Surprising change
Biathlon chief coach Velepec steps back – rider takes over
After another weak World Cup for the German men, Uros Velepec ends his work as a national coach. An old acquaintance takes over the office among German biathletes.
The Slovene Uros Velepec resigns as a biathlon head coach with immediate effect. The 58-year-old asked to be released from his tasks, the German Ski Association announced only two days after the end of the World Cup. The successor to Velepec is the 39-year-old Tobias Reiter, who was most recently responsible for the German men in the second-class IBU Cup. Between 2014 and 2018 he had worked for the women as a discipline coach.
Velepec took over the office of head coach from Thuringian Mark Kirchner in 2023. According to the announcement, he and the DSV sports management agreed to “use the remaining three World Cup weeks in order to make the first necessary course with a view to the upcoming Olympic season”.
“No spontaneous decision”
“This is not a spontaneous decision and only has something to do with our performance at the World Cup,” said Velepec. “Even though we all had more of course in Lenzerheide. Overall, we are currently not at the level that we had set together as a goal.”
The German biathlon team won five medals at the World Cup in Switzerland. But above all, the men’s team was left behind the expectations without a single medal-even in the World Cup season so far.
“With enough time, we would certainly be able to get out of this difficult situation together in which we are currently in ourselves,” said Velepec. “But as a head coach, I also see myself in the short and medium term. That is why I came to the conviction that a new impulse is now needed, perhaps also a new form of addressing to successfully look at the 2026 Olympic Games be.
dpa
Source: Stern
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