Frank LUCK

Frank Luck would have competed in five Winter Olympics, except he missed 1992 when he was suffering from mumps. He became the second most successful biathlete ever in the World Championships, later surpassed by Ole Einar Bjørndalen. Luck was married to Andrea Fischer, the sister of his teammate Sven Fischer, but they eventually divorced. He then lived with snowboarder Sandra Farmand and managed the hunting operation of his sponsor, a German Bank, in Brandenburg.

His father, his uncle and his grandfather were cross-country skiiers, so Luck’s career seemed pre-ordained. At the 1994 and 1998 Winter Olympics he won two gold medals with the biathlon relay, adding two individual silver medals over 20 km in 1994 and 2002, and another relay silver in 2002. At the World Championships Luck earned 11 gold, 5 silver and 4 bronze medals between 1989 and 2004, and also won the 20 km World Cup in 2000 and 2002, placing second in the sprint World Cup in 1999. On a national level he was third over 10 km in 1989, runner-up over 20 km in 1987, and relay runner-up with ASK Vorwärts Oberhof in 1989, and third one year earlier in former GDR. After German reunification he became German Champion over 10 km in 1996 and 1997, and over 20 km in 1995. In 2009 during a TV interview Luck confessed to doping unknowingly during his career with Oral-Turinanbol.