Biathlon 2018 - 2019 Discussion Thread

[Werloc 3,127]

Well, that's an interesting character

 

Yeah,coming back to the Czech team would probably be tough. Lithuania says hello we would like to have a women's relay again.

[hckošice 13,265]

2 minutes ago, Werloc said:

we would like to have a women's relay again.

 

maybe we can join forces together here

[Werloc 3,127]

2 minutes ago, hckosice said:

 

maybe we can join forces together here

I don't know if our number 1 is more reliable than Poliakova

 

 

[heywoodu 13,560]

10 hours ago, Olympian1010 said:

Thanks for the recap. I’d love to see India at the IBU Cup too. I know Sri Lanka attempted to enter a skier at the Asian Games, but they wouldn’t let them. Argentina and Chile have unentered teams too. 

Argentina and Chile have had biathletes for quite some time though, the Sri Lankan guy didn't seem to have a single bit of experience in it  That mostly seemed like someone who wanted to enter as many sports as possible in his career

[heywoodu 13,560]

6 hours ago, hckosice said:

 

Okay, so where to start...

 

Basically she wrote that Veronika Vitková is the worst ever possible team mate you can have in a team, Vitkova is by her words a strongly negative and bad person. for example she talks about other people behind their back etc.., she thought (Vitkova) that she was still/always the biggest star and couldn´t swallow the fact that Gabriela became the bigger star so she started bullying Gabriela and forced the whole team to join in this war against Gabi...for example to not speak with her, sit around table the way Gabriela couldn´t find a place and had to eat alone, etc... 

Then she apparently accused the whole bunch of coaches, from her first coach to be the cause of her health problems during her younger ages and then the national team coaches Rybář and Vítek to cause her the problems with her legs because of bad trainings and skiing methods they were forcing her to parctice and because of that she had to miss the whole season...plus a lot of bullying things from the NT, federation etc...in shortly a typical bitchfights..you can find everything, you just have to buy her book  

 

There allso a chapter about her younger ages, that she lost her virginity at 15 with some Heavy Metal musician or something, I don´t remember very well. Then she admitted her problems with Anorexia and Bulimia because of her coach saying her, you are fat. and she also speaks that to have a quick sex is the best way to prepare a race a couple of hours before the start, and it helped her a lot, it was like a sort of meditation for her. I´m not joking  

 

some links in Czech:

 

https://www.idnes.cz/sport/biatlon/gabriela-koukalova-versus-veronika-vitkova-kniha-jina.A180412_132136_biatlon_mt2

https://www.krajskelisty.cz/praha/19373-holky-se-tvari-sladce-a-pak-vas-za-zady-podrazi-gabina-vs-verca-divci-valka-v-biatlonu-kdo-fandi-vitkove.htm

http://www.tvnoviny.sk/sport/1915884_biatlonistka-koukalova-v-knihe-opisala-pikantnosti-zo-sukromia-prvy-sex-aj-striptiz-v-bare

I thought she said she was 12, including saying she was 'very happy' with it  Then again, I depended entirely on Google Translate  

 

I do remember reading about her coach calling her a 'fat pig', that's just sick. Say whatever you want about her, but when you're a coach and you're treating your athletes (she was a teenager at that time I believe?) that way, you are just a seriously fucked up human being.

[Olympian1010 7,477]

16 minutes ago, heywoodu said:

Argentina and Chile have had biathletes for quite some time though, the Sri Lankan guy didn't seem to have a single bit of experience in it  That mostly seemed like someone who wanted to enter as many sports as possible in his career

OG Pita Taufatofua

[heywoodu 13,560]

1 minute ago, Olympian1010 said:

OG Pita Taufatofua

Just a little less extremely marketable  

[hckošice 13,265]

1 hour ago, heywoodu said:

I thought she said she was 12, including saying she was 'very happy' with it  Then again, I depended entirely on Google Translate  

 

I do remember reading about her coach calling her a 'fat pig', that's just sick. Say whatever you want about her, but when you're a coach and you're treating your athletes (she was a teenager at that time I believe?) that way, you are just a seriously fucked up human being.

 

No, the guy was 12 years older.

 

Absolutely.

[heywoodu 13,560]

13 minutes ago, hckosice said:

 

No, the guy was 12 years older.

 

Absolutely.

Oh the troubles of Google Translate

 

 

[RobtheAggie 340]

A few more interesting tidbits of information:

 

US is rebuilding the biathlon and nordic skiing facility in Lake Placid, along with hiring recently retired Tim Burke and Lowell Bailey to help with the National Teams.  In addition the most interesting piece from this article was this tidbit - "the sport’s global leaders are warming up to the idea of a World Cup mini-tour that might include Lake Placid, Utah and Canmore, Alberta."

 

Claire Egan is not going to retire.  She was so frustrated after the last Olympics, that she almost retired and eventually agreed to one additional season.  She has now decided to come back for more.

 

And one buried in this article about Biathlon in Montana - Head Coach Rob Rosser served 21 years in the army and was an Olympian in the biathlon in 1998. Olympic coach Andy Liebner, a veteran based out of Michigan who coaches Mexico and Peru’s biathletes, also helps with the training.

Who knew that Peru had a biathlon team.  I had guessed that Mexico did, but Peru, that makes two is South America!  

 

EDIT - Actually there are quite a few countries that have a biathlon federation  - see this list.  https://www.biathlonworld.com/about-ibu/member-federations/