Biathlon coach Mark Kirchner resigns
After 13 years in office, Mark Kirchner surprisingly announced his immediate departure as the German men’s biathlon head coach. “The work gave me a lot of joy until the end. But now the time has come for me to clear the way for new impulses,” said the 52-year-old on Sunday at the World Cup final in Oslo. He spoke of “33 intensive years with many emotional highlights, valuable experiences for life, a lot of interesting people, but also some disappointments”.
Kirchner’s previous assistant, Uros Velepec, will be the new men’s coach in charge. The 55-year-old Slovenian will form the coaching duo together with the former world-class cross-country skier Jens Filbrich (44). Filbrich is intended to advance skiers in the areas of running technique and athletics. The Thuringian Kirchner will remain with the German Ski Association and will coordinate and intensify the strategic development of athletes as the overarching youth trainer.
Kirchner, who became an Olympic champion three times as an active player, has worked as the men’s national coach since 2010, and for the 2018/2019 season he also assumed nominal responsibility for the German women’s team. Under his leadership, athletes such as Arnd Peiffer, Simon Schempp, Erik Lesser and Benedikt Doll matured into Olympic and world champions. At the last home World Championships in Oberhof, however, the German men were without a medal for the first time since 1976 in World Championship races.
