Frank Luck
# Frank Luck

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

## 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.

## Biathlon results

All results are sourced from the International Biathlon Union.

### Olympic Games

5 medals (2 gold, 3 silver)

| Event | Individual | Sprint | Pursuit | Relay |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1988 Calgary | — | 6th | — | — |
| 1994 Lillehammer | Silver | 6th | — | Gold |
| 1998 Nagano | — | 7th | — | Gold |
| 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 |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1989 Feistritz | 4th | Gold | — | — | — | Gold |
| 1990 Minsk | 6th | 5th | — | — | Gold | Bronze |
| 1991 Lahti | — | Silver | — | — | — | Gold |
| 1992 Novosibirsk | — | — | — | — | 7th | — |
| 1993 Borovets | 10th | — | — | — | Gold | Bronze |
| 1995 Antholz-Anterselva | 11th | 7th | — | — | — | Gold |
| 1996 Ruhpolding | 8th | 33rd | — | — | 6th | Silver |
| 1997 Brezno-Osrblie | — | 7th | 9th | — | Silver | Gold |
| 1998 Pokljuka | — | — | 16th | — | Silver | — |
| 1999 Kontiolahti | 24th | Gold | Silver | 20th | — | 4th |
| 2000 Oslo Holmenkollen | Bronze | 4th | Gold | 17th | — | Bronze |
| 2001 Pokljuka | — | 11th | 17th | 22nd | — | 12th |
| 2002 Oslo Holmenkollen | — | — | — | 6th | — | — |
| 2003 Khanty-Mansiysk | 36th | 30th | 5th | 17th | — | Gold |
| 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 1988 | Albertville | 10 km sprint | Biathlon World Cup |
| 1988–89 2 victories (2 Sp) | 11 February 1989 | Feistritz | 10 km sprint | Biathlon World Championships |
| 1990–91 1 victory (1 Sp) | 2 February 1991 | Oberhof | 10 km sprint | Biathlon World Cup |
| 1992–93 1 victory (1 Sp) | 6 March 1993 | Lillehammer | 10 km sprint | Biathlon World Cup |
| 1993–94 1 victory (1 Sp) | 22 January 1994 | Antholz-Anterselva | 10 km sprint | Biathlon World Cup |
| 1997–98 2 victories (2 Sp) | 6 December 1997 | Lillehammer | 10 km sprint | Biathlon World Cup |
| 1997–98 2 victories (2 Sp) | 5 March 1998 | Pokljuka | 10 km sprint | Biathlon World Cup |
| 1998–99 2 victories (1 Sp, 1 Pu) | 12 February 1999 | Kontiolahti | 10 km sprint | Biathlon World Championships |
| 1998–99 2 victories (1 Sp, 1 Pu) | 14 March 1999 | Oslo Holmenkollen | 12.5 km pursuit | Biathlon World Cup |
| 1999–2000 1 victory (1 Pu) | 20 February 2000 | Oslo Holmenkollen | 12.5 km pursuit | Biathlon World Championships |
| 2001–02 2 victories (1 In, 1 Sp) | 19 December 2001 | Brezno-Osrblie | 20 km individual | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2001–02 2 victories (1 In, 1 Sp) | 21 March 2002 | Oslo Holmenkollen | 10 km sprint | Biathlon World Cup |

    *Results are from UIPMB and IBU races which include the Biathlon World Cup, Biathlon World Championships and the Winter Olympic Games.
