Liv Grete Skjelbreid Poirée
Encyclopedia
Liv Grete Skjelbreid Poirée (born 7 July 1974) from Hålandsdal
, Fusa
, near the city of Bergen in western Norway
, is a former career biathlete
. , . On 20 March 2006, Poirée announced her retirement, effective at the end of the season which ended on 26 March at the Holmenkollen. She said she was retiring because of her young daughter, Emma, her family and that she did not have the motivation to continue.
. They first met at the 1992 Junior World Championships and began dating in 1996, marrying on 27 May 2000 in Norway. They have three daughters, Emma (born 27 January 2003), Anna (born 10 January 2007) and Lena (born 10 October 2008). Emma had traveled with the Poirées to all of their biathlon events, with a full-time nanny (older sister Ann Elen) for the first two years. But Emma was sick several times over those two seasons, and the Poirées decided she should remain at home during the build up to the Olympic games in Torino, and only travel with them every third race weekend. So during the 2006 Olympic season Emma stayed with her maternal grandparents (Knut and Oddrun). The Poirées are adamant to keep Emma away from the press, wanting their daughter to have as normal a childhood as possible.
The family spend most of their time in Norway and have a house in Eikelandsosen
, near Poirée's childhood home. They also keep a small apartment in Villard-de-Lans
, France
, site of the 1968 Olympic
luge venue. Liv Grete and Raphaël initially lived in the 24 square meter flat in Villard de Lans, but when Emma was due Liv Grete wanted to be near her parents. She has said they plan on living there for at least four years.
Poirée has two older sisters, Linda Kristin, and Ann Elen. Ann Elen was also a biathlete. In fact Ann Elen skied the first leg of the relay in Nagano 1998
when Norway came third, with Liv Grete skiing the anchor leg. Her brother-in-law is Norwegian biathlete Egil Gjelland
.
Liv Grete grew up on a dairy farm in Hålandsdal.
On 7 July 2006, it was announced that Liv Grete was pregnant once more. In an interview with TV2
on her birthday she admitted that she was pregnant but did not know when the baby was due.
Daughter no. two was born 10.01.07 and named Anna. Since dad, Raphael could not see his new born he wrote welcome Anna, 10.01.07** on the back of his ski suit.
Their third daughter named Lena was born on October 10, 2008
, kayak
ed in the lake next to the family home, cross-country skied
, and she used to run up to the family cottage up in the mountains, touch the wall and run back down.
Poirée excelled in football and biathlon, and first started competing in biathlon when she was nine. She borrowed her father's rifle for her first race. He also built a small shooting range on the family’s farm so his young daughters could practice. However as she was finishing high school, she was undecided as to whether continue with biathlon or to train as a hairdresser. She then received an offer from a new sports school, which developed young talent, based in Geilo
, to train and study there, still she was undecided, but her friends and family succeeded in persuading her to attend the school, and that after the first year if she did not like it, she could then leave. It turned out that Poirée did enjoy the school, and was in the same year as Ole Einar Bjørndalen
, and was taught by Odd Lirhus
, who would become her coach between 2003 and 2006.
overall World Cup once, in the 2003/04 season, it was also the first for Norway since Anne Elvebakk
won the event in 1988. She won the overall title by 95 points over Olga Pyleva
, and took three of the four individual disciplines, the sprint, pursuit and mass start. She came fourth in the individual. Norway also won the relay.
Her first season was in 1995/96, she finished 30th. In her next season, 1998/99, she shot up the table and came 5th in the end. The year after however she finished 21st. In 2000/01 Poiree finished the season in 2nd place, 217 points behind Magdalena Forsberg
. She was 2nd in the sprint, pursuit and mass start, and came 3rd in the individual. Norway won the relay. She also came second the year after, again behind Forsberg, this time by 149 points. She was 2nd in the individual, sprint and pursuit, and 9th in the mass start. Norway came 2nd in the relay. Poiree missed the 2002/03 season because of her pregnancy. The year after however she captured the crystal globe of the World Cup. 2004/05 though was a poor year, Poirée had to retire from the season due to illness, missing the World Championships in the process. She ended up in 22nd place, 532 points behind Sandrine Bailly
. She was suffering from a virus closely related to mononucleosis
(glandular fever). The virus took away about 15–20 percent of her energy according to Lars Kolsrud, doctor for Norway's biathlon squads.
Poirée finished the 2005/06 season in 12th place, 511 points behind the overall winner Kati Wilhelm
. She ended in 21st place in the individual, 64 points down on Svetlana Ishmouratova
. She was 12th in the sprint, 190 behind Wilhelm. Her best standing was in the pursuit, where she finished the season in 9th place, 177 points behind Wilhelm, and she finished 13th in the mass start, with 90 points less than Martina Glagow
. Norway were 4th in the relay.
Poirée was a steady shooter over the years. Her overall percentage was in the high 70% – low 80%. As with the vast majority of biathletes, her prone shoot was her best, averaging mid 80% shooting, whilst her standing shoot gradually got better, from 65% in 1999/00 to 74% in the 2005/06 season. Poirée achieved 46 podium finishes, 22 in first place, 15 in second, and 9 in third place.
Poirée was coached by Rolf Sæterdal until 2003, when he died suddenly. She was then coached by Odd Lirhus until 2006, when she retired.
Poirée won the Holmenkollen ski festival
biathlon competition four times with two wins each in sprint (2000, 2001) and in mass start (2000, 2004).
& 1998), the other silver came in the individual in 2002. Her medal count, especially her solo medal count is quite poor for a biathlete of her calibre, though she did come fourth in both the sprint and the pursuit in 2002. Her 2006
results were poor, much in the same pattern as the Norwegian Olympic team on the whole. She finished 9th in the individual, 12th in the sprint, 6th in the pursuit, 18th in the mass start, and 5th in the relay (although Poirée did run a solid anchor leg).
in 2004, this is the first time a biathlete has won four golds in a single World Championships. Her first World Championship medal was a silver in the relay in Brezno-Osrblie, Slovakia
in 1997. She then had to wait until 2000 for her next medal. She won two golds in Holmenkollen, in the sprint and the mass start. In 2001 in Pokljuka
she won a gold in the pursuit, a silver in the individual, and a bronze in both the sprint and mass start. Her next Championships was in 2004, where she took the four golds. The one event she did not win was the individual where she finished eighth. She suffered from illness in the 2004/05 season, and came 37th in the sprint, and did not start in the pursuit. During the 2003/04 season Poirée was handed the wrong gold medal after she won Sundays 7.5 km race. She was given the medal for the 15 km event, which wasn't taking place until Tuesday.
She also suffers from chronic inflammation, but she has said it had got better since she gave birth. There was also the illness that drained her energy and forced her to finish the 2004/05 season early.
Hålandsdal
Hålandsdal is a former municipality in Hordaland county, Norway.It was created by a split from Fusa on 1 January 1903. At that time Hålandsdal had a population of 647....
, Fusa
Fusa
Fusa is a municipality in the county of Hordaland, Norway. Fusa was separated from Os in 1856. Hålandsdal and Strandvik were separated from Fusa on 1 January 1903, but they were both again merged with Fusa on 1 January 1964....
, near the city of Bergen in western Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, is a former career biathlete
Biathlon
Biathlon is a term used to describe any sporting event made up of two disciplines. However, biathlon usually refers specifically to the winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting...
. , . On 20 March 2006, Poirée announced her retirement, effective at the end of the season which ended on 26 March at the Holmenkollen. She said she was retiring because of her young daughter, Emma, her family and that she did not have the motivation to continue.
Family life
Poirée is married to French biathlete Raphaël PoiréeRaphaël Poirée
Raphaël Poirée is a retired French biathlete who was active from 1999 to 2007. With his 44 World cup victories and several World Championship medals he ranks among the most successful biathletes ever.-Biography:...
. They first met at the 1992 Junior World Championships and began dating in 1996, marrying on 27 May 2000 in Norway. They have three daughters, Emma (born 27 January 2003), Anna (born 10 January 2007) and Lena (born 10 October 2008). Emma had traveled with the Poirées to all of their biathlon events, with a full-time nanny (older sister Ann Elen) for the first two years. But Emma was sick several times over those two seasons, and the Poirées decided she should remain at home during the build up to the Olympic games in Torino, and only travel with them every third race weekend. So during the 2006 Olympic season Emma stayed with her maternal grandparents (Knut and Oddrun). The Poirées are adamant to keep Emma away from the press, wanting their daughter to have as normal a childhood as possible.
The family spend most of their time in Norway and have a house in Eikelandsosen
Eikelandsosen
Eikelandsosen is the administrative center of Fusa, Norway. As of 2011 it has 485 residents.-References:...
, near Poirée's childhood home. They also keep a small apartment in Villard-de-Lans
Villard-de-Lans
Villard-de-Lans is a commune in the Isère department in south-eastern France.The town is a centre for skiing in winter and hiking and hot air ballooning in other seasons.-1968 Winter Olympics:...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, site of the 1968 Olympic
1968 Winter Olympics
The 1968 Winter Olympics, officially known as the X Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1968 in Grenoble, France and opened on 6 February. Thirty-seven countries participated...
luge venue. Liv Grete and Raphaël initially lived in the 24 square meter flat in Villard de Lans, but when Emma was due Liv Grete wanted to be near her parents. She has said they plan on living there for at least four years.
Poirée has two older sisters, Linda Kristin, and Ann Elen. Ann Elen was also a biathlete. In fact Ann Elen skied the first leg of the relay in Nagano 1998
1998 Winter Olympics
The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially the XVIII Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event celebrated from 7 to 22 February 1998 in Nagano, Japan. Seventy-two nations and 2,176 participans contested in seven sports and 72 events at 15 venues. The games saw the introduction of Women's ice...
when Norway came third, with Liv Grete skiing the anchor leg. Her brother-in-law is Norwegian biathlete Egil Gjelland
Egil Gjelland
Egil Gjelland is a former Norwegian biathlete. He is olympic champion in the biathlon relay from the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City....
.
Liv Grete grew up on a dairy farm in Hålandsdal.
On 7 July 2006, it was announced that Liv Grete was pregnant once more. In an interview with TV2
TV 2 (Norway)
TV 2 is the largest commercial television station in Norway. Over 30% of the time Norwegians spend watching TV is spent watching TV 2. The station has 65% of the market for TV commercials in Norway....
on her birthday she admitted that she was pregnant but did not know when the baby was due.
Daughter no. two was born 10.01.07 and named Anna. Since dad, Raphael could not see his new born he wrote welcome Anna, 10.01.07** on the back of his ski suit.
Their third daughter named Lena was born on October 10, 2008
Early career
As a child Poirée spent a lot of her time with her older sisters, and consequently took part in the sports her sisters did. She played footballFootball (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
, kayak
Kayak
A kayak is a small, relatively narrow, human-powered boat primarily designed to be manually propelled by means of a double blade paddle.The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each seating one paddler...
ed in the lake next to the family home, cross-country skied
Cross-country skiing
Cross-country skiing is a winter sport in which participants propel themselves across snow-covered terrain using skis and poles...
, and she used to run up to the family cottage up in the mountains, touch the wall and run back down.
Poirée excelled in football and biathlon, and first started competing in biathlon when she was nine. She borrowed her father's rifle for her first race. He also built a small shooting range on the family’s farm so his young daughters could practice. However as she was finishing high school, she was undecided as to whether continue with biathlon or to train as a hairdresser. She then received an offer from a new sports school, which developed young talent, based in Geilo
Geilo
is a centre in the municipality of Hol in Norway, in the valley of Hallingdal, with around 2300 inhabitants.Geilo is primarily a ski resort town, but also offers summer activities. Geilo is in a valley with mountain ranges on each side. The center of the town lies at 800 meters above sea level, and...
, to train and study there, still she was undecided, but her friends and family succeeded in persuading her to attend the school, and that after the first year if she did not like it, she could then leave. It turned out that Poirée did enjoy the school, and was in the same year as Ole Einar Bjørndalen
Ole Einar Bjørndalen
Ole Einar Bjørndalen is a Norwegian professional biathlete. He is often regarded as one of the greatest athletes of all time. In 1992, he won his first career medal at the junior world championships. A year later In 1993, after winning a record three junior world championship titles, Bjørndalen...
, and was taught by Odd Lirhus
Odd Lirhus
Odd Lirhus . Is a former Norwegian biathlete. At the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo he won a silver medal in the relay. He also won a gold medal in the 20 km individual at the 1978 Biathlon World Championship....
, who would become her coach between 2003 and 2006.
World Cup
Poirée won the IBUInternational Biathlon Union
The International Biathlon Union, IBU, is the international governing body of biathlon. Its headquarters are in Salzburg, Austria.- History :The International Biathlon Union was founded on 2 July 1993...
overall World Cup once, in the 2003/04 season, it was also the first for Norway since Anne Elvebakk
Anne Elvebakk
Anne Elisabeth Elvebakk is a former biathlete from Norway. She has received twelve World championship medals. In 1988 she won the biathlon world cup.-References:**...
won the event in 1988. She won the overall title by 95 points over Olga Pyleva
Olga Pyleva
Olga Valeryevna Medvedtseva , former Pyleva , née Zamorozova , is a retired Russian biathlete....
, and took three of the four individual disciplines, the sprint, pursuit and mass start. She came fourth in the individual. Norway also won the relay.
Her first season was in 1995/96, she finished 30th. In her next season, 1998/99, she shot up the table and came 5th in the end. The year after however she finished 21st. In 2000/01 Poiree finished the season in 2nd place, 217 points behind Magdalena Forsberg
Magdalena Forsberg
Magdalena "Magda" Forsberg is a former Swedish cross country skier and biathlete. She was the dominating female biathlete from 1997 to 2002, when she retired, winning the Biathlon World Cup for six years straight...
. She was 2nd in the sprint, pursuit and mass start, and came 3rd in the individual. Norway won the relay. She also came second the year after, again behind Forsberg, this time by 149 points. She was 2nd in the individual, sprint and pursuit, and 9th in the mass start. Norway came 2nd in the relay. Poiree missed the 2002/03 season because of her pregnancy. The year after however she captured the crystal globe of the World Cup. 2004/05 though was a poor year, Poirée had to retire from the season due to illness, missing the World Championships in the process. She ended up in 22nd place, 532 points behind Sandrine Bailly
Sandrine Bailly
Sandrine Bailly is a former French biathlete. She was most successful in the 2004–05 season, when she could win the overall World Cup, and in the 2007–08 season, when she finished second...
. She was suffering from a virus closely related to mononucleosis
Infectious mononucleosis
Infectious mononucleosis is an infectious, widespread viral...
(glandular fever). The virus took away about 15–20 percent of her energy according to Lars Kolsrud, doctor for Norway's biathlon squads.
Poirée finished the 2005/06 season in 12th place, 511 points behind the overall winner Kati Wilhelm
Kati Wilhelm
Kati Wilhelm is a German former professional biathlete. Like most German biathletes she is also a member of the German Armed Forces with the rank of master sergeant...
. She ended in 21st place in the individual, 64 points down on Svetlana Ishmouratova
Svetlana Ishmouratova
Svetlana Irekovna Ishmouratova is a Russian biathlete. She lives in Chelyabinsk and is a soldier by profession.Ishmouratova won the gold in the women's 15 km individual contest at the 2006 Winter Olympics.- Biography :...
. She was 12th in the sprint, 190 behind Wilhelm. Her best standing was in the pursuit, where she finished the season in 9th place, 177 points behind Wilhelm, and she finished 13th in the mass start, with 90 points less than Martina Glagow
Martina Glagow
Martina "Molly" Beck , is a German biathlete. She now lives in Mittenwald in Bavaria. She was most successful in the 2002–03 season, when she was the first German to win the women's overall Biathlon World Cup...
. Norway were 4th in the relay.
Poirée was a steady shooter over the years. Her overall percentage was in the high 70% – low 80%. As with the vast majority of biathletes, her prone shoot was her best, averaging mid 80% shooting, whilst her standing shoot gradually got better, from 65% in 1999/00 to 74% in the 2005/06 season. Poirée achieved 46 podium finishes, 22 in first place, 15 in second, and 9 in third place.
Poirée was coached by Rolf Sæterdal until 2003, when he died suddenly. She was then coached by Odd Lirhus until 2006, when she retired.
Poirée won the Holmenkollen ski festival
Holmenkollen ski festival
The Holmenkollen Ski Festival is a traditional annual Nordic skiing event in Holmenkollen, Oslo, Norway. The full official name of the event is Holmenkollen FIS World Cup Nordic. It takes place in March and has been arranged every year since 1892, except for 1898 and during World War II...
biathlon competition four times with two wins each in sprint (2000, 2001) and in mass start (2000, 2004).
Olympics
Poirée competed in three Olympic games, the first in 1998 in Nagano. She has three medals, two silver and one bronze, two of them (one silver & one bronze) came in the relay (20022002 Winter Olympics
The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event that was celebrated in February 2002 in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. Approximately 2,400 athletes from 77 nations participated in 78 events in fifteen disciplines, held throughout...
& 1998), the other silver came in the individual in 2002. Her medal count, especially her solo medal count is quite poor for a biathlete of her calibre, though she did come fourth in both the sprint and the pursuit in 2002. Her 2006
2006 Winter Olympics
The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XX Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Turin, Italy from February 10, 2006, through February 26, 2006. This marked the second time Italy hosted the Olympic Winter Games, the first being the VII Olympic Winter...
results were poor, much in the same pattern as the Norwegian Olympic team on the whole. She finished 9th in the individual, 12th in the sprint, 6th in the pursuit, 18th in the mass start, and 5th in the relay (although Poirée did run a solid anchor leg).
World championships
Poirée has 11 World Championship medals, 7 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze. She won four of her gold medals in a single Championships, in OberhofOberhof, Germany
Oberhof is a town in the Schmalkalden-Meiningen district of Thuringia, Germany. It is a winter sports center and health resort. It is visited by tenfold as many tourists every year...
in 2004, this is the first time a biathlete has won four golds in a single World Championships. Her first World Championship medal was a silver in the relay in Brezno-Osrblie, Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
in 1997. She then had to wait until 2000 for her next medal. She won two golds in Holmenkollen, in the sprint and the mass start. In 2001 in Pokljuka
Pokljuka
Pokljuka is a foresty plateau at the altitude of around 1300 metres, situated partly in the municipality of Bled and partly in municipality of Bohinj in northwestern Slovenia. It is part of Triglav national park...
she won a gold in the pursuit, a silver in the individual, and a bronze in both the sprint and mass start. Her next Championships was in 2004, where she took the four golds. The one event she did not win was the individual where she finished eighth. She suffered from illness in the 2004/05 season, and came 37th in the sprint, and did not start in the pursuit. During the 2003/04 season Poirée was handed the wrong gold medal after she won Sundays 7.5 km race. She was given the medal for the 15 km event, which wasn't taking place until Tuesday.
Injuries
Poirée suffered a spate of injuries throughout her career. In the summer of 1995 she broke her wrist whilst swinging on monkey bars, then in the summer of 1997 she was jumping on a chair, fell and broke her elbow. She then broke the cast when she crashed while training on roller skis days later.She also suffers from chronic inflammation, but she has said it had got better since she gave birth. There was also the illness that drained her energy and forced her to finish the 2004/05 season early.