Oliver Anthofer

Oliver Anthofer biathlon, cross-country skiing
Personal information
Type of disability (class):	Double-sided paralysis (LW11)
Nationality:	Austria
Birthday:	May 7, 1967
Place of birth:	Brine bath Hall
Size:	190
Weight:	73

Oliver Anthofer (born May 7, 1967 in Solbad Hall ) is a former Austrian winter disabled athlete.

life and career

After a serious motorcycle accident on October 4, 1987 on the autobahn near Innsbruck, he woke up in the hospital in Innsbruck and since then has been paralyzed down to the lowest thoracic vertebra .

After he was a spectator at the Winter Paralympics in Innsbruck in 1988 and was active in sports even before his accident, he started training as a disabled athlete shortly afterwards and competed in his first competitions in 1991. At the 1992 Winter Paralympics in Tignes , he won his first Paralympic medal and took silver in long-distance cross-country skiing . On the short distance he won bronze. At the 1994 Winter Paralympics in Lillehammer , he won bronze over both routes.

After he discovered shooting for himself a short time later, he also competed in the disabled biathlon at the 1998 Winter Paralympics in Nagano. He immediately won silver in his first Paralympic competition in this discipline. He also won second place in the short-distance cross-country skiing competition.

At the 2000 European Disability Championships, Anthofer won the gold medal in both biathlon and both cross-country skiing routes. A year later he secured the overall World Cup ranking and won the gold medal three times at the world championships over five, ten and 15 km cross-country skiing. He won silver in biathlon. He repeated his overall World Cup victory a year later and was also successful in the European Cup for the first time in the same year. He won gold four times at the European Championships.

At the Winter Paralympics 2002 in Salt Lake City Anthofer was able to start again successfully and in the end drove home with two silver medals in biathlon and cross-country skiing over the short distance and a bronze medal over the long distance.

In 2003 Anthofer won the overall European Cup in cross-country skiing for the disabled. Shortly afterwards he won three gold medals in biathlon over 7.5 km and cross-country skiing over 10 and 15 km at the Nordic World Ski Championships for the disabled in Baiersbronn in 2003 as one of only two Austrian participants.

At the 2006 Winter Paralympics in Turin, the 38-year-old competed again, but for the first time had no chance of winning a medal.

In 2010, Anthofer officially ended his active sports career and devoted himself to recreational sports. Anthofer travels mountains in Austria with a handbike .

Private

Anthofer grew up with two younger sisters. Anthofer completed an apprenticeship as a fitter at the Austrian Federal Railways . After his long rehabilitation stay in Bad Häring as a result of his accident, he was able to resume work for the Austrian Federal Railways, but had to switch from a fitter to an office job due to his paraplegia. Anthofer has been married since August 7, 2009.

Anthofer's story was filmed in one episode for the documentary series Without Borders - The Disabled Sports Magazine and broadcast on ORF SPORT + .

successes

• eight-time world champion
• two-time world cup winner
• nine medals at Paralympics

Awards

• 1996 Silver Medal of Honor for Services to the Republic of Austria
• 1998 Gold Medal for Services to the Republic of Austria
• 2001 and 2004 Sportsman of the Year

Web links

• Official website of the athlete
• Presentation of Anthofers on Gleichstellungs.at
• Introduction of Anthofers at Kueschall.ch

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Oliver Anthofer from Austria won the World Cup gold . Fitline / DocStock. Retrieved March 3, 2013.
2. ↑ Oliver Anthofer wins the overall European Cup ranking . Austria Ski Team. Archived from the original on November 29, 2002. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved March 3, 2013. 
3. ↑ Nick Laham: Winter Paralympics 2006 - Anthofer's finish line after the 10 km cross-country race (PHOTO) . Getty Images Sports. March 15, 2006. Retrieved March 3, 2013.
4. ↑ ^{a b} episode 7 - Oliver Anthofer . Without borders.tv. Archived from the original on January 15, 2013. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved March 3, 2013. 
5. ^ Wedding of Oliver Anthofer . Alpen-Wellnesshotel Schhwarzbrunn. Retrieved on March 3, 2013.  ( 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.