The famous German biathlete Henkel Andrea was born on December 10, 1977 in the city of Ilmenau. Most likely, several factors had a huge impact on her future career in sports. First, there was a ski and biathlon center near Andrea's residence. And secondly, it is the older sister Manuela who is the famous German skier and owner Olympic gold at the games in Salt Lake City - brought her into skiing. but women's biathlon was closer in spirit to Andrea and after the inclusion of this sport in Olympic program in 1988 she decided to completely switch to cross-country skiing and shooting.

First steps in biathlon

At first, Andrea Henkel did not shine with success in biathlon, and victories were difficult for her. Participating in the sprint race at the German children's championship, the athlete managed to knock out only one target out of 10. However high training in skiing and excellent speed allowed Andrea to finish in third position and win. In parallel, the young athlete studied at the Oberhof sports gymnasium in 1991-1996.

Debut in the World Cup

Already in 1994, at the age of 16, Henkel Andrea began to participate in competitions among juniors. At the end of the debut season, she took the honorable fourth place, having managed to win at the stages of medals of various standards. Thanks to this success, the young athlete opened the road to the World Cup. Andrea Henkel began taking part in the prestigious competition on a regular basis in the 1998/1999 season. As a beginner, the German biathlete took a high fourteenth position in the final standings. In parallel, she made her debut in the world championship, where she also showed herself well. In subsequent seasons, Andrea Henkel began to perform even more successfully.

Salt Lake City Triumph at the Olympics

On the eve of the winter year, which was to be held in the United States, Andrea Henkel showed excellent results at the World Cup. However, due to a cold, the girl had to skip several stages on the eve of an important event in Salt Lake City. But the German athlete showed perseverance on the way to achieving the goal and triumphantly performed on Olympic Games Oh. The speed of Andrea Henkel left no chance for her rivals. She had no equal in the individual race, where there was only one mistake, and the gap from the nearest rival was about 8 seconds. She also helped the German national team to take gold in the relay. Thus, Andrea Henkel, whose photo you see in the article, became a two-time Olympic champion.

After the 2002 Olympics, the German athlete had health problems for three seasons, which negatively affected her individual results in competitions. Andrea Henkel began to gain optimal shape only by the beginning of the next Olympic Games. However, in Turin, its results were not even close to the triumph of 2002. In the individual race, the German made 2 penalties and ended up behind the podium, finishing fourth. The bright spot of participation in the Olympics was the one won in the relay.

World Cup victory

After the Olympics, Andrea Henkel had a brilliant season. After the starting stages, she increased a large gap from the pursuers in standings and, despite a break due to illness, she managed to win the World Cup for the first time in her career. Climax prestigious tournament took place during the last race, before which the German athlete had 5 points of advantage over the second place. After five mistakes, Andrea almost lost all chances of a final victory. But thanks to her notorious tenacity and high speed, she managed to finish two positions higher than her rival for the right to own the World Cup. Thus, Andrea Henkel managed to conquer a large crystal globe for the first time.

The last Olympics for the German athlete in Vancouver was not entirely successful. Together with the national team, she won only a bronze medal in the relay. Andrea Henkel ended her biathlon career as an athlete after the 2013/2014 season. It is worth noting that she became the only woman who managed to win gold medals in biathlon in all four disciplines. After completing her sports career, Andrea plans to become a professional fitness trainer.

Personal life

On October 25, 2014, Andrea Henkel married American biathlete Tim Burke. The ceremony took place in the Adirondack Mountains, which are located in the United States, and the couple took place only in April 2015 in connection with sports activities Tim. Subsequently, the former German biathlon star decided to move permanently to her husband in Lake Placid and began to issue a green card. It was rumored that Andrea Henkel was pregnant. But they have not been confirmed. She still has everything ahead. Let's wish good luck to this wonderful woman!

Born on December 10 1977 1988

In winter 1994

1998/99

2000 year and Pokljuka in 2001

2003/04 2005 2005/06

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Born on December 10 1977 years in the town of Ilmenau, which is half an hour's drive from Oberhof. Perhaps the proximity of the ski and biathlon center of Thuringia determined the future of the athlete. Andrea began with skiing, where she was led by her older sister Manuela (Salt Lake City Olympic champion in cross-country skiing), but in 1988 year, after women's biathlon was included in the Olympic program, I switched to this sport.

The first successes in biathlon turned out to be very modest - during the sprint race as part of the German children's championship, the young athlete hit one target out of 10, but, thanks to the excellent ski training, managed to win bronze.

In winter 1994 of the year Andrea Henkel made her junior debut. In the very first season, the 16-year-old biathlete took 4th place in the overall standings, having collected an impressive collection of medals of various denominations, and got a chance to try herself at the World Cup stages.

Andrea began performing at the World Cup on a regular basis in the season 1998/99 ... For the debutante, the German woman performed more than successfully - 14th place in the overall standings! In the same season, Henkel made her debut at the World Championships, showing decent results in the sprint and pursuit.

The next 2 seasons turned out to be very successful for the young biathlete - silver medals in the relay at the World Championships in Holmenkollen in 2000 year and Pokljuka in 2001 -m (in both cases, the gold got Russian team), numerous prize podiums at the stages of the World Cup and as a result in both cases - 5th place in the final protocol (the best among German athletes).

The next - Olympic - season turned out to be difficult for Henkel: having started powerfully at the World Cup stages, Andrea unexpectedly fell ill with a cold and missed several stages before the Olympics itself. There were serious concerns about whether the leader of the German national team would be able to take part in the main starts of the season. However, the perseverance and determination of the Bundeswehr soldier played a role - Andrea performed well in Salt Lake City: in the individual race, the German made only one mistake and was almost 8 seconds ahead of the famous Liv-Gret Poiret, and a little later the German team had no equal in the relay ...

Andrea hardly recalls the next 3 seasons with pleasure: health problems did not leave her, which did not hesitate to affect the results: 17th place in the season- 2003/04 , 29th and 14th in two subsequent campaigns (the bright spot for this period can only be considered a brilliant victory in the individual race at the world championship 2005 years in Hochfilzen). Henkel began to gain form only in the season- 2005/06 and at the Olympics in Turin helped German team win silver in the relay. In the individual race (her signature discipline), Andrea took only 4th place, having made 2 annoying mistakes on the last shooting range.

Season- 2006/07 Henkel started off with a series of impressive victories and confidently took the lead in the overall standings. After the 4th stage of the World Cup, her advantage over the closest pursuers was 76 points, but in January the biathlete was again trapped by illness, she missed several stages and was able to return to service only for the World Championships, where she won 2 gold medals - in the mass start and relay race. It was necessary to close more than 100 points behind Anna Karin Olofsson and Kati Wilhelm. Before the last stage in Khanty-Mansiysk, Andrea reduced the gap from the Swede to a minimum, but she was quite far from her compatriot. Despite this, the silver in the sprint and the bronze in the pursuit brought Henkel to the top spot and ahead of Wilhelm by 5 points before the final race of the season. The mass start race was very dramatic for the rivals - Henkel made 5 misses at the first shooting range and seemed to say goodbye to the hope of winning a big crystal globe, but her famous perseverance did not allow her to give up, and, having perfectly covered the rest of the distance, Andrea got ahead of her compatriot in 2 places (15th and 17th, respectively) and became the first at the end of the season. In addition to the large crystal globe, Henkel received a small one in the individual races.

Season- 2007/08 also turned out extremely well for Henkel. Despite the fact that she did not manage to defend the title of the best biathlete in the world, she won 8 victories at the stages of the World Cup (4 of which in relay races). 3 of these eight gold medals fell on the main starts of the season - the World Championship in Ostersund: Andrea won the sprint and pursuit, as well as the relay race, and for some time topped the overall standings.

Season 2008 -2009 turned out for Andrea worse than the previous one. The start of the season was not very successful, but it was brightened by the bronze, which Andrea won in Hochfilzen. The beginning of the January stages was more than optimistic. In the first sprint race of Oberhof, Andrea immediately rose to 1st place, but then in four races in a row Andrea was not even in the top ten.

World Championship has started for two-time Olympic champion not bad. She finished 6th in the sprint, which opened up good opportunities for attacking in the pursuit to get a medal in the championship. But during training before the pursuit, Andrea had an accident: Andrea mistakenly left a cartridge in the rifle in the weapons room, where the biathletes are doing idle training, and accidentally fired. The shot hit the wall and did not hit anyone. After such a gross violation of safety regulations, the judges decided to punish the German biathlete and remove her from the pursuit. In the remaining races, Andrea did not take a personal medal and after the championship was content with only silver in the relay and bronze in the mixed relay.

The end of the season was good. Andrea rarely dropped out of the top ten, in addition, she managed to take gold in the pursuit held in Trondheim and bronze in the mass start in Khanty-Mansiysk, losing to compatriot Simone Hauswald and Swede Helene Jonsson.

Season 2009 -2010 began for the German athlete not very successfully. She did not achieve personal podiums in the first three stages, but in January, after an unsuccessful sprint in Oberhof, where Andrea took a modest 38th position, she wins the mass start, beating the Swede Jonsson by 23 seconds. In Ruhpolding, Andrea got into the flowers, and in Antholz, the German woman is on the podium 3 times in a row: in the individual race Andrea took 3rd place, in the sprint - 2nd, and in the pursuit she was completely ahead of the rest.

The Olympics were unsuccessful for the two-time Olympic champion Salt Lake. She failed to keep the shape she was in Italy. She only took the bronze medal in the relay with her.

The end of the season was successful, but she was not on the podium, but she often got into the top ten and eventually took 4th place in the overall standings.

Post-olympic season 2010 -2011 was successful. At the beginning of the season, Andrea, as always, did not indulge in podiums, but starting with a mass start in Oberhof, the German woman took silver four times in a row. It only worked out more successfully in the United States, in the town of Fort Kent. There, the titled German won a sprint-pursuit bunch, was second in the mass start and put on a yellow leader's jersey, becoming the leader in the overall standings. But she was not a leader for long. At the World Championships in Khanty-Mansiysk, Andrea again missed the podium in personal races. Only once was the fourth in the pursuit, starting from 20th position. After an unsuccessful championship, Andrea returned the yellow leader jersey to the Finnish woman.

The last stage of the World Cup of the season 2010 -2011 held in Holmenkollen, Norway, was very optimistic. There Andrea did a good job in the pursuit, took bronze, losing only to Anastasia from Slovakia and Daria Domracheva from Belarus. In the overall standings, Andrea was second. Only Kaisa has managed to surpass Andrea this season.

In the world of biathlon, there are not often examples of such athletic longevity as Henkel Andrea. Having made her debut with the German national team for the first time at the age of 17 in 1994, she continued her active sports career until recently. The athlete has won an incredible number of awards at the world championships, the Olympics. Moreover, Andrea has always had a real character and will to win no matter what. Numerous injuries also did not prevent her from reaching her full potential.

On the skis after my sister

In 1977, Andrea Henkel was born in the small town of Ilmenau in the German Democratic Republic. Biathlon has become a part of her life largely thanks to her older sister Manuela. She went in for sports at the Thuringian ski and biathlon complex and brought her younger sister there.

Just like Manuela, she first practiced skiing... However, after women's biathlon was included in the Olympic program in 1988, Andrea Henkel switched to this more dynamic and spectacular sport.

The girl did not manage to master the heavy rifle right away. In the children's national championship, Andrea Henkel was able to knock out only one target out of ten, but thanks to her excellent skiing she was able to take the bronze medal.

Takeoff of a young biathlete

In 1994, the athlete began performing at junior competitions. Andrea Henkel immediately began to shine on the track and in her very first season was able to enter the top five at the end of the season. This made the coaches turn their eyes to her, and they began to attract her to participate in the World Cup stages.

For the 1998-1999 season, Henkel is already firmly in the German national team. The first full season was just great for the young biathlete - a place in the top twenty at the end of the season.

She ran and shot well in her first world championship. German biathlete Andrea Henkel continues to progress over the next two seasons. She took the first medal at the world championships in 2000, becoming the second in the relay team. A year later, in Slovenia, she repeats this achievement.

The 2001-2002 season is followed by numerous prizes in the World Cup competitions, and as a result - the 5th final place. At the same time, Andrea was ahead of all her teammates, becoming the best German athlete.

The first Olympic season turned out to be difficult for the girl. At the beginning of the biathlon year, she caught a bad cold and missed several starts. However, her will and perseverance did the trick. Henkel managed to recover for the 2002 Olympics and performed excellently there, winning the individual race as well as the relay.

Difficult period

Health problems can cripple the career of the most successful athlete. After the triumphant Olympics, Andrea Henkel has a black streak that lasts for three whole seasons. Her results are not impressive, in the final protocols of the World Cups Henkel does not even make it into the top ten.

The only glimpse of past glory is the World Championships in Hochfilzen, where she brilliantly ran the individual race and became the first.

By 2005, the biathlete began to return to her previous level. The peak of the form fell on the Turin Olympics. She took part in the relay race, taking silver with her teammates. In her signature individual race, Henkel Andrea had every chance to take gold, but very disappointingly missed at the last mark and fell a little short of the podium place.

Return to the top

The most impressive season of the athlete's career turned out to be the 2006-2007 season. It was then that she won the main award for any biathlete - Bolshoi Crystal Globe for the final victory in the World Cup.

She began her biathlon year with a series of confident victories. After the 4th stage, she was ahead of her closest rival by 76 points. However, Andrea Henkel's health failed again. She fell seriously ill and missed several starts. It was possible to return to service only for the World Championship, where she immediately took two gold medals.

To win against Anna Olofson and Katya Wilhelm in the overall standings, they already had more than 100 points. However, by some miracle, before the last stage, Henkel managed to close the gap to his rivals as much as possible. And the successful results in the individual race and in the pursuit in general brought the athlete to the first place. Everything was decided by the last race.

However, the weather conditions in Khanty-Mansiysk are capable of mixing cards for any athlete. Already in the first shooting, Henkel Andrea managed to miss five times and, it seemed, had already lost all chances for the Crystal Globe. However, once again, the famous German tenacity played a role, and Andrea was able to eliminate the hopeless backlog. In addition to the main prize, she also received the Small Globe for top scores in personal disciplines.

German national team veteran

Henkel Andrea did not slow down and continued to be in the top of the best biathletes for many more seasons. After leaving Wilhelm at the conclusion of the Vancouver Olympics, she became the most experienced member of the German team. Until the most recent years, she was in the top ten at the end of the World Cup season. For example, in the 2012-2013 season, she managed to become the third. Henkel Andrea finished the last full season 2013-2014 in 10th place.

In addition, she also scored a whole scattering of gold medals at the world championships, becoming an 8-time world champion at the end of her career. Even at the Sochi Olympics, unsuccessful for the German team, she was the best among her own and fought with dignity to the last.

Andrea Henkel. Personal life

For several years, the famous athlete met with biathlete Tim Burke. To be closer to a loved one, she even last years trained with the American team he represented.

All this ended with a wedding in 2014.

Many biathlon lovers have always been interested in what Andrea Henkel is doing now. At the end of her active career, she enrolled in studies to become personal fitness trainer... Coaching activity today is main goal sportswomen.