The scandal around the Latvian biathlon team at the World Cup in Lenzerheide has followed. As the national association announced on Wednesday, head coach Ilmar’s Bricis resigns with immediate effect. Andrejs Rastorgujevs declared his season ended.
Double bang in the Latvian biathlon association: head coach Ilmars Bricis has explained his immediate resignation according to Andrejs Rastorgujevs’ severe allegations. This was confirmed by the national association in a press release on Wednesday.
Detailed discussions were held with everyone involved in order to get an overall picture of the situation, the letter says in which a “critical moment” is mentioned for the Latvian biathlon sport. In the course of this, Bricis declared his resignation, which was accepted by the association.
The Latvian Association also explained that Rastorgujevs will end its season early after the incident in Lenzerheide and will not compete in this World Cup winter at any of the last three weekends.
Biathlon star raises serious allegations
The 36-year-old Rastorgujevs had made serious allegations against Bricis in the past few days and, among other things, claimed that the coach had beaten him and broke his finger. According to the biathlete, this argument came about because he caught the coach how he wanted to steal some of his skis.
Bricis, on the other hand, initially put another version of the events on record and claimed that not he, but a hotel employee, tried to steal the skis.
He did not deny the physical examination of Rastorgujevs, but he also represented it differently. “We didn’t go so far to beat ourselves, but we definitely fought,” said the coach that has now receded.