Czech Biathlon presents the composition of the team for the 2024/25 season

April 30, 2024

The Executive Committee of the Czech Biathlon Union (ČSB) approved the composition of the national team and coaching team for the 2024/25 season on Friday, April 26. “We felt that after an unsuccessful season, the national team needed a new impulse. And two years before the Olympic Games is the last chance to take such a step,” says the president of the ČSB Jiří Hamza. The composition of the service team and the acquisition of other members of the implementation team will be known by the end of May.

Who is leaving and coming?

At his own request, the men’s shooting coach left the Czech team Matthew Emmons. After six years, even the Norwegian will not continue with the Czech women Egil Gjelland and he says goodbye to a rich coaching career Jiří Holubec.

The new coaching duo for the women’s team will be formed by an Italian Luca Bormolini and Lukáš Dostál. To the current men’s coach Michael Malek will reconnect Ondřej Moravec. They will help them during the preparation Ales Ligaun and Zdenek Vítekwho will later be in charge of the IBU Cup team.

“We are making conceptual changes,” explains the sporting director Ondřej Rybář. “We are looking towards the future and giving opportunities to young coaches. I believe that we have managed to put together an energetic team that will work well together.”

There are 15 athletes in the broader representative selection who will apply for nomination to the World Cup or the IBU Cup. Traditionally, they will start their training in May at training camps in Nové Město na Moráva and Staré Město pod Landštejn.

Introducing new names

The most successful Czech biathlete in history Ondřej Moravec no need to introduce. He ended his sports career, during which he won nine valuable metals from the Olympic Games and the World Championships, in 2021. “After discussions with Jiří Hamza and Ondřej Rybář, I felt that there was interest in me. And I myself perceived that now was the right moment to return. A lot of work can still be done in the two preparatory periods before the Olympics,” believes the 39-year-old Moravian.

Thirty seven years old Luca Bormolini (elder brother of Thomas) went through the Italian system. After his sports career, he established himself as a coach trainer of the International Biathlon Union. At the same time, he also worked with the representative selections of Australia, South Korea and New Zealand, where he discovered Campbell Wright for the world biathlon, who will successfully represent the USA from 2023.

A thirty-one-year-old native of Nové Město in Moravia Lukáš Dostál is a former junior representative. He grew up as a coach in Letohrad. Since last season, he has also worked as an assistant with the junior team.