Magdalena Neuner

Magdalena "Lena" Holzer (née Magdalena Neuner, born 9 February 1987) is a retired German professional biathlete.

She is the most successful woman of all time at Biathlon World Championships and a two-time Olympic gold medalist.

At the age of 21, she became the youngest Overall World Cup winner in the history of the International Biathlon Union (IBU).

With 34 World Cup wins, Holzer is ranked second all-time for career victories on the Biathlon World Cup tour.

She won 29 races at the biathlon Student's Cup of the German Ski Association (DSV), claiming the overall title in her respective age-group for four years in a row from 1999 to 2002.

After finishing school, Holzer joined the German Customs Administration in August 2003 to become a member in the government-supported Customs-Ski-Team (Zoll-Ski-Team).

She officially holds the rank of Erste Zollhauptwachtmeisterin (first head customs officer), although she is a full-time professional athlete with no customs obligations.

One of her team mates is alpine skiing world champion Maria Höfl-Riesch.

In December 2003, Holzer won the German Cup for 17-year-olds, which led to her appointment for the 2003–04 European Cup competition for juniors.

Holzer started biathlon when she was nine years old and won five junior world championship titles from 2004 to 2006.

With four wins at European level, Holzer qualified for the 2004 Junior/Youth World Championships in Haute Maurienne, France, where she won the sprint and relay events, as well as silver in the pursuit.

One year later at the 2005 Junior/Youth World Championships in Kontiolahti, Finland, she claimed two silver medals (pursuit and relay), and again won the sprint discipline.

With her success at junior level, Holzer at 18 years old, was considered one of Germany's biggest biathlon talents ever.

She made her World Cup debut in 2006 and won her first World Cup race in January 2007.

One month later, she claimed three gold medals in her first appearance at the Biathlon World Championships.

She has won the Overall World Cup title three times, in 2007–08, in 2009–10 and her final season in 2011–12.

In the 2007–08 season, Holzer won the Overall World Cup and once more claimed three titles at the 2008 World Championships.

Since winning three world championship gold medals in 2007, Holzer is one of her home country's most popular female athletes.

She was named German Sportswoman of the Year in 2007, 2011 and 2012.

Magdalena Holzer was born in the German alpine resort town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the second of four children of bank clerk Paul Neuner and his wife Margit.

She has an elder brother Paul, and two younger siblings—her brother Christoph and her sister Anna.

Her sister is also an aspiring biathlete who participates in junior competitions and is a member in the youth squad of the Bavarian Ski Association.

Holzer grew up in the small Bavarian village of Wallgau, approximately 15 km from Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

She started alpine skiing when she was four years old and later tried various other winter sports at her hometown ski club SC Wallgau.

At the age of 16, Holzer finished high school (Realschule) in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and decided to pursue a career in biathlon.

Her parents were reluctant, but they eventually supported her ambition to become a professional biathlete.

Holzer started biathlon when she was nine years old after she had participated in a try out course at her local ski club.

After a less successful winter in 2008–09, she participated in her first Winter Olympic Games in 2010, winning the gold medal in both the pursuit and the mass start, and silver in the sprint race.

Holzer also claimed the 2009–10 Overall World Cup title.

At the 2011 World Championships, she won three more gold medals.

At only 25 years old, Holzer retired from the sport in March 2012, citing a lack of motivation and her desire for a normal life.

In her final winter on the World Cup tour, Holzer won two more titles at the 2012 World Championships and claimed the Overall World Cup for a third time.

During her seven World Cup seasons, Holzer won 34 World Cup races and achieved 63 podium finishes.

As part of Germany's World Cup team, she won ten relay races and three mixed relay events.

During six appearances at Biathlon World Championships, Holzer claimed 17 medals: twelve gold, four silver and one bronze.

In addition, she has won seven junior world championship titles.

Holzer was known as one of the fastest cross-country skiers in biathlon.

She had been noted for her volatile shooting performances in the standing position, particularly in the early years of her career, often at the expense of better results.

Holzer has lived in the Bavarian village of Wallgau since birth.

At the age of 16, she joined the German Customs Administration to become a member of the government-funded Customs-Ski-Team.