Frode Andresen

Born on 9 September 1973 in Rotterdam, Netherlands, Frode Andresen is a Norwegian former biathlete and a cross-country skier. He could never be mistaken on the race track due to his towering height and very fast skiing. Andresen's parents moved a lot during his childhood. He lived in very different places each year - Cape Town, South Africa; Laos, Nigeria; and Nairobi, Kenya. Eventually the family settled in Norway, when young Frode was 4 years old. At the age of 5 he began cross-country and when he was 12, biathlon caught his eye. His first year in biathlon was 1985 and the World Cup debut happened on 6 March 1993. Frode won his first medal, a gold with the relay at the 1995 World Championships in Ruhpolding. And he finished 10th in the sprint. Through out his entire career, Andresen's favorite discipline and his best individual results were exactly in the 10 km sprint. during the 1997-1998 season, on 10 January 1998 in Ruhpolding, Frode won his first World Cup race - the sprint. A month later at the 1998 Nagano Olympics, he was on the podium, receiving the silver medal in the same discipline. Andresen participated in only one other event at the Olympics - the 20 km Individual, where placed 19th. At the 1999 World Championships in Kontiolahti, Frode Andresen won 2 bronze medals - in the sprint and the relay. at the end of the 1998-1999 season, on 6 March 1999 in Valcartier, Andresen won the 12.5 km pursuit. This was his victory in another individual biathlon race rather than the sprint. During the 1999-2000 season, Frode made 6 wins - 4 in the sprint and 2 in the pursuit. At the 2000 World Championships in Holmenkollen, he won 2 medals - a gold in the sprint and a silver with the relay team. The season concluded at the number 6 in the overall. The 2000-2001 season was marked with his 3 victories - 2 in the sprint and one in the pursuit. The 2001 World Championships and those in 2002 held in Pokljuka and respectfully in Holmenkollen brought him another 2 bronze medal with the relay. As for his positioning in the other disciplines he was 8th in the sprint, 6th in the pursuit and 16th in the mass start. Andresen finished 3rd in the overall. At the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics, Frode won the gold medal with the relay and finished 7th in the Individual, 8th in the sprint and 14th in the pursuit. After the Games at the beginning of the new season 2002-2003, he won the second race from the World Cup schedule - the sprint in Östersund. At the 2003 World Championships in Khanty-Mansyisk, Andresen didn't win any medal. He finished 26th in the Individual, 6th in the sprint, 13th in the pursuit, 21st in the mass start and 4th in the relay. His last World Cup victories occurred in 2005-2006 and they were all a triple triumph in the 10 km sprint race - Hochfilzen, Ruhpolding and Antholz-Anterselva. Last but not least at the 2006 Olympics in Turin, his last in his great career, Frode Andresen won a bronze in the sprint. He shared the podium with the gold medalist Sven Fischer and the silver medalist, his teammate Halvard Hanevold. The next year, 2007 Andresen won 2 medals at the World Championships in Antholz-Anterselva - a silver in the relay and a bronze in the mixed relay. He made his best career finish in the 20 km Individual - 4th and another superb position 6th in the mass start. Frode's last competition at the World Cup was the sprint in Hochfilzen on 15 December 2011. Andresen is a longtime partner of fellow teammate Gunn Margit Andreassen. Together they are proud parents of three sons - David born in 2004, Nicolas born in 2008 and Elias born in 2010. He has a degree in economics and often monitors the stock market.