Biathlon: a revolution in the making
Biathlon Norway has decided to turn over a new leaf. And not by half. Revealed by NRK on the sidelines of the national championships, the new organisation of the national teams involves an almost complete overhaul of the coaching staff.
Gone are the established figures. Siegfried Mazet, Egil Kristiansen, Sverre Huber Kaas and sporting director Per Arne Botnan are all leaving. A generation of coaches who have accompanied Norway’s dominance in recent years. “ Significant changes”, sums up VG, while NTB stresses a rare fact: only one member of the old staff remains in post.
Siegfried Mazet (FRA) – Thibaut/NordicFocus
That man is Patrick Oberegger. But he’s changing dimension. Previously in charge of the women’s team, he is now taking over the reins of the men’s team. It’s a pivotal choice, and one that the public television channel’s editorial team see as a compromise between continuity and renewal. The federation, through its general secretary Emilie Nordskar, insists on this line: building duos capable of combining skills and profiles.
Patrick Oberegger will be supported by Anders Oeverby. Here again, the logic is clear and widely commented on in the media: combine the experience of the former – particularly in shooting – with the more recent energy of the latter. On NRK, Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen fully endorses this choice: “Patrick has the experience and masters the shot, while Anders brings a new physical energy. The Norwegian goes even further, revealing that the athletes themselves pushed internally to keep Oberegger: “We did everything we could to keep him.
On the women’s side, the move is just as structuring. Sverre Olsbu Roeiseland, who recently took up a post with Germany, is returning to the country to take charge of the national team. His profile, rich in international experience, has been unanimously acclaimed. He will be accompanied by Marthe Kristoffersen, in a pairing that NRK describes as “new and exciting”.
But beyond the technical choices, it is the human dimension of this transition that has left its mark. Also on NRK, Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold could not hold back her tears as she spoke of the departure of the outgoing staff. “ I shared a large part of my life with them”, she confided, reminding us that these coaches were much more than just simple supervisors. It was an emotion that was widely reported in the media, a symbol of a group that has grown together over the years.
Johannes Dale-Skjevdal (NOR) – Thibaut/NordicFocus
Johannes Dale-Skjevdal strikes a similar tone, describing it as a moment “both sad and exciting”, torn between attachment to the past and curiosity about the future.
In their analyses, our Scandinavian colleagues ultimately converge on the same reading. Yes, the break is clear. Yes, the change is profound. But it is also well thought out, structured, almost anticipated. Norway is not suffering the end of a cycle: it is organising it.
It now remains to be seen whether this new team will be able to extend Norway’s hegemony on the world circuit.
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