Biography
She grew up in Großeglsee near Dietramszell. Disl turned to skiing as a child. At the age of 11, in 1981, she joined the Moosham Ski Club as a cross-country skier, where she remained a member until 2001. In the 1986/87 winter season she switched to the discipline of biathlon, in which cross-country skiing is combined with the sport of target shooting. After graduating from school, Disl initially completed training as a bank clerk from 1987 to 1990, then training with the police. In 1988, Disl won the European Junior Biathlon Cup. In 1989 she took second place at the German Biathlon Championships. In 1990 she joined the Federal Border Guard, where she worked as police chief. Meanwhile, in 1990, she contributed to her team's gold medal win at the Junior World Championships in Finland at the Junior Alpine Cup.
For the 1990/91 winter season, Disl joined the German national team, with whom she won the sprint at the World Cup in Les Saisies, France. At the German Championships she took first place on Arber. In the winter of 1991/92, Disl delivered her second World Cup victory in Ruhpolding. In Alberville she won the silver medal. At the World Championships in Novosibirsk she won the gold medal with the German team. After a fourth place in 1993 and a bronze medal in 1994, Disl celebrated her greatest successes to date in 1995. At the World Championships in Antholz she won one gold and three silver medals. At the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, she won the gold medal in the German team and the bronze medal in the individual race. Further successes followed, such as her victory at the 1999 World Cup in Hochfilzen or the gold medal for the German team at the 1999 World Championships in Kontiolahti.
In 2001 she won two silver medals at the World Championships in Bled-Pokljuka and in 2002 at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, in addition to a silver, she won her second Olympic gold medal in the German team. At the Biathlon World Championships in Hochfilzen, Austria, in March 2005, Disl won two gold medals for the German Ski Association and her first two individual titles as world champion. The double victory is generally viewed as the crowning achievement of the biathlon athlete's illustrious career. At the "Bambi" awards in December 2005, Uschi Disl was awarded the golden deer in the "Sport" category. She was also voted "Sportswoman of the Year 2005". In 2006 she was awarded the Bavarian Order of Merit. On March 23, 2006, Disl announced her withdrawal from the Biathlon World Cup. The mass start race on March 26, 2006 at Holmenkollen in Oslo was her last World Cup start; she ended her career fifth in the overall World Cup.
Uschi Disl lives with her partner Hubert Biedner in Hintertux in the Zillertal.
