Christoph Sumann


Christoph "Sumi" Sumann is a former Austrian biathlete.

Life and career

As was the case with many of his fellow biathletes, Sumann switched over from cross-country skiing, which he had been doing since childhood. By the mid-1990s had he entered junior ski team of Austria and later on progressed to senior level. He was a skillful sprinter at the time.
Sumann began as a biathlete in 2000 and would compete in biathlon at the top level for 11 seasons.
His first World Cup win came in 2002–03 season and he finished 15th in the World Cup total. In 2006–07 Biathlon World Cup Sumann won the a mass start race and wore the red bib of the leader of the mass start cup up until the last stage of the season, the fact is quite outstanding for Austrians in biathlon despite the fact that he eventually lost it to Ole Einar Bjørndalen, who thus won the mass start world cup that season.
His most brilliant season was the 2009–10 Biathlon World Cup. He won two silvers at the 2010 Winter Olympics in the relay and the pursuit, being runner-up in the World Cup total along with title in the individual cup made him one of the most decorated athletes of that season.
The 2010–11 Biathlon World Cup was fraught with hardships for Sumann since he caught intestinal disease in Östersund, Sweden in December and he had to combat it throughout the season. However, he came through at the World Championships when he won a bronze medal in the 20 km individual.
Sumann retired from the sport at the end of the 2013–14 season.

Personal life

All results are sourced from the International Biathlon Union.

Olympic Games

3 medals
EventIndividualSprintPursuitRelay
2002 Salt Lake City22ndDNF—6th
2006 Turin—15th7th9th17th
2010 Vancouver8th12thSilver4thSilver
2014 Sochi24th20th12th27thBronze—

World Championships

4 medals
EventIndividualSprintPursuitRelay
2001 Pokljuka—12th24th—8th
2002 Oslo Holmenkollen14th
2003 Khanty-Mansiysk10th8th10th29th8th
2004 Oberhof66th53rdDNF—9th
2005 Hochfilzen42nd———Bronze—
2007 Antholz-Anterselva11th30th15th7th6th—
2008 Östersund22nd24th17th18th4th—
2009 Pyeongchang17thDNF—SilverSilver—
2011 Khanty-MansiyskBronze27th22nd12th9th7th
2012 Ruhpolding43rd41st42nd—5th21st
2013 Nové Město————5th—

Individual victories

6 victories
SeasonDateLocationDisciplineLevel
2001–02
1 victory
21 December 2001 Brezno-Osrblie10 km sprintBiathlon World Cup
2006–07
2 victories
20 January 2007 Pokljuka12.5 km pursuitBiathlon World Cup
2006–07
2 victories
21 January 2007 Pokljuka15 km mass startBiathlon World Cup
2008–09
1 victory
11 January 2009 Oberhof15 km mass startBiathlon World Cup
2009–10
1 victory
17 December 2009 Pokljuka20 km individualBiathlon World Cup
2012–13
1 victory
16 March 2013 Khanty-Mansiysk12.5 km pursuitBiathlon World Cup