Tobias Torgersen last week signed a one-year contract to become the Head Coach for Poland’s Women’s Team, as they prepare for the upcoming Pyeongchang Olympic Winter Games. He replaces Adam Kolodziejczyk who resigned in late February after working with the team since 2011.

Successful Athlete and Coach

The 34-year-old Torgersen, a familiar face in biathlon for many years won a Bronze medal in the relay at the 2001 IBU Junior World Championships in Khanty Mansiysk. He also finished fourth in the sprint, behind Gold medalist Andi Birnbacher, but ahead of future stars Lowell Bailey, Michael Rösch, and Ondřej Moravec. After a less successful senior career, he moved to the coaching ranks, working with club teams in Oslo and Lillehammer, as well as in Switzerland. Most recently, he coached the Swedish Junior Team that has been quite successful, with athletes like sisters Elvira and Hanna Öberg and Sebastian Samuelsson.

Positive Attitude

Polish Biathlon President Dagmara Gerasimuk commented in a radio interview last week, “Tobias Torgersen gives faith that we will have a good preparation (for Pyeongchang); his appointment has been met very positively by our athletes.”

Focus on Women’s Team; Medal Potential Torgersen’s hiring reflects a strategy change for Poland, which is eligible for a five-woman team in Pyeongchang, but is in the wild-card category on the men’s side with the possibility of two spots. Accordingly, the federation is focusing heavily on the women’s team that has won four IBU WCH medals in recent years, plus was 4th in the relay at the 2016 IBU WCH. That team of seven includes Krystyna Guzik, Magdalena Gwizdoń, Monika Hojnisz, Kinga Mitoraj, Kamila Żuk, Anna Mąka and Weronika Nowakowska who is returning from maternity leave.

The men’s team with Grzegorz Guzik, Mateusz Janik, Lukasz Szczurek, Rafal Penar and Andrzej Nedza-Kubiniec will now be coached by Nikolai Panitkin, who previously was the men’s coach in 2011-12 and most recently worked with as Gwizdoń's personal coach.