Biathlon Jonne Kähkönen was disappointed in the biathlon line and said that the athletes were surprised by the news: “It was pretty quiet”

Kontiolahti

Jonne Kähkönen The voice is disappointing when he talks about his decision as the head coach of Finnish biathletes.

Kähkönen tells HS that he will not apply for an extension of his four-year head coaching session this spring.

“I feel like I can’t do enough coaching. Me and the other national team coaches would like to coach more but the system is not okay. It will not succeed in the long run. The head coach has a responsibility, but he has little influence, ”says 48-year-old Kähkönen.

Kähkönen says that he has already decided to continue in November. He only wants to tell the public about it now, but in good time before the start of next season.

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“I hope my decision sparks a debate on where to go now.”

He told the athletes of the Finnish national team about his decision on Tuesday in Kontiolahti, where the World Cup will continue from Thursday to Sunday after the Beijing Olympics.

“I announced that I would be happy to coach each of you but in the current situation it is impossible. It was pretty quiet. I wanted to talk to athletes well in advance so it won’t come as a surprise. The table must be clean, whoever goes on, ”says Kähkönen.

Mikkeli background Kähkönen has been coaching the national team since 2018.

Pesti is different: Kähkönen was also Finland’s head coach in 2006–2010. From 2010 to 2018, she coached the U.S. National Women’s Team.

The current agreement with the Finnish Biathlon Association expires in May. After that, the continuation of the coaching career is open, although Kähkönen says that he has already received two inquiries from elsewhere.

“I have no other plans yet. It is possible that I will go abroad. The last four years have been tight. It has taken juices in quite a way. I don’t feel like I’ve had any successes, it’s eating up my own resources. ”

What Does Kähkönen then mean when he says that the current coaching system is not working or has failed?

Many biathletes like men’s top name Tero Seppälä and the Youth World Championship Medalist Otto Inveniushave longed for more national team exercises.

At the same time, however, athletes also have personal coaches. For example, Seppälä is coached by a Russian but impressive in Kontiolahti Anatoly Hovantsev and British from Invenius Adam Adamson.

The national team is a lot together in the winter, when it has 60-70 joint training days. Other times, athletes train on their own, who’s anywhere.

“There are very few training days together. The realism is that the athlete has a program from their own coach in the winter that is overseen by the national team coaches. Then the head coach is not the coach, but the manager and team leader. In practice, the programs of Anatol and the national team do not differ in any way, ”says Kähkönen.

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“The alarm bells need to start ringing. We need to get to the coaching center model, which requires hired and trained regional coaches. ”

In biathlon, should we then give up the head coach and switch to a kind of coaching leadership model, such as in athletics?

“It’s one scenario that could work and increase the responsibility of our own coaches. Then the coach needs to be present, not just put a message. The athlete always trains better when the coach is involved. ”

If will continue with the head coach model, according to Kähkönen, the activities of the national team must be strongly reformed.

“The alarm bells need to start ringing. One needs to get into the coaching center model, which requires hired and trained regional coaches. If a young person has a bad year, he or she would have the opportunity to develop in the same template. ”

Currently, biathlon coaching is concentrated in Vuokatti and Kontiolahti. Kähkönen also needs coaching in the Helsinki metropolitan area in Tuusula, Lahti, Seinäjoki and Rovaniemi.

“Those would go a long way. That would be the ideal situation, as it was before district and regional coaching. ”

Kähkönen says that the discussion on reforming the coaching system has not progressed in the sports federation as he would have liked.

Why hasn’t the coaching of the national team been listened to?

“A really good question. The Finnish sports system should look critically in the mirror. It takes too long to make decisions about new things. It is a question of a system. We are in a hurry to make the bike spin. ”

Head coach of cross-country skiing Teemu Pasanen has raised the same themes as Kähkönen. He also wants big changes.

“The situation is the same in cross-country skiing, even though there were medals in Beijing, and in the youth championships in biathlon. Progress has been too slow. ”

At the World Youth Championships in the United States last week, Finns received three personal medals.

Puijon Ski Association Arttu Heikkinen won gold and bronze in under-19s. Otto Invenius of Soisalo Biathlon was at the World Championship silver at the age of 22. There were also three medals at the European Youth Championships.

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“We’ve reached the finish line, but that’s not enough”

“Every now and then we get success, but now there is a rush to line things up for 8 to 10 years. When was the last time you did well as a team? ” Kähkönen asks.

Kähkönen has discussed matters with the top group of the Top Sports Unit Olli-Pekka Kärkkäinen with.

“The good signal was that he understood that things would not go ahead in biathlon, even though Tero Seppälä has risen to the medal standings. We have reached the finish line, but that is not enough, ”says Kähkönen.

Tero Seppälä was ninth best Finn at the Beijing Olympics. For head coach Kähkönen, the Olympics were a little disappointing.

“Tero kept up his level and had a realistic chance at the medal. Many had a health problem, it was clear in the results. ”

Kaisa Mäkäräinen thought in his farewell interview in biathlon at HS in March 2020 that it would have been interesting if a French biathlon coach Siegfried Mazet or another coach of his level would have come to Finland as a coach.

Read more: A tacit career decision

Would it be time for a foreign head coach now?

“It could bring a boost if you were a foreigner. He could bring in a medal but what about after that? We should find successors and a Finnish coach to get the system ahead and not just think about quick wins, ”says Kähkönen.

Coaching system milling and renovation is often also a question of money. Or is it?

“The easy answer is that yes. When I became head coach, we were in the first two years with the national team in Kontiolahti. It requires a lot of resources and commitment. ”

Kähkönen emphasizes that he did not make his decision on a whim. To the President of the Finnish Biathlon Association To Kalle Lähdesmäki he reported on the matter in November.

“I don’t see enough steps forward in my job as head coach. I hope that my decision will spark a debate on where to go now. ”

Read more: Arttu Heikkinen won the under-19 world championship sovereignly – Divide to two and a half minutes

Read more: Otto Invenius grabbed silver in the youth World Championships

Read more: In the Seppälä family, biathlon lasts from father to son – “There must be bold ways to move forward”

Read more: Otto Invenius won rare value medals for Finland and sharply criticizes the national team: “Power and strength are needed”