Stina Nilsson ends her biathlon career.
Now shooting coach Jean-Marc Chabloz reveals the conversation with her – and the reason for the decision.
– It weighed on her, he says.
It was hugely noticed when Stina Nilsson suddenly chose to leave cross-country skiing for a venture into biathlon. In total, it was four years where Nilsson fought to establish himself in the national team and in the world elite, but after two years where the development curve went straight up, it became a disappointment during the last winters.
Leaving biathlon
After Nilsson reached the World Cup already in her first season, she was mostly completely poked during the just ended season. She has instead had to focus on competing in the IBU Cup, and she did not get a place either in last year’s Olympics, or in this year’s WC. And on Tuesday came the news that Nilsson chooses to end the investment, to start competing in long races instead.
For many in biathlon, the news comes as a big surprise. And for Jean-Marc Chabloz, the national biathlon team’s shooting coach, who has become a big profile with his analyzes on television directly after all the shooting during competitions, the decision was perhaps extra heavy. He joined the national team at the same time as Nilsson four years ago, and during the first seasons they worked very closely together, when Chabloz had the task of making Nilsson competitive on the fence.
“It weighed on her”
Now Chabloz reveals that he made a real effort to persuade Nilsson to stay in the sport, but it was in vain.
– She told me she had something to tell me, and that I wouldn’t like it. When she said that, I tried to persuade her for two minutes, but I quickly felt that she had already made up her mind, and had thought it through carefully and weighed both the pros and cons, says Chabloz.
Chabloz also says that Nilsson finally got tired of the great criticism and the many writers about her.
– I spoke to her when it was the World Cup in Holmenkollen, and she said then that it was getting difficult for her, something I understand, says Chabloz, and continues:
– She found it more and more difficult to put the criticism aside, when she had not dealt with it before. It weighed on her, and she said to me: If I continue, then it’s a year, and if I don’t get to go to the WC in Lenzerheide next year, then I’ll stop.
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