Frank Luck

Frank Luck (born 5 December 1967) is a former German and, before 1990, East German biathlete.

Frank Luck
Luck in 2005
Personal information
Born (1967-12-05) 5 December 1967
Schmalkalden, East Germany
Height1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Professional information
SportBiathlon
ClubWSV Oberhof O5
SkisFischer
World Cup debut18 January 1987
Retired13 February 2004
Olympic Games
Teams4 (1988, 1994, 1998, 2002)
Medals5 (2 gold)
World Championships
Teams15 (1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004)
Medals20 (11 gold)
World Cup
Seasons18 (1986/87–2003/04)
Individual victories12
Individual podiums39
Overall titles0
Discipline titles2:
2 Individual (1999–00, 2001–02)
Medal record
Men's biathlon
Representing  Germany
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place1994 Lillehammer 4 × 7.5 km relay
Gold medal – first place1998 Nagano 4 × 7.5 km relay
Silver medal – second place1994 Lillehammer 20 km individual
Silver medal – second place2002 Salt Lake City 20 km individual
Silver medal – second place2002 Salt Lake City 4 × 7.5 km relay
World Championships
Gold medal – first place1991 Lahti 4 × 7.5 km relay
Gold medal – first place1993 Borovets Team event
Gold medal – first place1995 Antholz-Anterselva 4 × 7.5 km relay
Gold medal – first place1997 Brezno-Osrblie 4 × 7.5 km relay
Gold medal – first place1999 Kontiolahti 10 km sprint
Gold medal – first place2000 Oslo 12.5 km pursuit
Gold medal – first place2003 Khanty-Mansiysk 4 × 7.5 km relay
Gold medal – first place2004 Oberhof 4 × 7.5 km relay
Silver medal – second place1991 Lahti 10 km sprint
Silver medal – second place1996 Ruhpolding 4 × 7.5 km relay
Silver medal – second place1997 Brezno-Osrblie Team event
Silver medal – second place1998 Hochfilzen Team event
Silver medal – second place1999 Kontiolahti 12.5 km pursuit
Bronze medal – third place1993 Borovets 4 × 7.5 km relay
Bronze medal – third place2000 Oslo 20 km individual
Bronze medal – third place2000 Lahti 4 × 7.5 km relay
Representing  East Germany
World Championships
Gold medal – first place1989 Feistritz an der Drau 10 km sprint
Gold medal – first place1989 Feistritz an der Drau 4 × 7.5 km relay
Gold medal – first place1990 Oslo Team event
Bronze medal – third place1990 Kontiolahti 4 × 7.5 km relay

Career

Luck started early with cross-country skiing, but in 1980 he went over to biathlon. By 1988 at the age of 21 he had already qualified for the Winter Olympics in Calgary, where he finished sixth in the sprint event. His big breakthrough came with the 10 km sprint world title in 1989. Having originally competed for the East German team, by 1991, Germany had unified and Luck was now competing for the combined Germany team. Because of illness he missed the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, but at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer he won the gold medal with the German relay team which he repeated four years later at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano. During his seventeen-year career, Luck won eleven world championship gold medal with the last one in the relay in 2004 at Oberhof where he retired as a biathlete after this event. With five silver and three bronze medals he is one of the most successful world championship competitors of all time.

Luck also won three times at the Holmenkollen ski festival biathlon competition with two wins in the pursuit (1999, 2000) and one win in the sprint (2002). He is the Brother-in-law to his one-time teammate Sven Fischer.

Doping

In April 2009, Luck, on the German TV show Sport Inside (WDR), acknowledged having unwittingly been given the anabolic steroid Oral Turinabol by his trainer in the 1980s.[1][2]

Biathlon results

All results are sourced from the International Biathlon Union.[3]

Olympic Games

5 medals (2 gold, 3 silver)

Event Individual Sprint Pursuit Relay
Canada 1988 Calgary — 6th — —
Norway 1994 Lillehammer Silver 6th — Gold
Japan 1998 Nagano — 7th — Gold
United States 2002 Salt Lake City Silver 29th 11th Silver
*Pursuit was added as an event in 2002.

World Championships

20 medals (11 gold, 5 silver, 4 bronze)

Event Individual Sprint Pursuit Mass start Team Relay
Austria 1989 Feistritz 4th Gold — — — Gold
Soviet Union 1990 Minsk 6th 5th — — Gold Bronze
Finland 1991 Lahti — Silver — — — Gold
Russia 1992 Novosibirsk — — — — 7th —
Bulgaria 1993 Borovets 10th — — — Gold Bronze
Italy 1995 Antholz-Anterselva 11th 7th — — — Gold
Germany 1996 Ruhpolding 8th 33rd — — 6th Silver
Slovakia 1997 Brezno-Osrblie — 7th 9th — Silver Gold
Slovenia 1998 Pokljuka — — 16th — Silver —
Finland 1999 Kontiolahti 24th Gold Silver 20th — 4th
Norway 2000 Oslo Holmenkollen Bronze 4th Gold 17th — Bronze
Slovenia 2001 Pokljuka — 11th 17th 22nd — 12th
Norway 2002 Oslo Holmenkollen — — — 6th — —
Russia 2003 Khanty-Mansiysk 36th 30th 5th 17th — Gold
Germany 2004 Oberhof — — — — — Gold
*During Olympic seasons competitions are only held for those events not included in the Olympic program.
**Team was removed as an event in 1998, and pursuit was added in 1997 with mass start being added in 1999.

Individual victories

12 victories (1 In, 9 Sp, 2 Pu)

Season Date Location Discipline Level
1988–89
2 victories
(2 Sp)		17 December 1988France Albertville10 km sprintBiathlon World Cup
11 February 1989Austria Feistritz10 km sprintBiathlon World Championships
1990–91
1 victory
(1 Sp)		2 February 1991Germany Oberhof10 km sprintBiathlon World Cup
1992–93
1 victory
(1 Sp)		6 March 1993Norway Lillehammer10 km sprintBiathlon World Cup
1993–94
1 victory
(1 Sp)		22 January 1994Italy Antholz-Anterselva10 km sprintBiathlon World Cup
1997–98
2 victories
(2 Sp)		6 December 1997Norway Lillehammer10 km sprintBiathlon World Cup
5 March 1998Slovenia Pokljuka10 km sprintBiathlon World Cup
1998–99
2 victories
(1 Sp, 1 Pu)		12 February 1999Finland Kontiolahti10 km sprintBiathlon World Championships
14 March 1999Norway Oslo Holmenkollen12.5 km pursuitBiathlon World Cup
1999–2000
1 victory
(1 Pu)		20 February 2000Norway Oslo Holmenkollen12.5 km pursuitBiathlon World Championships
2001–02
2 victories
(1 In, 1 Sp)		19 December 2001Slovakia Brezno-Osrblie20 km individualBiathlon World Cup
21 March 2002Norway Oslo Holmenkollen10 km sprintBiathlon World Cup
*Results are from UIPMB and IBU races which include the Biathlon World Cup, Biathlon World Championships and the Winter Olympic Games.

References
  1. Später Reim auf die blauen Pillen , Süddeutsche Zeitung, 10 May 2010
  2. Biathlon: Ex-Biathlet Frank Luck entlastet Ullrich, focus.de, 7 April 2009
  3. "Frank Luck". IBU Datacenter. International Biathlon Union. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
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