Why Martin Fourcade Is the Most Successful Biathlete of All Time?

Martin Fourcade poster

At 2018 Winter Olympics, French biathlete Martin Fourcade, has already won 2 gold medals and complemented his Olympic collection, which already consisted of 2 gold and 2 silver medals, gained at 2010 and 2014 Olympic Games.

Martin Fourcade poster

Martin Fourcade poster

At the moment, Martin is the most successful French athlete at Winter Olympics. And today, we’d like to find out more about him. So, let’s discover who Martin Fourcade is and how he managed to become such a great biathlete.

Background and Early Career

Martin Fourcade

Martin Fourcade

Martin Fourcade was born on September 14, 1988 in Perpignan, France, in the family of Gisele and Marcel Fourcade. He has two brothers, Simon and Brice. Martin has two daughters, Manon and Ines. Away from biathlon, he is a non-commissioned officer in the French Army. Also, he is fond of cycling.

Fourcade took up biathlon in 2002, following in the footsteps of his elder brother Simon. In 2006, he started to compete at the international level. His first great achievement took place in 2007, when he won a bronze medal in the relay at 2007 Junior World Championships.

In 2008, the biathlete debuted at the World Cup in Oslo, but finished 61st. However, in a year, he gained his first Top10 result by finishing 10th in the sprint. At the 2009 World Championships, Martin finished in Top20 in all events, but his best results were 8th place in pursuit and the 4th one in relay. In 2009/10 season, he gained the first win at the World Cup in pursuit and was ranked 5th overall. Since then, Martin regularly wins at various international competitions.

World Cup

Martin Fourcade Print

Martin Fourcade Print

Martin Fourcade won the overall World Cup for 6 times in a row from 2011/12 to 2016/17 season. He is the only biathlete who did that. In 2010/11 season he won a bronze medal overall by being positioned second in pursuit and mass start, third in individual and fourth in sprint.

In 2011/12 season, Martin won his first overall World Cup title, by finishing 1st in sprint and pursuit, 3rd in mass start and 4th in individual. The following 5 seasons, the biathlete also finished with the overall title, being first 5 times in sprint, 5 times in pursuit, 4 times in mass start and 3 times in individual.

Among Fourcade’s achievements at the World Cup are:

- 6 overall World Cup titles (record shared with Ole Einar Bjorndalen)

- 6 overall World Cup titles in a row

- 21 discipline World Cup titles

- 3-time win of all 5 crystal globes in one season

- 66 individual World Cup victories

- 125 individual World Cup podiums

World Championships

Martin Fourcade

Martin Fourcade

Martin Fourcade first participated in the World Championships in 2009. However, he didn’t win any medals. The situation improved at 2011 World Championships, where the biathlete took gold in pursuit, silver in sprint and bronze in mixed relay.

At 2012 World Championships, Martin won gold medals in sprint, pursuit and mass start and became the third male biathlete to win 3 individual gold medals at a single World Championships.

The 2016 World Championships was the most successful for Fourcade. He earned 4 gold medals in individual, sprint, pursuit and mixed relay and became a silver medalist in mass start. Thus, Martin became the second male biathlete to win 3 gold and 1 silver in non-team competitions in a single World Championships after Raphael Poiree.

In total, the biathlete has 11 gold, 10 silver and 4 bronze medals (25 in total) of the World Championships. Moreover, he is the only biathlete, who won at least 1 medal at 6 World Championships in a row.

Winter Olympics

Martin Fourcade poster

Martin Fourcade Poster

Martin Fourcade Poster

Martin Fourcade is the most successful French Winter Olympian of all time. In 2010, he took part in the Winter Olympics in Vancouver and gained his first medal, silver in mass start.

At 2014 Winter Olympics, Fourcade became the most successful male biathlete. He won gold medals in individual and pursuit as well as a silver one in mass start. In other disciplines, he finished in the top10, to be exact, 6th in sprint and mixed relay and 8th in relay.

At 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, Martin already won 2 gold medals. He became the winner in pursuit and mass start. He finished 5th in individual and 8th in sprint.

All in all, Martin Fourcade is a really great biathlete and a successful Winter Olympian. We wait for more wins and achievements of Martin this and the following seasons.

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