Mike Dixon (biathlete)

For other people named Michael Dixon, see Michael Dixon (disambiguation).
Mike Dixon
Personal information
Full name Michael Dixon
Nickname(s) Mike
Born (1962-11-21) 21 November 1962
Fort William, Scotland, United Kingdom
Residence Aviemore, Scotland,
United Kingdom
Height 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Website mikedixonolympian.co.uk
Professional information
Sport Biathlon
Cross-country skiing
Club 35 Engineer Regiment Hameln
World Cup debut 18 December 1986
Retired 20 February 2002
Olympic Games
Teams 5 (1988, 1992, 1994, 1998, 2002)
1 (1984)
Medals 0
World Championships
Teams 14 (1987, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001)
Medals 0
World Cup
Seasons 16 (1986/87–2001/02)
All podiums 0
Medal record
Men's biathlon
Representing  United Kingdom

Staff Sergeant Michael Dixon (born 21 November 1962), is a combat engineer in the British Armed Forces who has represented Great Britain at six Olympic Games in cross-country skiing and biathlon.[1] He is only the seventh athlete from any country to have competed at six Winter Games[2] and is one of fewer than fifty athletes to have competed in at least six Olympic Games.

Career

At the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, he competed as a cross-country skier, coming 60th in the 15 km[3] and 14th in the 4x10km relay. Shortly afterwards, he switched to the Biathlon for the rest of his career, competing in his first event at the Biathlon World Championships in 1987 at Lake Placid.[4]

At the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, he came 21st in the 10 km sprint, 13th in the 20 km, and 13th in the 4 x 7.5 km relay.

At the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, he came 60th in the 10 km sprint, 12th in the 20 km, and 18th in the 4 x 7.5 km relay. In the 20km race, he was one of only three competitors (including gold medallist Yevgeniy Redkin) not to miss any targets.[5]

At the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, illness forced him into 54th place in the 20 km. His team came 17th in the 4 x 7.5 km relay. He was Britain's flag bearer at these Games, as he would be for the 1998 and 2002 Games as well.

At the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, he came 47th in the 10 km sprint and 33rd in the 20 km.

At his final Olympics, the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City, he came 74th in the 10 km sprint, 79th in the 20 km, and 19th in the 4 x 7.5 km relay.[6] He was given a surprise party at Soldier Hollow in honour of his sixth appearance by his teammates and the international biathlon community.[7]

After retiring, he has been working as a commentator for Eurosport.[8]

He led his team to victory in the BBC reality show Hercules Challenge in 2005.[9]

Personal life

He is affiliated with the 35 Engineer Regiment, Hameln and the Lochaber Athletic Club.[6] He speaks English and German and enjoys photography, canoeing and mountain-marathons.[10] He is married with two children and works with junior roller skiers and biathletes in Kingussie, Scotland.[11] His son Scott is also a biathlete and is aiming to be selected for the 2018 Winter Olympics.[12] He also works as a motivational speaker and fitness instructor.

Biathlon results

All results are sourced from the International Biathlon Union.[13]

Olympic Games

Event Individual Sprint Pursuit Relay
Canada 1988 Calgary 13th 21st N/A 13th
France 1992 Albertville 12th 60th N/A 18th
Norway 1994 Lillehammer 55th — N/A 17th
Japan 1998 Nagano 33rd 47th N/A —
United States 2002 Salt Lake City 79th 74th — 19th
*Pursuit was added as an event in 2002.

World Championships

Event Individual Sprint Pursuit Mass start Team Relay
United States 1987 Lake Placid 55th 46th N/A N/A N/A 13th
Austria 1989 Feistritz 48th 56th N/A N/A — 13th
Soviet Union 1990 Minsk 12th 62nd N/A N/A — —
Finland 1991 Lahti 41st 41st N/A N/A 14th 14th
Russia 1992 Novosibirsk N/A N/A N/A N/A 9th N/A
Bulgaria 1993 Borovets 88th 85th N/A N/A 20th 21st
Canada 1994 Canmore N/A N/A N/A N/A 10th N/A
Italy 1995 Antholz-Anterselva 45th — N/A N/A 19th 17th
Germany 1996 Ruhpolding 48th 52nd N/A N/A 18th 20th
Slovakia 1997 Brezno-Osrblie 50th — — N/A — —
Slovenia 1998 Pokljuka N/A N/A 42nd N/A 14th N/A
Finland 1999 Kontiolahti 36th 80th — — N/A 16th
Norway 2000 Oslo Holmenkollen 55th — — — N/A 18th
Slovenia 2001 Pokljuka 68th 55th 55th — N/A 19th
*During Olympic seasons competitions are only held for those events not included in the Olympic program.
**The team event was added in 1989 and subsequently removed in 1998, pursuit having been added in 1997 with mass start being added in 1999.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Team GB - Official home of the British Olympic Association - London 2012 | Team GB". Olympics.org.uk. Retrieved 2012-07-03.
  2. ↑ "Great Britain's Winter Olympics Hall of Fame - 21-25". More than the games. 2008-12-08. Retrieved 2012-07-03.
  3. ↑ "Cross Country Skiing at the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Games: Men's 15 kilometres | Olympics at". Sports-reference.com. 1984-02-13. Retrieved 2012-07-03.
  4. ↑ Archived 27 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine.
  5. ↑ "Biathlon at the 1992 Albertville Winter Games: Men's 20 kilometres | Olympics at". Sports-reference.com. 1992-02-20. Retrieved 2012-07-03.
  6. 1 2 "Mike Dixon Biography and Olympic Results | Olympics at". Sports-reference.com. 1962-11-21. Retrieved 2012-07-03.
  7. ↑ "British biathlete honoured". BBC News. 17 February 2002.
  8. ↑ Gillon, Doug (24 February 2010). "Mike Dixon still has sights set on Olympic Games – at 47". Glasgow: The Herald. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
  9. ↑ "Domain name registration | Domain names | Web Hosting | 123-reg". Herculeschallenge.com. Retrieved 2012-07-03.
  10. ↑ "DIXON Michael personal data, photos". Biathlon.com.ua. Retrieved 2012-07-03.
  11. ↑ "Kingussie High School - Summer Newsletter" (PDF). kingussiehigh.highland.sch.uk. June 2010. Retrieved 2012-07-03.
  12. ↑ "Biathlon - Dixon doing all he can to succeed as a biathlete". Yahoo! Sports. 16 November 2013. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
  13. ↑ "Mike Dixon". IBU Datacenter. International Biathlon Union. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
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