Poland appoints new biathlon coach

WARSAW－The Polish Biathlon Association announced on Saturday that Adam Kolodziejczyk has been appointed coach of the country's men's and women's biathlon teams, after Michael Greis and Anders Bratli resigned from their jobs.

"The board approved changes in the training staff of the Polish national teams for next season. The current team coaches, Michael Greis and Anders Bratli, resigned from their positions. Their duties will be taken over by Adam Kolodziejczyk," a statement on the association's official website read.

Kolodziejczyk's main goal is to secure qualification for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

"Taking over the national team one year before the Olympics is certainly quite a challenge. I will talk to the athletes. I have to work on the development of the entire training plan and the process of building the training staff," Kolodziejczyk said.

Greis took charge of the Polish women's team in May 2019. He led the team to two gold medals at the European championships, but weak individual performances at top-level competitions prompted the German's exit.

"Looking honestly at our results, it turned out that we were not able to live up to our own expectations," Greis said.

"We spent a very intense time together, full of emotions. I appreciate the girls' contribution to our cooperation and I wish them all the best."

Norwegian Bratli had been working with the men's squad since spring 2020, and also decided to depart with his team's chances of qualifying for Beijing 2022 looking slim. "As a coach, I take full responsibility for the team's performance, and this season wasn't good enough," Bratli said.

"I thank the fans for their support and apologize to them for not meeting their expectations. I did my best to make progress, but at the moment it turned out to be too little.

"I would like to thank the Polish Biathlon Association for the opportunity to work with the team."

Xinhua