Biathlon: Siegfried Mazet praises his team’s exemplary team spirit
In less than two months, the Biathlon World Cup will be back on the slopes of Kontiolahti (Finland). Having finished in the top five overall last year, the Norwegians will undoubtedly once again be the men to beat in the coming year.
Playing at the top of the sport for more than thirty years, the Nordic kingdom has many strengths in its squad. Current national team coaches Egil Kristiansen and Frenchman Siegfried Mazet spoke to theIBU about the possible reasons for their side’s continued success.
“The guys love being part of this team… Egil and I build up the physical parts and the shooting. We’re always making small changes. But what counts is the time they spend working together. They want to be together,” says Siegfried Mazet. The younger players benefit from working alongside Johannes Thingnes Boe or Tarjei Boe, and they improve. They also bring a bit of fresh air and always challenge the athletes in front of them. If you’re on the train, you can go further.
This collective emulation can also be explained by a whole process put in place by the Scandinavian authorities over many seasons. “Norwegian culture means that we have a lot of cross-country skiers and biathletes. There will always be a breeding ground,” says Egil Kristiansen. In the first few years, the situation wasn’t very good because several guys like Ole Einar [Bjoerndalen] and Emil [Hegle Svendsen] were ending their careers, so we started from scratch. It took us a year or two to put in place a system that everyone understood and build something that really performed.”
And although the coaching duo did not know each other when they took over, they have managed to build a close-knit team ready to win any battle. We know it’s good to remind them of what we’ve done, but we know that the aim is to do it again, regardless of how the season went,” adds the Drômois. We have to concentrate on the next season and not on what we’ve done.
This constant questioning has even prompted the French coach to change the mentality of his protégés. My aim was for them to think like biathletes, not like cross-country skiers who shoot,” he says. They’ve changed their mindset, even if it took them a year or two to get that biathlete perspective. It’s much better that way.
Buoyed by this team spirit, the Norwegians will be in search of another rich harvest of medals and victories next year: “Team spirit is very important from the start of the preparation right through to the first competitions. I can see the guys enjoying themselves, they like being together,” admits Egil Kristiansen.
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