singles 14th 3 3 sprint 23 18th 12 persecution 28 11 9 Mass start 14th 7th 2 Season 14th 14th 7th
last change: March 14, 2020

Martin Fourcade (born September 14, 1988 in Céret ) is a former French biathlete . He is one of the most successful biathletes of all time. He was 5 times Olympic champion, 13 times world champion and 7 times winner of the overall World Cup. There are also 15 further World Cup medals and 2 further Olympic medals.

Origin, childhood and private life

Martin Fourcade's father was originally a swimming instructor in Perpignan , but then moved to the Pyrenees to become a mountain guide. He inherited his love for nature and outdoor activities such as hiking, climbing and mountain biking from his parents.

Fourcade has two brothers, including Simon , who was also a biathlete. Both attended the Pierre-de-Coubertin sports high school in Font-Romeu-Odeillo-Via , later the military school in Chamonix and became members of the French army selection.

Martin Fourcade is in a relationship with the teacher Hélène and lives in Villard-de-Lans . The connection resulted in two daughters (born in 2015 and 2017).

Career

Beginnings and first season in the World Cup

After the family moved to the winter sports resort La Llagonne ( Département Pyrénées-Orientales ), Fourcade began to pursue cross-country skiing . Through his brother Simon he came to biathlon in 2002. He starts for the Club Ski Nordique Villard de Lans and is trained by Stéphane Bouthiaux . Since 2002 he has been a member of the French national team and from 2006 he started in international junior competitions. The first highlight was participation in the 2007 Junior World Championships in Martell . Fourcade finished fifth in the singles and ninth in the sprint and pursuit. These achievements were crowned by winning the bronze medal in the relay. Further good results followed a year later at the next World Championships in Ruhpolding . There he was eighth in the individual, tenth in the pursuit, eleventh in the sprint and fifth in the French junior relay. In the Junior European Cup Fourcade reached four podium places by 2008 and won a sprint race in Cesana San Sicario . At the Summer Biathlon World Championships in 2008 in Haute-Maurienne , he won gold in individual competitions with the rollerskiing juniors, was fourth in the pursuit and won silver with the mixed relay.

Fourcade's first competition in the adult sector was quite successful. At the Biathlon European Championships in 2008 in Nové Město na Moravě he was 23rd in the individual, 18th in the sprint, ninth in the pursuit and eighth in the relay competition. Fourcade made his debut in the biathlon world cup at the finals of the 2007/08 season at Holmenkollen in Oslo . He finished 61st in the sprint and missed a first-time pursuit by just one place. For the 2008/09 season Fourcade was included in the French World Cup squad, but was initially only active in the European Biathlon Cup . At the third World Cup event of the season in Hochfilzen , he got his first chance and won his first individual World Cup points in 36th place. In the following sprint race he came in tenth. By the end of the season, Fourcade finished in the top 25 of 13 other races - the best result being eighth in the pursuit at the World Championships in Pyeongchang. With these consistent performances, he established himself in the French squad and ended his first World Cup season with 345 points in 24th place - as the second best Frenchman behind his brother Simon.

2009/10 season - First World Cup victories and silver medal at the Olympic Games

In the 2009/10 season Fourcade achieved the final breakthrough in the world elite. He was used continuously in the World Cup and was one of the regular runners of the French relay. At the season opener in Östersund, he was 7th and 8th in the top ten in singles and sprints and also won a relay race for the first time. Just in time for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, he continued to improve his performance and always achieved a top ten finish in the five races before the games. The Olympic Games started rather disappointing for Fourcade, as he did not achieve an outstanding placement in either sprint (35th place), pursuit (34th place) or individual (14th place). At the end of the individual competitions he celebrated his greatest career success so far by winning the silver medal in the mass start. Fourcade continued this performance after the Olympics when he achieved a podium finish in Kontiolahti in third place in the sprint. In the pursuit, he made the leap to the very front and won the first World Cup race of his career. At the penultimate World Cup station on Oslo's Holmenkollen he followed suit and won both the sprint and the pursuit. By winning the hunting race, he ousted Simon Eder from first place in the discipline classification of the Pursuit World Cup and secured the small crystal ball with only one point ahead of the Austrian. In the overall World Cup he achieved 719 points with his three victories of the season and a total of five podium places and thus fifth place in the final accounts.

2010/11 season - first world title

In the 2010/11 season , Martin Fourcade took another step forward. At the start of the season in Östersund, the Frenchman clinched two third places in the individual and sprint. Up to the World Championships in Khanty-Mansiysk , seven more podium places followed, including his first two wins in the mass start. At the World Championships, Fourcade became one of the defining athletes and won a total of three medals. A silver medal in the sprint and a third place in the mixed relay were crowned by the first gold medal of his career in the pursuit. At the end of the season he reached another podium at the World Cup finals in Oslo and thus increased his podium results this season to 12. Behind Tarjei Bø and Emil Hegle Svendsen this was enough with 990 points to third place in the overall World Cup in his second full season.

2011/12 season - success in the overall World Cup and three gold medals

Martin Fourcade had his best season to date in 2011/12 . Right at the start of the season in Östersund, he secured two wins in three races and thus also took over the yellow jersey of the leader in the overall World Cup. During the season Fourcade fought a duel with the Norwegian Emil Hegle Svendsen for the lead in the overall standings. After the turn of the year Fourcade had to skip a race in Oberhof and thus also lost the lead to Svendsen. With good results in the following World Cup races, he regained the yellow jersey and started as one of the favorites at the 2012 World Championships in Ruhpolding, where he did not win a medal at the start as the final runner of the mixed relay. At the beginning of the individual races he managed to win the sprint over his long-term rival Svendsen. He was the first to go into the subsequent pursuit race and also won the gold medal there, this time in front of the Swede Carl Johan Bergman , after he had been able to leave him on the final lap. In the individual race, Fourcade only finished 25th. In the following season, Fourcade started in the lead as the last runner. There was another direct duel with Emil Hegle Svendsen. In the last shooting he had to reload three times, while Svendsen did not miss a shot, took the lead for the Norwegian relay and defended it to the end in front of Fourcade. In the final mass start race, Martin Fourcade was successful in the title fights for the third time, despite two shooting errors, after beating Sweden's Björn Ferry , who had not made a mistake, on the final lap . With three gold and one silver medal, he was the most successful athlete in the title fights. In addition, he extended the lead in the overall standings, since the World Championships also counted for the World Cup standings. At the season finale in Khanty-Mansiysk , Russia , Fourcade secured victory in the overall standings early on with two wins and also won the Sprint and Pursuit World Cup. After Patrice Bailly-Salins and the four-time winner Raphaël Poirée , Fourcade is the third Frenchman to win the overall World Cup .

2012/13 season - record season and second overall World Cup win

The 2012/13 season began for Fourcade with two wins (in singles and in pursuit) at the World Cup opener in Östersund. By the end of the year he had four more podium places in five competitions at the World Cups in Hochfilzen and Pokljuka and went into the lead in the overall World Cup in 2013. This began for Fourcade with a shoulder injury that he sustained at the World Team Challenge . Due to this injury, he only took part in the races in Oberhof to a limited extent and did not reach any of the top 10 places. Back on the winning track a week later, Fourcade found himself at the World Cup in Ruhpolding, where he was successful in the sprint and mass start as well as with the team in the relay. The world championships in Nové Město na Moravě started for Fourcade with a silver medal in the mixed relay. Two days later he was happy again about a silver medal, which he won in the sprint. In the following pursuit he reached second place again, where he had to admit defeat to the Norwegian Emil Hegle Svendsen as close as possible, as in the sprint. A few days later, Fourcade won his first title of these world championships with a victory in individual, with which he has now won at least one world championship gold medal in all four individual disciplines in his career. In the men's relay, Fourcade and his teammates again won a silver medal. In the mass start, the last event of the World Championships, Fourcade did not win a medal for the first time. Overall, Fourcade was the fifth most successful biathlete at the World Championships and the most successful non-Norwegian.

One week after the World Championships, the World Cup at Holmenkollen in Oslo followed . In the sprint Fourcade had to admit defeat to the Norwegian Tarjei Bø , in the following pursuit he secured his 20th World Cup victory and the small ball of the Pursuit World Cup early. In the final mass start he achieved second place and further expanded his lead in the overall World Cup. At the Olympic rehearsal in Sochi, Fourcade won the individual race and, four races before the end of the season, secured the overall World Cup ranking and, for the first time in his career, the individual discipline ranking. At the World Cup final in Khanty-Mansiysk he won the sprint and in the following pursuit competition came third behind the Austrian Christoph Sumann and his brother Simon. In the last competition of the season, the mass start, Fourcade secured the tenth win of the season. With this success he also won the crystal ball in the mass start World Cup and is the only athlete alongside his compatriot Raphaël Poirée (who succeeded in this in the 2003/04 season) to have all the small crystal balls for the four disciplines, as well as the big one, in one season Won crystal ball for the overall world cup. In addition, the Frenchman set a new point record in the World Cup with a total of 1,248 points, improving the Norwegian Tarjei Bø's mark of 1,110 points from the 2010/11 season. Another new record is the 19 podium places that Fourcade achieved in a total of 26 competitions.

2013/14 season - two-time Olympic victory and third overall World Cup win

At the beginning of the 2013/14 season , Fourcade took over the overall lead in the World Cup again with victories in singles and sprints in Östersund . Fourcade also won a race at the subsequent event in Hochfilzen. His streak of 13 consecutive podiums finally ended at the third World Cup event in Annecy-Le Grand Bornand, where he only finished 17th in the pursuit. After two third places in Oberhof, he won his fourth World Cup race of the season with the mass start. In favor of the Olympic preparation, Fourcade waived the races in Ruhpolding, which meant that he had to surrender the individual discipline ranking, which was decided in just two races this season, to the Norwegian Svendsen. After the break he returned to the World Cup in Antholz. There it was enough in sprint and pursuit but only for places 5 and 9. At the Olympic Games in Sochi Fourcade achieved only sixth place in the first competition, the sprint. In the pursuit race, however, he caught up with this deficit and won his first Olympic gold medal. Three days after this success, Fourcade also won the gold medal in the individual race. In the mass start Fourcade had to admit defeat to the Norwegian Svendsen in the finish sprint, but won his third medal in Sochi. Together with Ole Einar Bjørndalen, Fourcade is the only biathlete to win three medals in individual disciplines at the same Olympic Games. Bjørndalen had previously achieved this in Salt Lake City in 2002 and in Turin in 2006.

Martin Fourcade, Biathlon World Cup Oberhof 2014 - men's pursuit

In the first World Cup after the Olympic Games, Fourcade achieved seventh place in both sprint and pursuit in Pokljuka. He cemented his lead in the overall World Cup and also took the lead in the Pursuit World Cup. In the final mass start he was second behind the Swede Björn Ferry . At the penultimate World Cup event in Kontiolahti, Fourcade achieved two more second places in sprint and pursuit. As a result, he not only won the overall sprint ranking again, but also won the overall World Cup for the third time in a row. Before that, only Frank Ullrich (1980–1982) and Fourcade's compatriot Raphaël Poirée (2000–2002) had succeeded. At the World Cup final in Oslo, Fourcade secured the small crystal ball for the Pursuit World Cup for the fourth time in his career by finishing fifth in the pursuit. In the final mass start he celebrated his fifth win of the season in the World Cup and also won the overall ranking in this discipline. By winning his tenth small crystal ball, Fourcade drew level with his compatriot Poirée. Only Ole Einar Bjørndalen was more successful with a total of 20 small crystal balls.

2014/15 season - fourth overall World Cup win

The 2014/15 season began with a disappointment for Fourcade - in Östersund he finished a race outside of the points for the first time in almost four years. However, he won the following sprint and pursuit competitions. At the next World Cup event in Hochfilzen, he won the pursuit and took the lead in the overall World Cup for the first time this season. After the turn of the year he cemented this lead at the World Cup event in Oberhof - in sprints and mass start he celebrated his victories four and five of the season. The following World Cup events were rather mixed for Fourcade. In Ruhpolding it wasn't enough for a place in the top 20 in two races and in Antholz the best result was a fifth place in the pursuit (after 25th place in the sprint).

In Nové Město, after five races without a top result, Fourcade made it back to the podium with third place in the pursuit. Before the eighth World Cup event of the season, his lead in the overall World Cup had melted down to just six points on the German Simon Schempp . But in Oslo Fourcade found his way back on the road to success and won his sixth race of the season in singles. In the sprint race that followed, he finished second and thus expanded his lead in the World Cup to more than 70 points before the World Championships. At the World Championships in Kontiolahti, Fourcade won three medals, two of them with the French team (silver in mixed, bronze in relay). In the individual competitions he was less successful at the beginning, but then successfully defended his title in the individual discipline. Fourcade became only the third biathlete (next to Ole Einar Bjørndalen and Frank Ullrich ), who won at least one gold medal in individual disciplines at four world championships in a row. At the beginning of the World Cup final in Khanty-Mansiysk, he won the sprint competition. With his eighth win of the season, he won the small crystal ball for the sprint overall standings for the fourth time in a row. In the following pursuit competition, Fourcade reached fourth place not only to win the Pursuit World Cup again, but also to triumph in the overall World Cup for the fourth time in a row.

2015/16 season - Four gold medals and fifth overall World Cup win

Before the start of the new biathlon season, Fourcade took part in a world cup race in cross-country skiing for the first time. But he only reached 95th place. In the following freestyle race, he achieved 22nd position and thus won his first World Cup points in cross-country skiing. In time for the start of the 2015/16 season , Fourcade returned to his regular discipline. In Östersund, as in previous years, he won two races (sprint and pursuit) and won the yellow jersey of the leader in the overall World Cup after just one World Cup event. At the second World Cup in Hochfilzen, he expanded this lead with a second place in the sprint and his third win of the season in the pursuit. The success in the pursuit was the 40th World Cup win for Fourcade. Only Ole Einar Bjørndalen (94) and Raphaël Poirée (44) won more individual races in their careers. At the last event of the year in Pokljuka, Fourcade only managed one podium in three races.

The Frenchman showed himself to be significantly better after the turn of the year when he achieved two second places and a fourth place in addition to two victories in mass start and individual in Ruhpolding. As a result, he expanded his lead in the overall World Cup to almost 200 points. The next World Cup event in Antholz started for Fourcade with the worst result of the season so far (28th place in the sprint), but he improved to 4th place in the pursuit. He also stayed on the road to success in the North American races in Canmore and Presque Isle. With his six and seven victories of the season, he increased his number of successes to 44 and drew level with his compatriot Raphaël Poirée.

The 2016 World Championships in Oslo turned out to be the most successful championships in Fourcade's career to date. Right at the start he secured the title with the French mixed relay. It was his first gold medal in a team discipline. Fourcade dominated the subsequent individual competitions: he won gold medals in a row in sprint, pursuit and individual. Only in the mass start did he have to admit defeat to the Norwegian Johannes Thingnes Bø and won silver. With four gold medals and one silver medal, it was the most successful world championship that a biathlete has ever contested. Only Tora Berger was more successful with the women in 2013 with four gold and two silver. Due to his success in the individual races, Fourcade drew level with Frank Ullrich , who was the first and to date only biathlete to have won at least one gold medal in individual races at five consecutive world championships. With a total of nine world titles in individual races, Fourcade is now only behind Ole Einar Bjørndalen, who won 11 gold medals in individual races in his career.

Thanks to the successful World Championship, Fourcade secured the overall World Cup win in advance - for the fifth time in a row. In addition, as in the 2012/13 season, Fourcade managed to win all four disciplines. The sixth success in the Pursuit World Cup is also a new record.

2016/17 season - 14 wins this season and sixth overall World Cup win

Fourcade got off to a successful start in the 2016/17 biathlon season . As in the previous five years, the Frenchman achieved two racing successes at the World Cup opener in Östersund. This track record continued at the second World Cup event of the season at Pokljuka, where Fourcade won two more races with sprint and pursuit. The victory in the sprint race was the 50th World Cup victory in his career. Fourcade also won the first relay race of the season together with his French teammates. It was the first season success for France since January 2014.

Martin Fourcade after his victory in the Östersund sprint

Fourcade also continued to dominate at the third World Cup event of the season in Nové Město na Moravě . In addition to the sprint and pursuit, he also won the first mass start race of the season and increased the number of his victories this season to seven. After the last race of 2016, Fourcade started the new year with a lead of around 160 points over Anton Schipulin and Johannes Thingnes Bø . With five wins in a row, he also set the record for the longest winning streak within a season, which Ole Einar Bjørndalen had previously achieved twice (2004/05 and 2006/07). Across the seasons, the Norwegian still holds the record with eight wins in a row in 2006.

After the turn of the year Fourcade achieved his worst result of the season to date with eighth place in the Oberhof sprint . In the subsequent pursuit race, however, he managed to catch up to his 55th World Cup success. The final mass start race in Oberhof ended Fourcade in third place, a total of 100 podium places in his career. At the fifth World Cup station in Ruhpolding , Fourcade won his races nine and ten, setting his personal best from the 2012/13 and 2015/16 seasons after 13 of the 26 season races. At the sixth event of the season in Antholz , Fourcade did not win a race for the first time, but still achieved further top positions with second place (individual) and fifth place (mass start). He started the world championships with a lead of more than 250 points in the overall World Cup over Anton Schipulin.

Fourcade won five medals at the 2017 World Championships in Hochfilzen . By successfully defending his title in the pursuit, he became the first biathlete to win at least one gold medal in individual competitions at six consecutive world championships. However, it remained the only gold medal for Fourcade in Hochfilzen, who took third place twice in individual and sprint and won the silver medal in both team competitions. At the first World Cup event after the World Championships in Pyeongchang, he secured third place in the sprint to win the overall World Cup early - for the sixth time in a row. Thereby he set the previous record for Ole Einar Bjørndalen. Fourcade equalized another record for the Norwegian in the pursuit race that followed. With his 12th win of the season, he achieved the same number of successes that Bjørndalen had achieved in the 2004/05 season .

At the next event in Kontiolahti , Fourcade set a new record with his 13th sprint win of the season. His 60th World Cup victory also secured him the sixth win in the sprint ranking early. A day later, he also won the Pursuit World Cup for the seventh time, although he slipped to fifth place after four shooting errors. At the final World Cup event in Oslo , Fourcade won his 14th race of the season in the mass start after second places in the sprint and pursuit. With the victory, he ousted the German Simon Schempp from first place in the discipline ranking. As in the previous season and for the third time in his career, Fourcade won all four disciplines and the overall World Cup in one season. With a total of 20 small crystal balls for discipline evaluations, he also caught up with Ole Einar Bjørndalen's record. With 1,322 World Cup points and 22 podium places, Fourcade also improved his own records from the 2012/13 season.

2017/18 season - seventh overall World Cup win in a duel with Johannes Thingnes Bø

For the first time since 2010, Fourcade had to be satisfied with just one success at the competitions in Östersund at the start of the 2017/18 season . After 3rd place in the singles and 2nd place in the sprint, he took his first win of the season in the pursuit. In the next competitions, Fourcade and the Norwegian Johannes Thingnes Bø developed a close duel for the top positions. At the second World Cup event in Hochfilzen , Bø won both competitions, while Fourcade achieved positions 2 and 3. At the third event in Annecy , too , Bø was initially ahead. In the last competition in his home country Fourcade managed to break the Norwegian winning streak. With the victory in the first mass start of the season, he consolidated his lead in the overall World Cup, in which Bø had caught up to a few points.

After the turn of the year, Fourcade had the next sense of achievement, who won both competitions in Oberhof . With ten podium places in the first ten races of the season, he increased his podium series and set a new personal best with 13 podium places. Fourcade seamlessly followed up on these achievements at the next World Cup event in Ruhpolding . In the second and last race of the season in the individual discipline, he secured his fifth win of the season. So he caught up with Johannes Thingnes Bø in the discipline world cup and won the small crystal ball together with the Norwegian. Fourcade set new records in the Biathlon World Cup both with his 21st small crystal ball for discipline evaluations and with his fourth win in the individual evaluation. In the next competition, however, he again fell behind Bø, who secured victory in the mass start.

At the last World Cup event before the 2018 Winter Olympics , Fourcade was once again overshadowed by Johannes Thingnes Bø. The Norwegian won both the sprint and the pursuit in Antholz by a clear margin over Fourcade, who crossed the finish line in second place. In the third competition of the event, however, he managed to find another answer with his sixth win of the season in the mass start. Since Bø missed the podium with 6th place for the first time in eleven races, Fourcade also increased his lead in the overall World Cup to around 50 points.

At the start of the Winter Olympics in sprint races, Fourcade only made eighth place with three shooting errors, his worst result of the season to date. The next day, however, he managed to catch up to his third Olympic gold medal in the pursuit race. In the next competition, in the individual race, he missed the possible title defense due to two mistakes in the last shooting bout and ended up in 5th place in Sochi had to be content with the silver medal in this discipline. Fourcade prevailed in a tight sprint to the finish ahead of Simon Schempp . He also made a successful start in the team competitions in Pyeongchang and secured the gold medal in the mixed relay for the French team, his first team medal at the Olympic Games. Fourcade finally finished the Olympic competitions with a fifth place in the men's relay and with three gold medals as one of the most successful participants.

Fourcade missed the first race after the Olympic Games due to a gastrointestinal upset; it was his first race without a single race in almost two years. He also did without the mixed competitions in Kontiolahti , but then achieved second place in the final mass start race. Since Fourcade's big rival Bø only finished 19th, he expanded his lead in the overall World Cup to more than 40 points after it had shrunk to just a few points due to the missed sprint race. At the penultimate stop of the season in Oslo , Fourcade successfully defended this lead by first taking third place in the sprint race and then running to his seventh win of the season in the pursuit.

Fourcade started the last races of the season in Tyumen with a lead of 49 points over Bø in the overall World Cup . Right at the start, he achieved the eighth win of the season in the sprint race. Since Johannes Thingnes Bø only finished 14th, this victory was enough for Fourcade to win the overall World Cup early. With his seventh success in this category, the Frenchman set a new record. With a narrow lead of only two points, Fourcade also secured his seventh success in the Sprint World Cup, which Bø had clearly led for a long time. Two days later, Fourcade confidently defended his lead in the pursuit race and with his 70th World Cup victory also secured his eighth success in the Pursuit World Cup. In the final mass start race, Fourcade missed the podium for the first time in 22 World Cup races with 19th place and a top ten finish for the first time in 46 races. Nevertheless, the result was enough for him to win the mass start World Cup for the fifth time. For the third year in a row, Fourcade won not only the overall World Cup but also all four disciplines.

Season 2018/19 - form weakness and failure

After the Olympic season, the previous French head coach Stéphane Bouthiaux moved to the position of sports director after eleven years in this role and was replaced by Vincent Vittoz . In addition, the Italian Patrick Favre became the new shooting coach for the men's team.

Martin Fourcade was also initially successful with the new support team and won at the beginning of the new season on the Pokljuka both with the mixed relay and the individual competition. The very next day, however, he only finished 24th in the sprint with a shooting error, which was his worst World Cup result in over two years. He gave up the subsequent pursuit while lying in 27th place before the last lap. At the next station in Hochfilzen, he only had to admit defeat to Johannes Thingnes Bø in the sprint, but was able to win the hunting race with faultless shooting. In the sprint race in Nové Město na Moravě , however, the problems returned and Fourcade reached 43rd place with 4 shooting errors, which is the first time since 2014 that he missed the points. He then fought his way to fifth place in the pursuit with no mistakes and with the best isolated time.

In January 2019, Martin Fourcade stabilized in the top 5, but without reaching podium places in individual races. In addition, he was still unable to build on his cross-country skiing times of previous years, so that he only finished fourth in the sprints of Ruhpolding and Antholz despite faultless shooting performance. Nevertheless, after the first six stops behind Bø, he was second in the overall ranking of the World Cup, but then decided to skip the North American World Cups in Canmore and Soldier Hollow . Instead, he and his former coaches Bouthiaux and Franck Badiou were preparing for the World Championships in Östersund at a training camp in France , but had to interrupt this temporarily due to illness.

In the competitions in Sweden, however, Fourcade showed no improved mileage and was fifth and sixth in sprint and pursuit. In the second week of the World Championships, his shooting performance deteriorated so that he only reached 39th place in the individual with four errors and only 24th in the mass start with five errors. In addition, as the final runner, he shot the French relay from third to sixth place with two penalties. Overall, it was the first time since his debut in 2009 at the Biathlon World Championships without a medal.

As a result, Martin Fourcade decided not to take part in the final World Cup at Holmenkollen in Oslo and thus to end his season. After seven wins in a row, he ended up only twelfth in the overall World Cup and missed winning a crystal ball.

2019/20 season - further successes and resignation

On March 13, 2020, Martin Fourcade announced his retirement from active biathlon in Kontiolahti at the end of the 2019/20 season . On social media he wrote "Thanks for the journey - time to say goodbye" ( German  thank you for the journey - time to say goodbye ). Almost exactly ten years to the day after his first World Cup victory on March 14, 2010 in Kontiolahti. Fourcade wants to be active in sports politics. At the World Championships in Antholz , he became world champion in singles for the fourth time and won bronze in the sprint, with Fourcade becoming world champion for the first time in the men's relay. He won his 79th World Cup victory in the last race of his career in the pursuit in Kontiolahti, and only missed winning the overall World Cup by two points. Fourth place was enough for Johannes Thingnes Bø to push Fourcade, who was in the lead before the race, from the top of the overall World Cup. Fourcade won the Sprint World Cup for the eighth time and the Individual World Cup for the fifth time this season.

Controversy

When the Swede Fredrik Lindström and Martin Fourcade got caught on the climb in the pursuit race in Annecy in December 2013 , Fourcade struck Lindström with his stick. Although the IBU according to of their "Disciplinary Rules" Art. 5.3 to 5.8 for unsportsmanlike conduct provides for various penalties, there were no disciplinary measures against Fourcade.

At the Biathlon World Championships 2017 , the Russians Anton Schipulin and Alexander Loginow Fourcade refused to shake hands at the flower ceremony for the mixed relay , whereupon the latter “first scornfully applauded and then immediately left the scene.” Loginow told the Russian news agency TASS that it was Fourcade didn't want to shake his hand, whereupon Schipulin turned around and didn't congratulate the Frenchman on second place. In the run-up, Fourcade had criticized the Russian biathlon federation for nominating Loginow for the world championships shortly after its two-year doping ban for blood doping by means of the EPO . Fourcade had also announced that it would boycott a podium with Loginow. The trigger at the World Championships was Fourcade's behavior during the last change in the mixed relay. He had "skied a dangling in the transition area and [had] crossed Loginow's ski, which then fell". This did not result in any disadvantage for Loginow, who had already finished his racing segment at this point. Anton Schipulin explained the behavior of his team with the words "We saw situations today in which there was a lot of negativity from the French towards us" and noted that "the entire behavior [...] was not particularly nice".

In the last race of the 2016/17 season , the mass start at Holmenkollen in Oslo , Fourcade entered the race without ammunition. When he called for new ammunition during the first shooting, it was thrown to him by the trainer. Although according to “IBU Event and Competition Rules” 8.6.1 the shooting range official should have fetched the ammunition and given it to the athlete and the disciplinary rules in Art. 5.6.m provide for a disqualification, the jury refrained from taking any action against the athlete. Although it was made clear that this practice is usually not allowed, it has been argued that it would be too harsh to disqualify Fourcade for a mistake by his coach. This decision provoked some violent reactions on social networks.

Balance sheet

Martin Fourcade is not only the most successful biathlete of his generation, but is now also one of the most successful biathletes in history.

With a total of 79 World Cup victories, he is in second place on the list of the best behind the Norwegian Ole Einar Bjørndalen , who can boast 94 World Cup victories. Fourcade holds the record of seven successes in the overall World Cup ahead of Bjørndalen (6 wins). He won all seven titles in a row and is the only biathlete who has won the overall World Cup more than three times in a row. With 26 successes in discipline rankings, he is also ahead of Bjørndalen (20) in this list of the best. His five wins in the Individual World Cup, eight wins in the Pursuit World Cup and five wins in the Mass Start World Cup (together with Bjørndalen) are a record. In addition, Fourcade managed to win the overall World Cup and all four discipline rankings four times in one season (2012/13, 2015/16, 2016/17 and 2017/18). Apart from himself, only his compatriot Raphaël Poirée (2003/04) and Johannes Thingnes Bø (2018/19) succeeded in doing this .

In addition, Fourcade also holds several other records in the biathlon world cup. He set a new record in the 2016/17 season with 1,322 World Cup points. He had already held the record here with 1248 points (2012/13 season). He also holds the record for most podium finishes in one season (22nd 2016/17 season).

Fourcade is also one of the most successful participants in biathlon world championships. With 28 medals (13 × gold, 10 × silver, 5 × bronze) it is in second place on the all-time best list. In the evaluation of the individual disciplines he is also only behind Ole Einar Bjørndalen (11/6/9) with 11 gold, 4 silver and 3 bronze. With four gold and one silver medal at the 2016 World Championships in Oslo, Fourcade became the most successful male biathlete at the World Championships. He is also the only biathlete who has always achieved at least one gold medal in an individual race at six consecutive world championships.

In his three appearances at the Winter Olympics, Fourcade won five gold and two silver medals.

statistics

winter Olympics

	Individual competitions				Relay competitions
	sprint	persecution	singles	Mass start	Men's relay	Mixed relay
2010 Winter Olympics  Vancouver	35.	34.	14th	2.	6th
2014 Winter Olympics  Sochi	6th	1.	1.	2.	8th.	6th
Olympic Winter Games 2018  Pyeongchang	8th.	1.	5.	1.	5.	1.

World championships

	Individual competitions				Relay competitions
	sprint	persecution	singles	Mass start	Men's relay	Mixed relay
World Championships 2009  Pyeongchang	18th	8th.	13.	15th	4th
Mixed Relay World Championship 2010  Khanty-Mansiysk						5.
World Championships 2011  Khanty-Mansiysk	2.	1.	10.	10.	12.	3.
World Championships 2012  Ruhpolding	1.	1.	25th	1.	2.	11.
World Championships 2013  Nové Město na Moravě	2.	2.	1.	10.	2.	2.
World Championships 2015  Kontiolahti	12.	7th	1.	10.	3.	2.
World Championships 2016  Oslo	1.	1.	1.	2.	9.	1.
World Championships 2017  Hochfilzen	3.	1.	3.	5.	2.	2.
World Championships 2019  Ostersund	6th	5.	39.	24.	6th	8th.
World Championships 2020  Antholz	3.	4th	1.		1.	7th

World Cup victories

Single race

Relay race

No. date place discipline 1. March 14, 2010  Kontiolahti Pursuit (12.5 km) 2. March 18, 2010  Oslo Sprint (10 km) 3. March 20, 2010  Oslo Pursuit (12.5 km) 4th January 22, 2011  Antholz Mass start (15 km) 5. February 13, 2011  Fort Kent Mass start (15 km) 6th 0March 6, 2011  Khanty-Mansiysk ( WM ) Pursuit (12.5 km) 7th November 30, 2011  Ostersund Single (20 km) 8th. 04th December 2011  Ostersund Pursuit (12.5 km) 9. February 11, 2012  Kontiolahti Sprint (10 km) 10. 0March 3, 2012  Ruhpolding ( WM ) Sprint (10 km) 11. March 4, 2012  Ruhpolding ( WM ) Pursuit (12.5 km) 12. March 11, 2012  Ruhpolding ( WM ) Mass start (15 km) 13. March 16, 2012  Khanty-Mansiysk Sprint (10 km) 14th March 17, 2012  Khanty-Mansiysk Pursuit (12.5 km) 15th November 28, 2012  Ostersund Single (20 km) 16. 0December 2, 2012  Ostersund Pursuit (12.5 km) 17th January 12, 2013  Ruhpolding Sprint (10 km) 18th January 13, 2013  Ruhpolding Mass start (15 km) 19th February 14, 2013  Nové Město na Moravě ( World Cup ) Single (20 km) 20th 0March 2, 2013  Oslo Pursuit (12.5 km) 21st 0March 7, 2013  Sochi Single (20 km) 22nd 0March 9, 2013  Sochi Sprint (10 km) 23. 15 March 2013  Khanty-Mansiysk Sprint (10 km) 24. 17th March 2013  Khanty-Mansiysk Mass start (15 km) 25th November 28, 2013  Ostersund Single (20 km) 26th November 30, 2013  Ostersund Sprint (10 km) 27. 0December 8, 2013  Hochfilzen Pursuit (12.5 km) 28. 05th January 2014  Oberhof Mass start (15 km) 29 March 23, 2014  Oslo Mass start (15 km) 30th 0December 6, 2014  Ostersund Sprint (10 km) 31. 0December 7, 2014  Ostersund Pursuit (12.5 km) 32. December 14, 2014  Hochfilzen Pursuit (12.5 km) 33. January 10, 2015  Oberhof Sprint (10 km) 34. January 11, 2015  Oberhof Mass start (15 km) 35. February 12, 2015  Oslo Single (20 km) 36. March 12, 2015  Kontiolahti ( WM ) Single (20 km) 37. 19th March 2015  Khanty-Mansiysk Sprint (10 km) 38. 05th December 2015  Ostersund Sprint (10 km) 39. 0December 6, 2015  Ostersund Pursuit (12.5 km) 40. December 12, 2015  Hochfilzen Pursuit (12.5 km) 41. January 10, 2016  Ruhpolding Mass start (15 km) 42. January 13, 2016  Ruhpolding Single (20 km) 43. 04th February 2016  Canmore Sprint (10 km) 44. February 12, 2016  Presque Isle Pursuit (12.5 km) 45. 05th March 2016  Oslo ( World Cup ) Sprint (10 km) 46. 0March 6, 2016  Oslo ( World Cup ) Pursuit (12.5 km) 47. March 10, 2016  Oslo ( World Cup ) Single (20 km) 48. 0December 1, 2016  Ostersund Single (20 km) 49. 03rd December 2016  Ostersund Sprint (10 km) 50. 0December 9, 2016  Pokljuka Sprint (10 km) 51. December 10, 2016  Pokljuka Pursuit (12.5 km) 52. 15th December 2016  Nové Město na Moravě Sprint (10 km) 53. 17th December 2016  Nové Město na Moravě Pursuit (12.5 km) 54. December 18, 2016  Nové Město na Moravě Mass start (15 km) 55. 0January 7, 2017  Oberhof Pursuit (12.5 km) 56. January 13, 2017  Ruhpolding Sprint (10 km) 57. 15th January 2017  Ruhpolding Pursuit (12.5 km) 58. February 12, 2017  Hochfilzen ( WM ) Pursuit (12.5 km) 59. 04th March 2017  Pyeongchang Pursuit (12.5 km) 60. March 10, 2017  Kontiolahti Sprint (10 km) 61. 19th March 2017  Oslo Mass start (15 km) 62. 03rd December 2017  Ostersund Pursuit (12.5 km) 63. 17th December 2017  Le Grand-Bornand Mass start (15 km) 64. 05th January 2018  Oberhof Sprint (10 km) 65. 0January 6, 2018  Oberhof Pursuit (12.5 km) 66. January 10, 2018  Ruhpolding Single (20 km) 67. January 21, 2018  Antholz Mass start (15 km) 68. 17th March 2018  Oslo Pursuit (12.5 km) 69. March 22, 2018  Tyumen Sprint (10 km) 70. March 24, 2018  Tyumen Pursuit (12.5 km) 71. 0December 6, 2018  Pokljuka Single (20 km) 72. 15th December 2018  Hochfilzen Pursuit (12.5 km) 73. 04th December 2019  Ostersund Single (20 km) 74. January 10, 2020  Oberhof Sprint (10 km) 75. January 12, 2020  Oberhof Mass start (15 km) 76. January 16, 2020  Ruhpolding Sprint (10 km) 77. 19th January 2020  Ruhpolding Pursuit (12.5 km) 78. 19th February 2020  Antholz ( WM ) Single (20 km) 79. March 14, 2020  Kontiolahti Pursuit (12.5 km)

No. date place discipline 1. 0December 6, 2009  Ostersund Season 1 2. January 22, 2012  Antholz Season 2 3. January 10, 2013  Ruhpolding Season 2 4th 20th January 2013  Antholz Season 2 5. 19th January 2014  Antholz Season 2 6th November 30, 2014  Ostersund Mixed season 3 7th 0February 7, 2016  Canmore Single mixed season 4 8th. 0March 3, 2016  Oslo ( World Cup ) Mixed season 5 9. November 27, 2016  Ostersund Single mixed season 4 10. December 11, 2016  Pokljuka Season 6 11. 05th March 2017  Pyeongchang Season 7 12. 02nd December 2018  Pokljuka Mixed season 8 13. January 18, 2020  Ruhpolding Season 9 14th February 22, 2020  Antholz ( WM ) Season 9 1With Vincent Jay , Vincent Defrasne and Simon Fourcade . 2With Simon Fourcade, Jean-Guillaume Béatrix and Alexis Bœuf . 3With Anaïs Bescond , Anaïs Chevalier and Simon Fourcade. 4thWith Marie Dorin-Habert . 5With Marie Dorin-Habert, Anaïs Bescond and Quentin Fillon Maillet . 6thWith Jean-Guillaume Béatrix, Quentin Fillon Maillet and Simon Desthieux . 7th With Jean-Guillaume Béatrix, Simon Fourcade and Simon Desthieux. 8thWith Anaïs Bescond, Justine Braisaz and Simon Desthieux. 9With Émilien Jacquelin , Simon Desthieux and Quentin Fillon Maillet.

Biathlon 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	14th	23	28	14th	14th	93
2nd place	3	18th	11	7th	14th	53
3rd place	3	12	9	2	7th	33
Top 10	24	76	69	43	58	270
Scoring	30th	98	79	55	61	323
Starts	33	106	80	55	61	335
Status: end of career

Web links

Commons : Martin Fourcade  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Martin Fourcade in the IBU database (English)
• Martin Fourcade's website (French)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Martin Fourcade. Eurosport , accessed February 23, 2020 . 
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Martin Fourcade . In: Internationales Sportarchiv 40/2015 from September 29, 2015, supplemented by news from MA-Journal up to week 11/2017 (accessed via Munzinger Online ).
3. ↑ Martin Fourcade: La star des JO réconciliée avec son frère, médaille d'or en vue at purepeople.com, February 7, 2014 (accessed March 19, 2017).
4. ↑ Martin Fourcade became a proud father for the first time at biathlon-news.de, September 16, 2015 (accessed on March 19, 2017).
5. ↑ Martin Fourcade: Tweet from Martin Fourcade. In: twitter.com . March 13, 2020, accessed on March 14, 2020 (French). 
6. ↑ Biathlon star Fourcade ends a terrific career. In: faz.net . March 13, 2020, accessed March 14, 2020 . 
7. ^ "Fourcade Stock Blow around Lindström" on youtube.com, accessed on March 25, 2017
8. ↑ IBU Disciplinary Rules 2016 (.pdf) on biathlonworld.com, accessed on March 25, 2017
9. ↑ Biathlon: Martin Fourcade and the Russians - the background to the long-term Zoff (video, 0:56) on video.eurosport.de, accessed on February 11, 2017.
10. ^ Biathlon World Championships in Hochfilzen: Dispute between Martin Fourcade and Russia escalates on eurosport.de, accessed on March 25, 2017.
11. ↑ IBU Event and Competition Gels 2016 (.pdf) on biathlonworld.com
12. ↑ "An athlete or a team is disqualified for [...] receiving other unauthorized assistance" in the IBU Disciplinary Rules on biathlonworld.com
13. ↑ Jury decision biathlonworld on facebook.com, accessed on March 25, 2017