David? He looks very good at the shooting range, praises the Norwegian coach. He sees progress in Puskarčíková

The Norwegian coach did not want to draw bigger conclusions from the preparatory races in Sjusjön, Norway, before which the Czechs were only skiing for a week and a half. Davidová finished sixth in the sprint and eighth in the race with a mass start in the Norwegian, French and Ukrainian competition. “She was practically always in the front in a mass start. We know she is at a very high level. She looks very good at the shooting range at the moment. She can be calm before the start of the season. on the federal website.

Under his leadership, Lucie Charvátová also won medals at the 2020 World Sprint Championships and Eva Puskarčíková, who was a member of the bronze mixed relay with David last year. Last season, however, Puskarčíková also suffered in training due to health problems and did not have a certain place in the elite team. She won it in Norway. “Eva has done a lot of good work in preparation this year. It looks good. It will be interesting to follow her progress in the World Cup,” said Gjelland.

In addition to Davidová, Charvátová and Puskarčíková, Jessica Jislová and Tereza Vinklárková will also start the season in the World Championships. One test race was enough for Jislová to be nominated, she missed the other due to health problems. “She had a bit of a cold. We needed to see her in the race, and Saturday’s sprint met us. It didn’t make sense for her to start on Sunday. If your throat hurts and your cavities are clogged, it’s better to stop for a while. “you can only get worse and struggle with it longer. It’s important to be okay before the start of the season,” said the coach.

In addition to 22-year-old Vinklárková, who was fifteenth in the mass start race, he was also pleased with the performance of Tereza Voborníková, a year younger. “We have to realize that she is still a junior. When you compare her with the juniors who were at the start in Sjusjön, she was in the forefront,” he said of the competitor whose 25th place in the mass start race was the best among juniors.

In addition to individual success, it will be important how biathletes will fare as a team. At the end of last season, they were in 11th place in the Olympic rankings, the goal is to move to the tenth position securing five places at the Olympic Games. “This is very important. All the girls must be prepared to contribute to this goal. At the same time, we must try to improve our position in the Nations Cup,” said Gjelland.

The Olympic qualification closes in mid-January. Czech biathletes are losing 81 points to the tenth Swiss. The eleventh were also at the end of last season in the Nations Cup, which will start the new year from scratch.