Tora Berger
Tora Berger is a retired Norwegian biathlete and Olympic champion.
Personal background
Berger married in 2010, having met her husband at high school. They have two dogs Tussi and Tarzan – Tarzan often joins her on training runs. Whilst away from home during the biathlon season she enjoys knitting and reading. Outside biathlon she enjoys hunting and fishing.Career
She has been a member of the Norwegian women's biathlon team since 1999. She has 28 individual victories in the World Cup.At the 2008 World Championship, she received three 4th places, before earning the silver medal in the mass start.
On February 18, 2010, she became the first Norwegian woman to win an Olympic gold medal in biathlon by winning the women's 15 km individual at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. By doing this, she won Norway's 100th Olympic gold medal at the Winter Olympic Games, as well as winning the 10th Norwegian biathlon gold medal. This historic medal makes Norway the first ever nation to win 100 gold medals at the Winter Olympic Games.
At the Biathlon World Championships 2013 in Nove Mesto, she won gold in the mixed relay, silver in the sprint and gold in the pursuit before becoming the first woman to defend her 15k individual title. She followed this up with a stunning final-leg performance in the relay, making up a deficit of nearly 40 seconds on the leaders to take another gold medal, before taking silver in the mass start. As the holder of 18 world championship medals she is second in the table of total medals, one medal behind Uschi Disl. At the same championships, she also became the first biathlete to win 6 medals at a single biathlon world championships, with four golds and two silvers.
Berger competed in Biathlon at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi where she won 3 medals. Gold in the Mixed relay together with Tiril Eckhoff, Ole Einar Bjørndalen and Emil Hegle Svendsen, a silver in the Women's Pursuit, and a bronze in the Women's relay,
IBU World Cup
Although Tora Berger had been part of the Norwegian women's biathlon team since 1999, up until the end of the 2011/12 season she had never been the world cup winner either overall or in any of the individual disciplines. Her highest finish was third in the overall standings in the 2008/09 and 2011/12 seasons, second in the Pursuit discipline in the 2008/09 season, and second in the Mass Start discipline in the 2011/12 season.Success came in the 2012/13 world cup season, with Tora taking 11 wins and missing the podium only seven times. Her 19 podium finishes equalled Magdalena Forsberg's record for the highest number of podium finishes in a single season. She won all three races at Oslo Holmenkollen to secure the crystal globes for both the Overall women's world cup and the Pursuit discipline. By the end of the season she had also won the crystal globe for the Individual, Sprint and Mass Start disciplines, completing a clean sweep of the five women's crystal globes. With Berger's contribution, Norway also won the 2012/13 season's Women's Nation Cup, Women's Relay Cup and Mixed Relay Cup.
*Statistics as at 17 March 2013.
Biathlon results
Olympic Games
World Championships
- 18 medals – ''
| Event | Individual | Sprint | Pursuit | Mass start | Relay | Mixed relay |
 2005 Hochfilzen | 21st | 11th | 19th | 13th | 5th | — |
 2005 Khanty-Mansiysk | — | — | — | — | — | 10th |
 2006 Pokljuka | — | — | — | — | — | Silver |
 2007 Antholz-Anterselva | 4th | 10th | 19th | 25th | Bronze | Bronze |
 2008 Östersund | 4th | 4th | 4th | Silver | 6th | — |
 2009 Pyeongchang | Bronze | 19th | 9th | 15th | 11th | 4th |
| 2010 Khanty-Mansiysk | — | — | — | — | — | Silver |
| 2011 Khanty-Mansiysk | 10th | 7th | 5th | Bronze | 5th | Gold |
 2012 Ruhpolding | Gold | 6th | 4th | Gold | Bronze | Gold |
 2013 Nové Město | Gold | Silver | Gold | Silver | Gold | Gold |
Junior/Youth World Championships
Individual victories
28 victories| Season | Date | Location | Discipline | Level |
| 2007/08 2 victories | December 2, 2007 |  Kontiolahti | 10 km Pursuit | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2007/08 2 victories | January 5, 2008 | Oberhof | 7.5 km Sprint | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2008/09 2 victories | January 22, 2009 | Antholz | 7.5 km Sprint | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2008/09 2 victories | March 22, 2009 |  Trondheim | 12.5 km Mass Start | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2009/10 2 victories | December 5, 2009 | Östersund | 7.5 km Sprint | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2009/10 2 victories | February 18, 2010 |  Vancouver | 15 km Individual | Winter Olympic Games |
| 2010/11 6 victories | December 16, 2010 | Pokljuka | 15 km Individual | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2010/11 6 victories | January 15, 2011 | Ruhpolding | 7.5 km Sprint | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2010/11 6 victories | January 16, 2011 | Ruhpolding | 10 km Pursuit | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2010/11 6 victories | January 21, 2011 | Antholz | 7.5 km Sprint | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2010/11 6 victories | January 22, 2011 | Antholz | 12.5 km Mass Start | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2010/11 6 victories | February 6, 2011 |  Presque Isle, Maine | 10 km Pursuit | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2011/12 4 victories | December 4, 2011 | Östersund | 10 km Pursuit | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2011/12 4 victories | January 15, 2012 | Nové Město | 10 km Pursuit | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2011/12 4 victories | March 7, 2012 | Ruhpolding | 15 km Individual | Biathlon World Championships |
| 2011/12 4 victories | March 11, 2012 | Ruhpolding | 12.5 km Mass Start | Biathlon World Championships |
| 2012/13 11 victories | November 29, 2012 | Östersund | 15 km Individual | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2012/13 11 victories | December 1, 2012 | Östersund | 7.5 km Sprint | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2012/13 11 victories | December 2, 2012 | Östersund | 10 km Pursuit | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2012/13 11 victories | December 16, 2012 | Pokljuka | 12.5 km Mass Start | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2012/13 11 victories | January 13, 2013 | Ruhpolding | 12.5 km Mass Start | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2012/13 11 victories | January 19, 2013 | Antholz | 10 km Pursuit | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2012/13 11 victories | February 10, 2013 | Nové Město | 10 km Pursuit | Biathlon World Championships |
| 2012/13 11 victories | February 13, 2013 | Nové Město | 15 km Individual | Biathlon World Championships |
| 2012/13 11 victories | March 1, 2013 | Oslo | 7.5 km Sprint | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2012/13 11 victories | March 2, 2013 | Oslo | 10 km Pursuit | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2012/13 11 victories | March 3, 2013 | Oslo | 12.5 km Mass Start | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2013/14 1 victory | January 5, 2014 | Oberhof | 12.5 km Mass Start | Biathlon World Cup |
Cross-country skiing results
All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation.World Cup
Season standings
Team podiums
- 1 podium –
| No. | Season | Date | Location | Race | Level | Place | Teammates |
| 1 | 2011–12 | 20 November 2011 | Sjusjøen, Norway | 4 × 5 km Relay C/F | World Cup | 2nd | Jacobsen / Østberg / Kristoffersen |
Awards and nominations
- 2013: Awarded the Holmenkollen medal
- 2013: Winner of Norwegian Sportsperson of the Year 2012
- 2013: Winner of the "Female athlete of the year" for 2012 at the Sports Gala 2013
- 2013: Nominated for the "Name of the year" for 2012 at the Sports Gala 2013
- 2012: Nominated for the "Female athlete of the year" for 2011 at the Sports Gala 2012
- 2011: Nominated for "Name of the year" for 2010 at the Sports Gala 2011
- 2011: Nominated for "Female athlete of the year" for 2010 at the Sports Gala 2011
- 2010: Nominated for "Female athlete of the year" for 2009 at the Sports Gala 2010