Ricco Groß (also spelled Gross, born 22 August 1970) is a former

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

biathlete The biathlon is a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. It is treated as a race, with contestants skiing through a cross-country trail whose distance is divided into shooting rounds. The shooting rounds are not time ...

whose exploits made him one of the most successful biathletes of all time at the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

and the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

Career

He has been married to his wife Kathrin since 1994 and they have three sons: Marco (born 1995), Simon (b. 1998), and Gabriel (b. 2004). He is a Hauptfeldwebel ( Sergeant First Class) in the German

Bundeswehr The ''Bundeswehr'' (, meaning literally: ''Federal Defence'') is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The ''Bundeswehr'' is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part con ...

. Groß started out as a cross-country skier but switched to biathlon at the age of 13. He made his World Cup debut at the age of 20. His first club was the

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until 1991. In the

Biathlon World Cup The Biathlon World Cup is a top-level biathlon season-long competition series. It has been held since the winter seasons of 1977–78 for men and 1982–83 for women. The women's seasons until 1986–87 season were called the European Cup, alt ...

of 1997/1998, he came second in the overall competition. In the biathlon competition at the 1992, 1994, and 1998

, he won gold medals as part of the men's 4 × 7.5 km relay team. At the

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute dialect, Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni language, Shoshoni: ''Soó ...

in the 4 × 7.5 km relay for men the German team won silver and at the 12.5 km pursuit for men, he won bronze for himself. He took a total of eight Olympic medals during his career, including four relay golds. In the Biathlon World Championships sprint (10 km) he won bronze in 1995, and silver in 2003 and 2004. In 1999, 2003, and 2004, he won gold in the pursuit (12.5 km). In the individual (20 km), he won gold in 1997, silver in 1999, and bronze in 2003 and 2005. He took a total of nine World Championship titles. Groß took a total of 53 individual podium finishes in World Cup competition, including nine race wins. After retiring from competition Groß settled in Ruhpolding. He has worked as a commentator on biathlon for German television and was appointed as coach of the German women's biathlon team in 2010. He was subsequently announced as senior trainer for the German IBU Cup team in April 2014. In August 2015 he became a senior coach for the Russian men's biathlon squad, agreeing a contract up to the 2017-18 season. In this role he guided the team to the 2016-17 relay World Cup title. In May 2018, Groß was announced as head coach for the Austrian men's biathlon team.

Biathlon results

All results are sourced from the

International Biathlon Union The International Biathlon Union (IBU; german: Internationale Biathlon-Union) is the international governing body of biathlon. Its headquarters were in Salzburg, Austria, until May 2020, when the Federation moved to Anif, on the outskirts of the ...

Olympic Games

''8 medals (4 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze)'' :''*Pursuit was added as an event in 2002, with mass start being added in 2006.''

World Championships

''20 medals (9 gold, 5 silver, 6 bronze)'' :''*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 and the mixed relay in 2005.''

Individual victories

''9 victories (3 In, 1 Sp, 4 Pu, 1 MS)'' :''*Results are from UIPMB and IBU races which include the

Biathlon World Championships The first Biathlon World Championships (BWCH) was held in 1958, with individual and team contests for men. The number of events has grown significantly over the years. Beginning in 1984, women biathletes had their own World Championships, and fina ...

and the

Winter Olympic Games The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were he ...

.''

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gross, Ricco 1970 births Living people German male biathletes Biathletes at the 1992 Winter Olympics Biathletes at the 1994 Winter Olympics Biathletes at the 1998 Winter Olympics Biathletes at the 2002 Winter Olympics Biathletes at the 2006 Winter Olympics Olympic biathletes of Germany Medalists at the 1992 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1994 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1998 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2002 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2006 Winter Olympics Olympic medalists in biathlon Olympic bronze medalists for Germany Olympic silver medalists for Germany Olympic gold medalists for Germany Biathlon World Championships medalists German cross-country skiing coaches People from Erzgebirgskreis Sportspeople from Saxony 20th-century German people 21st-century German people