Frank "Uller" Ullrich
Born: 24.01.1958
Frank Ullrich
CURRENT
1985 - End of active sporting career as an athlete
2015 - End of career as a coachNow retired.
Greatest successes
1 x Olympic gold / 9 x World Championship Gold
2 x Olympic silver / 4 x World Championship silver
1 x Olympic bronze / 1 x World Championship bronze
Family
Married to Katrin Ullrich
2 daughters Tina and Steffi
2 granddaughters Nele and Merle
Motto
A rolling stone gathers no moss!
Your Oberhof
Oberhof is a part of my home, with the Rennsteig and the Thuringian Forest, where I was an athlete and coach for 40 years and had the opportunity to coach and meet many great personalities.
What was your sporting career like?
My dad was a biathlon judge and through him I became more and more interested in this fascinating sport. Thanks to my good athletic performance and the great support of my sports teacher and trainer Wido Kühne and the very versatile trainer Horst Weisheit, I was delegated to the KJS Zella-Mehlis at the age of 14.
Through a continuous development of my performance in children's and youth sporting events and subsequent youth competitions of friendship in 1974, I was able to become junior world champion for the first time in 1975.
In 1976, at the age of 18, I competed in the Olympic relay and won the bronze medal. From 1977-1984 I won 9 world championship titles and became Olympic champion in 1980 in Lake Placid. Furthermore, I won the overall World Cup 4 times.
Absolutely unique was the success of our Oberhof ASK club relay team at the 1982 World Championships in Minsk, with Mathias Jung, Matthias Jacob, Bernd Hellmich and me.
In 1985, I ended my career as an athlete and after finishing my studies in 1987, I took over the Oberhof training group as a coach, which included athletes like Frank Luck, Mark Kirchner, Peter Sendel, Rene König, then also Sven Fischer, Alexander Wolf and other great athletes. At the same time, I acted as the GDR selection coach and was also allowed to work as a coach with the German team after reunification.
Then, from 1998-2010, I was the national coach of the German men's biathlon team. It was a very successful time for us, during which we celebrated several World Championship titles and Olympic victories.
From 2010 to 2012, I was head coach for junior athletes and then national coach for cross-country skiing, before I ended my cooperation with the German Ski Association in 2015.
Who are your role models?
Gerhard Grimmer from the neighbouring community of Seligenthal was my great role model. He won the gold medal in the 50 km cross-country skiing and in the 4 x 10 km relay in Falun in 1974.
What was the most emotional moment of your sporting career?
One of my most emotional moments was the home Biathlon World Championships in Oberhof 2004, when on the last day our team won the relay gold medal after nobody had expected this victory beforehand.
What was the biggest sporting disappointment for you?
... there was no such thing, because even defeats have left their mark on me and were an enormous motivation for me.
What are your goals for the future?
Just stay healthy, because that way you can continue to move the world and give support and confidence to many people and encourage them to do MORE.
... because I associate many beautiful moments with Oberhof.
