International education for biathlon coaches at the Swedish Winter Sports Research Centre
The Swedish Winter Sports Research Centre – NVC – received ten biathlon coaches from as many countries, they are taking a coach education at the highest level. The International Biathlon Union – IBU – arranges the training.
"This is the first time that IBU conducts a coach education at the highest level (level 3)," says Marko Laaksonen, professor at Mid Sweden University, who organised the training camp at NVC.
The training started last autumn with a camp in Norway, this is the second training camp. The training will end with a third camp later in the year. Among the teachers on the programme are well-known names such as Sweden's national team coach in biathlon Ola Ravald and Trond Nystad, and Per Øyvind Torvik from Norway.
On site in NVC's gym, the participants got to try an exercise that shows the strength of the lower abdominal muscles.
The participants are 10 elite coaches from about the same number of nations, such as the Czech Republic, Canada and Finland; they have assignments at junior or developing country level, some also work with the national team in their country.
"This meeting is a lot about coaching and optimising biathlon performance, but also monitoring training. The practical part focuses mainly on ski technology, where our lab facilities come in handy," says Marko Laaksonen.