The new Swedish biathlon shooting coach Jonne Kähkönen is allowed to live in his native Finland and commute to Östersund for work. He now explained why he swapped his job in Italy for the new task in the north.
The former biathlon shooting coach of the Italian women’s national team Jonne Kähkönen started working for the Swedish team – as a commuter.
The Finn was granted the right to continue living in his homeland. “That could be a disadvantage for me because I have to travel, but it’s also quite easy,” he now told “Ekspressen”: “It’s ten days or two weeks a month, then I live in an apartment near the arena.”
In Sweden, the Östersund location is preparing for the new biathlon season under the leadership of head coach Johannes Lukas. After the resignation of long-time shooting coach Jean-Marc Chabloz, the new addition is now working together with Johan Hagström.
Biathlon coach tackles new tasks
“In my opinion, it is a strong team with all the necessary skills, both in the operational area and at the management level. I knew that the collaboration would be good,” said Kähkönen, explaining why he decided to move from Italy to Sweden. At the Azzurri he worked with top stars Dorothea Wierer and Lisa Vittozzi, among others.
There are “maybe a few things” from his time in Italy that he wants to bring with him to the team: “We talk quite a lot about the technical details, which is very important now during the training season, but in August/September we have to train as if we wanted to take part in competitions.”
While the shooting coaches had previously divided the athletes among themselves, the new duo will now work with all biathletes. “It can be that you find a better connection with someone, but it can also be that the connection with someone else becomes worse,” he commented on the step. The tasks will now be distributed in the best possible way.