Michael Greis

Michael Greis is a German former biathlete, born on 18 August 1976. He first competed at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and became one of the stars of the 2006 Games in Turin, where he won the 20 km individual race ahead of the defending Olympic champion Ole Einar Bjørndalen, took gold with the German 4 x 7.5 km relay team and then won the men's 15 km event, becoming the first person to capture three gold medals at those Games. He won the individual World Cup in 2004/05 and the overall and sprint World Cups in 2006/07, and was named German sportsman of the year together with fellow biathlete Kati Wilhelm. Before the 2008/09 season a serious disagreement with head coach Frank Ullrich over his management of the team led him to train on his own, and he went on to compete at the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver.