# Erik Lesser

Erik Lesser (born 17 May 1988) is a German former biathlete. In 2010, he ran his first single World Cup Race. At the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, he won a silver medal at Men's individual. At the Biathlon World Championships 2013 he won a bronze medal with the German team in Men's relay.
His grandfather Axel Lesser competed in cross-country skiing for East Germany at the 1976 Winter Olympics.

## Career

Erik Lesser, grandson of Axel Lesser, lives in Zella-Mehlis and trained mainly in Oberhof. His coach is Mark Kirchner, before Peter Sendel. Lesser began cross-country skiing at the age of six and took up biathlon in 1999 at the age of eleven. A graduate of the Sports Gymnasium Oberhof, he started his competitive career with the club SV Eintracht Frankenhain.
In 2008 he started in Ruhpolding at his first Junior World Championship, where he was seventh in the individual, 16th in the sprint, and eighth in the pursuit. A year later, he won in Canmore a bronze medal in the individual competition, finished eleventh in sprint and pursuit, and took the first leg in the men's relay, where together with Simon Schempp, Benedikt Doll and Florian Graf he took a gold medal. In the summer, he won the Junior Summer World Championships in Oberhof, taking the sprint and pursuit titles on roller skis.
In his World Cup debut in Kontiolahti on 12 March 2010, Lesser finished second in the German mixed relay with Kati Wilhelm, Magdalena Neuner and Simon Schempp. In his debut in solo competition, he finished 44th in the sprint, qualifying him for the subsequent pursuit, where he finished 51st. In 2011, he improved his performance, and at Holmenkollen in Oslo, he finished 24th in the pursuit and 40th in the sprint. At the first race of the 2013 in Östersund, Lesser stood for the first time on the World Cup podium. He finished third in the individual, achieving a clear shoot.
In the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Erik Lesser won silver medals in the individual competition and with the German men's relay squad. On the final day of the Games, he also participated in the 50km cross-country freestyle race and finished 42nd among 64 starters.
In the 2015 World Championships, Erik Lesser finished fifth in the sprint race. In the ensuing pursuit, he won the gold medal and thus also celebrated his first World Cup victory. With the season's victory in the World Cup, Lesser was a double world champion.
Erik Lesser ended his career on March 20, 2022, with the races at Holmenkollen.

## Biathlon results

All results are sourced from the International Biathlon Union.

### Olympic Games

3 medals (2 silver, 1 bronze)
| Event | Individual | Sprint | Pursuit | Mass Start | Relay | Mixed Relay |
| 2014 Sochi | Silver | 21st | 16th | 26th | Silver | – |
| 2018 Pyeongchang | 9th | 11th | 11th | 4th | Bronze | 4th |
| 2022 Beijing | 67th | — | — | — | 4th | — |
    *The mixed relay was added as an event in 2014.

### World Championships

7 medals (2 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze)
| Event | Individual | Sprint | Pursuit | Mass Start | Relay | Mixed Relay | Single mixed Relay |
| 2013 Nové Město na Moravě | 34th | 12th | 14th | 5th | Bronze | — | — |
| 2015 Kontiolahti | 18th | 5th | Gold | 17th | Gold | — | — |
| 2016 Oslo | 7th | 19th | 7th | 14th | Silver | — | — |
| 2017 Hochfilzen | 4th | 37th | 28th | 21st | 4th | — | — |
| 2019 Östersund | 11th | 8th | 11th | 27th | Silver | — | 4th |
| 2020 Antholz | — | — | — | — | Bronze | — | Silver |
| 2021 Pokljuka | — | 66th | — | — | 7th | 7th | 7th |
    *During Olympic seasons competitions are only held for those events not included in the Olympic program.
    **The single mixed relay was added as an event in 2019.

### World Cup Highlights

    2010, Finland, Kontiolahti, 2nd in mixed relay (with Wilhelm / Neuner / Schempp)
    2012, Sweden, Östersund, 3rd in individual
    2013, Germany, Oberhof, 3rd in team relay (with Schempp / Peiffer / Graf)
    2013, Norway, Holmenkollen, 3rd in mass start
    2013, Russia, Sochi, 2nd in team relay (with Birnbacher / Peiffer / Doll)
    2013, France, Annecy, 2nd in pursuit
    2013, France, Annecy, 2nd in team relay (with Birnbacher / Peiffer / Schempp)
    2014, Germany, Ruhpolding, 2nd in team relay (with Stephan / Birnbacher / Schempp)
    2014, Italy, Antholz, 3rd in team relay (with Birnbacher / Peiffer / Schempp)
    2015, Germany, Ruhpolding, 2nd in team relay (with Birnbacher / Peiffer / Schempp)
    2015, Italy, Antholz, 2nd in team relay (with Boehm / Peiffer / Schempp)
    2015, Norway, Holmenkollen, 2nd in team relay (with Birnbacher / Peiffer / Schempp)
    2016, Germany, Ruhpolding, 1st in mass start
    2022, Finland, Kontiolahti, 2nd in pursuit
    2022, Norway, Holmenkollen, 1st in pursuit