Biathlon coach Pichler to build up Swedish Women’s Nordic Combined team
Nov 07, 2019·Nordic Combined
As the Swedish TV station SVT reports, the Swedish Olympic Committee employed veteran biathlon coach Wolfgang Pichler (64) to develop talents in winter sports. Pichler is part of a working group called "Olympisk Offensiv” together with former Cross-Country national team manager Rikard Grip, among others.
One of Pichler’s big goals: to build up a Swedish Women’s Nordic Combined team.
Pichler, who quit his job as Swedish Biathlon coach after the last season looks confidently at this new challenge: “If we start now, we can do something. We have a lot of good cross-country skiers in Sweden, a big tradition, why should we not be able to find some girls who will do [Nordic Combined]. These will be easy medals.”
“If we start now, we have seven years of time [until the Olympic Games Milano-Cortina]. We have a lot of knowledge in cross-country and also some in ski jumping. We have to find girls who are eight to ten years old now. There is a good chance.”
While Pichler and the Swedish Biathlon team celebrated great results in past years, Sweden did not have any elite Nordic Combined athletes in the recent past.
Find the original article here (in Swedish)
https://www.svt.se/sport/vintersport/svenskt-lag-i-nordisk-kombination-till-os-2026
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