World Cup
Psychological tricks and risk: Velepec makes biathletes better
Coach Uros Velepec has played a major role in the new success of the German biathletes. photo
© Sven Hoppe/dpa
Germany’s biathletes have never started the winter like this before. A lot is different under the leadership of the new national coach.
The atmosphere on the day before the start of the World Cup in Hochfilzen was brilliant. After the best start to the season in their history, things should continue as well as possible for the men in the sprint on Friday (11.30 a.m./ARD and Eurosport). The fact that Philipp Nawrath, a German, is the overall World Cup leader is also thanks to the work of 56-year-old Velepec.
“I gained the necessary self-confidence with him,” Nawrath told the German Press Agency in Austria. The 30-year-old won a World Cup race for the first time in Sweden the previous week and came second a day later. The reward: the leader’s yellow jersey, which the Bavarian would like to successfully defend. Many problems with standing shooting have spoiled Nawrath’s better results in the past. The fact that Velepec alone is responsible for the upswing would be too simple an explanation, but something has changed in the German team this summer.
Velepec and the psychological tricks
After 13 years in charge, Thuringian Mark Kirchner announced his retirement in the spring. His previous assistant Velepec took over as the new boss and was given a new assistant coach in ex-cross-country skier Jens Filbrich. New training plans and different methods brought new impetus to the team led by former world champion Benedikt Doll. “Mark left behind a very good team that was in a really good starting position,” said Nawrath: “It just needed some fine-tuning in one place or another. We’ve already done a lot of things really well.”
Velepec is an “open guy, the communication is very good,” said Justus Strelow, who also got off to a strong start in fourth place overall and was already on the podium as second in the individual in Östersund. “His speeches are very motivating. He always has a few psychological tricks up his sleeve. He does it very well,” said the Saxon. The official language in training has been English since 2022, although Velepec, who comes from Slovenia, also speaks and understands German well.
“We have to risk more, shoot faster and do everything 100 percent, otherwise we have no chance,” said Velepec himself before his debut season as head of the ski hunters. Above all, he had risk shooting practiced. So: Just don’t think, get out the projectiles quickly and rely on the experience of thousands of training shots. “You need courage, you have to have the courage. It’s not that easy at the beginning,” said Strelow: “In most cases, the risk is worth it, you just shouldn’t overdo it completely.”
What is necessary is a change away from the old security thinking, especially because other nations are showing the way. The rapid-fire performances of the Norwegians around Johannes Thingnes Bö are the benchmark. If Nawrath and Co. want to keep up, they have to appear confident. “This is the only way we can put pressure on the others,” said Strelow in the snow-covered Pillerseetal.
Velepec, the ultra triathlete
Before the winter, hardly anyone believed the men’s team would be so far ahead; victories against Bö and Co. were considered almost impossible. But Roman Rees also wore the yellow jersey after his opening triumph in the individual, and the relay team also made it onto the podium. A German in the yellow jersey will also be competing in the women’s sprint on Friday (2:25 p.m.) in Franziska Preuß. “It’s our job to make sure they can run and shoot very well,” said Velepec and added: “It’s a long job.”
The experience of the man who joined the German Ski Association in the summer of 2022 helps. Before that he was a coach in his home country and then in Ukraine for a long time. During his active time, Velepec and Kirchner competed against each other in the World Cup, but the German was much more successful with three Olympic victories. Velepec later became a triathlete and won the Ultraman in Hawaii, an extreme competition over ten kilometers of swimming, 421 kilometers of cycling and 84 kilometers of running. In the meantime, all focus has been on biathlon again. And Velepec has only one wish: “I hope that things continue like this for us.”