Christian Hoffmann

Christian Hoffmann became Austria’s first Olympic champion in cross-country skiing (30 kilometres) at Salt Lake City in 2002. However, he was not awarded the victory until two years later after the original winner, Johann Mühlegg, was subsequently found guilty of doping and disqualified. Mühlegg was a German native representing Spain. In 2009, Hoffmann was also found guilty of doping and immediately retired. In 2011, he received a six-year ban, later reduced to two.

Hoffmann had surprisingly won the 50 km bronze medal at the 1998 Nagano Games and with the Austrian relays came ninth in 1998 and and an unfortunate fourth in 2002. Hoffmann won the gold medal with the relay at the 1999 World Championships. Domestically, he won seven gold, eight silver and four bronze medals. In 1998, he was awarded the Decoration of Honor for Services to the Republic of Austria.