2024-05-02 16:23:10
Biathletes Markéta Davidová and Jessica Jislová accepted the change to the position of national team coach with conflicting feelings. Norwegian Egil Gjelland left the women’s team after six years, and was replaced by Italian Luca Bormolini and Lukáš Dostál. Davidová and Jislová thanked Gjelland on Instagram and stated that they had to process the change.
“Thank you for everything, I still can’t understand how it turned out like this,” wrote Davidova, who won the gold medal at the Pokljuka 2021 World Championships under Gjelland’s guidance.
David, 27, previously said Gjelland, along with shooting coach Matt Emmons, was the main reason she finished last season. Emmons left back in March at his own request. “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,” she told Radiožurnál Sport.
The 50-year-old Gjelland has led the 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. Jislová also commented with embarrassment on the departure of the Norwegian coach.
“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.
“I was hoping that we would make it to one more Olympics together, but unfortunately, our paths are now diverging. I will undoubtedly continue in my career with everything he has taught me over the past six years, and hopefully, thanks to that, I will achieve more good results,” added Jislová .
The last season did not go well for the Czech biathletes. After 14 years, they have not been on the podium even once. 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.