Raphael Poirée (born 9.8.1974)

Born in Rives, grew up in La Chapelle en Vercors in France. Attended a sporting high school in Villard-de-Lans. His club is Vercors Ski De Fond. Raphael is professionally tied to the military, as is common in several European countries. His younger brother Gael (born 1978) is also an elite biathlete. Raphael started his international biathlon-career in 1994 when he became a double junior-world champion.

World Cup:

Raphael came 17th allover already in the 1995/96 season. In 1998 he won his first world cup race (Ruhpolding), and came 5th overall in the world cup. Since then he has never finished lower overall. From the 1999/2000 season he won the world cup overall three years in a row. Before the Oberhof world championships, Raphael had 27 world cup victories, four of them this year.

World championships:

In 1998 Raphael won his first senior world championships medal: bronze in the pursuit in Pokljuka. In 1999 he won the 20 km in the military world championships. In 2000 he became world champion in the mass start in Holmenkollen on the 26 February, the same day as Liv Grete. Since then he has won four more gold medals, two of them gold. And that is before Oberhof!

Olympics:

Raphael has participated in two olympics, and in 2002 he won a silver medal in the pursuit and bronze in the relay.