Uschi Disl

Uschi Disl has been the most successful women’s biathlete at the Olympic Games. She had a very long career, starting biathlon in 1986. Disl first competed internationally in 1990, and finished fifth and eighth that year at the two World Championship events.

Women’s biathlon became an Olympic sport in 1992, and Disl has won nine medals, including gold in the relay events of 1998 and 2002, and silver in 1992 and 1994. She did not win an individual Olympic gold medal, but came close with two silver and two bronze medals between 1994-2002.

At the World Championships, Disl won 19 medals, with four golds in the relay and two golds with the team. Individually, she won two golds in 2005, in the sprint and the pursuit. Disl has recorded 30 individual and 17 relay wins in World Cup events, but never ranked first in the World Cup standings for a full season. She won the overall 15 km World Cup in 1997 and 1999, and the overall sprint in 1997.

Disl later lived in Mora (Sweden) with the Swedish ski technician Thomas Söderberg, who worked for the Norwegian team, and with whom she had a daughter and a son. Eventually, Disl worked with the German TV channel ARD as a biathlon expert in the seasons 2007-09. In 2005, she was elected Sportswoman of the Year, and won the German media prize BAMBI, in the category sports.