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| Born | 19 June 1970 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country |  Germany | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Paralympic Nordic skiing | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | WSV Oberhof | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Thomas Oelsner (born 19 June 1970) is a retired German Paralympic Nordic skier who won multiple gold medals throughout his career. He was the first person to fail a drugs test at the Winter Paralympic Games and was stripped of two gold medals. After he served his ban he returned to competitive skiing and participated in the 2006 and 2010 Games.
Oelsner was born on 19 June 1970 and is currently an advertising salesman. [1] In 1991 he was injured in a motorcycle accident which left him with a paralysed left arm. [1] [2] He entered the 1994 Winter Paralympics in Lillehammer as a LW6 class competitor in the biathlon and cross country skiing. [1] Oelsner's first games were a success, winning three golds, one solo silver, and one silver as part of the German relay team. [1] [3] Since then he has continued to use the same skis, even sleeping with them, as a matter of tradition. [2] At the 1998 Games in Nagano he won two golds and one individual silver, and a silver with the German relay team. [1] [3]
At the 2002 Winter Paralympics in Salt Lake City Oelsner won gold in the 7.5 km biathlon and the 5 km classic cross country. [2] However, he would go on to become the first athlete to be sent home from a Winter Paralympic Games for failing a drug test when he tested positive for the steroid methenolone. [4] [5] He was suspended prior to the 10 km cross country event and subsequently stripped of the two gold medals. [6] [7] Oelsner protested his innocence, [8] claiming that there had been a laboratory error or an act of sabotage involved. [9]
Oelsner completed a six-month national ban and returned for the 2006 Winter Paralympics in Torino. [8] He achieved a bronze in the 5 km cross country skiing. [3] [10]
At the 2010 Winter Paralympics in Vancouver Oelsner was embroiled in another controversy when he claimed that the sight on the gun he was using for the Biathlon had been sabotaged, smeared in something he thought might have been chocolate. He soon retracted the accusation and accepted responsibility, stating that whatever happened would have occurred when the gun was in his care. [11] Oelsner announced his retirement from competitive skiing at the end of the 2010 Games. [12]
Johann Mühlegg is a former top level cross-country skier who competed in international competitions first representing Germany and then Spain, after becoming a Spanish citizen in 1999. He was excluded and disqualified from the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City for doping.
Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle is a retired German cross-country skier and biathlete from Reit im Winkl who has competed since 1998. She was born in Traunstein, West Germany. Competing in three Winter Olympics, she won five medals with two golds and three silvers.
Katarzyna Rogowiec is a Polish Paralympian. She won two gold medals at the 2006 Winter Paralympics in Turin in cross-country skiing, and also competes at the highest levels in biathlon.
Magdalena "Lena" Holzer is a retired German professional biathlete. She is the most successful woman of all time at Biathlon World Championships and a two-time Olympic gold medalist. At the age of 21, she became the youngest Overall World Cup winner in the history of the International Biathlon Union (IBU). With 34 World Cup wins, Holzer is ranked second all-time for career victories on the Biathlon World Cup tour. She has won the Overall World Cup title three times, in 2007–08, in 2009–10 and her final season in 2011–12. At only 25 years old, Holzer retired from the sport in March 2012, citing a lack of motivation and her desire for a normal life.
Birkebeineren Ski Stadium is a cross-country skiing and biathlon venue located in Lillehammer, Norway. Situated 3 kilometers (2 mi) from the town center and at 485 meters (1,591 ft) above mean sea level, it has two stadium areas, one for cross-country and one for biathlon. The former has a capacity for 31,000 spectators, and the latter for 13,500. The venue was built for the 1994 Winter Olympics, costing 83.6 million Norwegian krone (NOK). It was subsequently used by the 1994 Winter Paralympics for Paralympic Nordic skiing and Paralympic biathlon. After the games, ownership was transferred to the municipal Lillehammer Olympiapark. The venue has since been used for one Biathlon World Cup, three FIS Cross-Country World Cup and nine FIS Nordic Combined World Cup tournaments, the latter with the ski jumping competition taking place at the nearby Lysgårdsbakkene Ski Jumping Arena. Birkebeineren hosted the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics.
The Winter Paralympic Games is an international multi-sport event where athletes with physical disabilities compete in snow and ice sports. The event includes athletes with mobility impairments, amputations, blindness, and cerebral palsy. The Winter Paralympic Games are held every four years directly following the Winter Olympic Games and hosted in the same city. The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) oversees the Games. Medals are awarded in each event: with gold for first place, silver for second, and bronze for third, following the tradition that the Olympic Games began in 1904.
Nils Erik Ulset is a Norwegian biathlete, cross-country skier, and three-time Paralympic champion.
Anna Alexandrovna Milenina is a Russian Paralympic biathlete and cross-country skier. She was born with Erb's palsy which resulted in her left arm being paralyzed.
Roman Aleksandrovich Petushkov is a Russian cross-country skier, biathlete, and Paralympian. He competes in classification category sitting events.
Iurii Illich Kostiuk is a Ukrainian biathlete, cross-country skier, and Paralympic Champion.
Grygorii Vasylovych Vovchynskyi is a Ukrainian biathlete, cross-country skier, and Paralympian. He is classified LW8, and compete in classification category standing.
Vitaliy Volodymyrovych Lukyanenko is a Ukrainian biathlete, cross-country skier, and Paralympian.
Volodymyr Ivanov is a Ukrainian biathlete, cross-country skier, sighted guide, and Paralympian.
Para-Nordic skiing classification is the classification system for para-Nordic skiing which includes the biathlon and cross-country events. The classifications for Para-Nordic skiing mirrors the classifications for Para-Alpine skiing with some exceptions. A functional mobility and medical classification is in use, with skiers being divided into three groups: standing skiers, sit skiers and visually impaired skiers. International classification is governed by International Paralympic Committee, Nordic Skiing (IPC-NS). Other classification is handled by national bodies. Before the IPC-NS took over classification, a number of organizations handled classification based on the type of disability.
Oksana Oleksandrivna Masters is an American multi-sport Paralympic athlete from Louisville, Kentucky. Having primarily specialized in rowing and cross-country skiing, she won the first ever United States medal in trunk and arms mixed double sculls at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London. She was also a part of the U.S. Nordic skiing team at the 2014 Winter Paralympics and the 2018 Winter Paralympics. She won two Paralympic medals in 2014 and five Paralympic medals in 2018, including two gold. She switched to para-cycling after the 2012 Paralympics and competed at the 2016 and 2020 Summer Paralympics, winning two gold medals at the latter. She competed at the 2022 Winter Paralympics, winning a gold medal in Biathlon – Women's 6 kilometres, sitting.
LW10 is a para-alpine and para-Nordic sit-skiing classification for skiers who cannot sit up without support. For international skiing competitions, classification is conducted by IPC Alpine Skiing and IPC Nordic Skiing, while national federations such as Alpine Canada handle classification for domestic competitions.
LW6/8 is a para-alpine and para-Nordic standing skiing sport class, a classification defined by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) for people with an upper extremity issue who have paralysis, motor paresis affecting one arm, a single upper arm amputation or CP8 classified cerebral palsy. LW6/8 skiers use two skis and one pole in both para-alpine and para-Nordic skiing.
Anja Wicker is a German disabled cross-country skier and biathlete. She represented Germany at the 2014 Winter Paralympics claiming a gold and a silver medal in the biathlon events. She also represented Germany at the 2018 and 2022 Winter Paralympics.
Mikhalina Anatolyevna Lysova is a Russian visually impaired cross-country skier and biathlete. She has represented Russia at the Paralympics in 2010 and in 2014 competing in the cross-country skiing and biathlon events. She progressed to become one of the most consistent Paralympics Nordic skiers of Russia as she claimed 16 medals in her Paralympic career including 6 gold medals. She was also the recipient of the Order ''For Merit to the Fatherland'' and Order of Friendship awards.
