Seats Fully Booked on the Coaching Carousel
Typical of an Olympic quadrennial’s end, multiple coaches are riding the carousel, with one unsurprisingly finding a new home, a couple staying put, but most still riding the horses, waiting for the off ramp to a new position.
Mazet returns to France, “My position will be in coaching”
Up front, the worst-kept secret revolved around Siegfried Mazet’s departure from Norway after ten successful years. Last fall, he emphasized, “My biathlon story is not finished. It ends now with Norway but what comes next; I expect to be with another team.” By mid-winter, France was the destination, officially confirmed as the Oslo World Cup wound down. The question remains where Mazet fits in. Two spots are open, with the retirement of shooting gurus Jean-Pierre Amat and Jean-Paul Giachino. Mazet told Nordic Magazine, “I have a good ability to adapt, so there won’t be any problem for me to adapt to one group or another, or to a different role. What’s certain it that my position will be in coaching.”
Lukas and Kulstad renew Contracts
While Mazet left the Norwegian program, two rival coaching colleagues confirmed that they are staying put. Sweden’s Johannes Lukas, after adding three Milan/Cortina medals to his team’s four-year haul of 32 Championships medals and topping it with a national record 37 podiums reupped his contract, remaining in his position for the next quadrennial. There will be one opening on his staff. Shooting Coach Jean-Marc Chabloz left after 6 years behind the World Cup scope.
His Finnish counterpart Erik Torneus-Kulstad also continues as Head Coach alongside his assistant Aku Moilanen with contract extensions for the coming four years. In the past two seasons, Finland jumped from 13th to 7th and 10th to 8th in the Women’s and Men’s Nations Cup. Suvi Minkkinen skyrocketed from 42nd to 5th in the Total Score, won two World Cup Single Mixed Relays with Tero Seppala, and claimed medals in the IBU WCH and Olympic Winter Games.
Changes coming in Germany
Major changes are in the air for Germany. Biathlon Sports Director Felix Bitterling left to head up a new IBU marketing department. Bernd Eisenbichler returns May 1, replacing Bitterling. The new management is searching for a Women’s World Cup staff after Sverre Olsbu Roeiseland left at his own request and Kristian Mehringer left the World Cup team for another position in the DSV.
Kähkönen and Romanin Leave Italy
The Italian Women’s Team is on the lookout for new staff. Jonne Kähkönen and Mirco Romanin both left their positions as season’s end. The duo played a big part in the growth and success of the women’s squad and the resurgence of Olympic Pursuit Champion Lisa Vittozzi in the four-year run-up to Milan/Cortina.
Flunger and Auchentaller Move On
Switzerland is in the market for a new Head Coach after Sandra Flunger resigned after eight years with Swiss Biathlon, admitting, “new impulses and stimuli are beneficial for both sides: for the team and for myself.” Under her leadership, Switzerland had their first women’s relay podiums, a World Cup Single Mixed Relay win, and several individual World Cup podiums.
Veteran coach Armin Auchentaller resigned as USA Head Coach after 13 years over two stints in the program. Like his colleagues from other nations, Auchentaller brought the US team to new heights including most recently Campbell Wright’s two 2025 IBU WCH medals and the USA’s first-ever World Cup Mixed Relay podium in Otepää. As he looks forward to new challenges, Auchentaller commented, “This has never been just a job to me, it has been a shared mission, a daily commitment, and a journey that challenged and shaped me in ways I will always carry forward.”
The Coaching Carousel looks pretty full right now, the coming weeks will see where this big class of experienced coaches grab the brass ring and step off into new adventures.
Photos: IBU/Manzoni, Yevenko, Nordic Focus
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