Lars Berger
| Lars Berger | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Full name | Lars Berger |
| Born | 1 May 1979 Levanger, Norway |
| Height | 189 cm (6 ft 2 in) |
| Ski club | Dombås, Byåsen (cc) |
| World Cup career | |
| Seasons | 2001 |
| Indiv. podiums | 13 |
| Indiv. wins | 6 |
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
Representing  Norway
| ||
| Men's cross country skiing | ||
| Olympic Games | ||
 |
2010 Vancouver | 4x10 km relay |
| World Championships | ||
 |
2005 Oberstdorf | 4 x 10 km |
|
2007 Sapporo | 15 km |
|
2007 Sapporo | 4 x 10 km |
| Men's biathlon | ||
| World Championships | ||
|
2009 Pyeongchang | 4 x 7.5 km |
|
2009 Pyeongchang | 10 km sprint |
|
2007 Antholz | 4 x 7.5 km |
|
2004 Oberhof | 15 km mass start |
|
2004 Oberhof | 4 x 7.5 km |
Lars Berger (born 1 May 1979, in Levanger, Norway) is a Norwegian biathlete and cross country skier. Berger's family moved to Lesja, Oppland in 1985. At the age of six, Berger started cross-country skiing, but during his teens he decided to try out the biathlon.
Berger joined the national biathlon team in 2001. During the 2004 Biathlon World Championships in Oberhof, Germany, he won silver medals in the 15 km mass start and the 4 x 7.5 km relay. Berger also won two gold medals in the military world championships that same year (cross country and patrol). Berger finished fifth in the 2004 overall World Cup, and won several gold medals from the Norwegian Biathlon Championships. At the 2007 Biathlon World Championships in Rasen-Antholz, Italy, Berger was part of the Norwegian team that won silver in the 4 x 7.5 km relay. After several disappointing races, mainly due to unstable shooting, Berger was thrown off the Norwegian national team ahead of the 2008/2009 season. He revenged this by retrieving two world cup victories in sprint events, a silver in the World Championship sprint, and contributed to the gold in the men's relay. He is regarded as the fastest skier on the biathlon tour but his shooting accuracy often prevents him from producing consistent and winning results.
Berger has also been competing in cross country since 2002. He also won the 30 km and relay at the 2003 Norwegian Cross-country Championships in Molde. Berger won a gold in the 4 x 10 km at the 2005 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Oberstdorf and finished 4th in the 15 km in those same championships. Berger won the gold medal in the 15 km at the Nordic Skiing World Championships in Sapporo in 2007. In that race Berger benefited from changing weather conditions that gave several of his strongest competitors worse gliding conditions.[1]
Berger is the first person to win medals at the World Championships in biathlon and Nordic skiing in the same year. He is also the only athlete to win gold in relays in both World Championships (in Nordic skiing in 2005 and 2007, in biathlon in 2009).
