After a bad season comes disagreements. Czech biathlon was dominated by a sultry atmosphere when Markéta Davidová and Jessica Jislova expressed their disappointment with the announced changes in the coaching team. The head of the union Jiří Hamza subsequently did not want to comment on their comments at all.
Norwegian Egil Gjelland left the women’s national team after six years, and was replaced by Italian Luca Bormolini and Lukáš Dostál. Davidová and Jislová thanked the popular Norwegian coach via Instagram and at the same time let it be known that they had to process the change.
“This is a very demanding biathlon change for me, which I’m still trying to process somehow. Egil came at a time when I didn’t even like biathlon anymore and I wasn’t sure if it was even worth continuing. He has a great merit not only for what I am a biathlete after those years together, but also what kind of person I am,” wrote Jislová.
David said that she did not understand the change. She stated earlier that if it weren’t for Gjelland and shooting coach Matt Emmons, she wouldn’t have finished last season at all.
“I lost it (the taste) many times this year and I can say that if Matt and Egil weren’t here, I definitely wouldn’t have finished the season this year,” said the competitor who won a gold medal at the Pokljuka 2021 World Championships under Gjelland’s guidance for Radiožurnál Sport.
The fans are now worried about her further work in the national team, especially when the twenty-seven-year-old competitor has been indicating for many years that a biathlon career is not an absolute priority for her in the future.
At the same time, the first public reaction of the president of the union, Jiří Hamza, added fuel to the fire.
“I have nothing to say about it. I don’t have to confess to anyone and spread the word. Do you think the football chairman is asking Patrik Schick what kind of coach he should choose? The national team was informed about the changes,” he said in a short interview for Isport.cz.
The 50-year-old Gjelland has led the female biathletes since 2018, when he replaced Zdenek Vítek. He also took part in the bronze medals of Lucie Charvátová and the mixed relay at the WC in Anterselva.
But the last season did not go well for the Czech biathletes. After 14 years, they have not been on the podium even once.
The new coach Bormolini, the older brother of the former Italian representative Thomas, who is the partner of the former biathlete Eva Puskarčíková, previously worked as a coach trainer of the International Biathlon Union. In parallel, he also worked with the national teams of Australia, South Korea and New Zealand.
“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 make such a move,” said the president of the union, Jiří Hamza, on the union’s website.
