At the end of February, coach Uros Velepec and the German Biathlon Association surprisingly announced their immediate separation. Two months later, the trainer is apparently about to switch to another bandage.
Why Uros Velepec and the DSV suddenly went separate paths in the middle of the 2024/25 biathlon season is still not known in detail. One thing is clear: it no longer fit between the two parties, according to rumors even banged. Philipp Horn spoke in a variety of ways of “differences that both sides could not clarify”. A description that allows great room for interpretation.
While the DSV already presented a successor with Tobias Reiter, the Velepec camp has not heard since the separation. But that could change soon. The journalist Sebastian Krystek reported this week on the short message platform X that the Polish association had agreed to work with the coach. Velepec should therefore look after the men’s team at least in the upcoming Olympic season.
The Polish association has not yet commented on the rumors. If these correspond to the truth, it would still be unclear how things go with Rafal Lepel. He had supervised the Polish selection last season.
Velepec: German biathletes needed new impulse
The end of the collaboration between the DSV and Velepec had hit high waves last winter. The Slovenian had asserted that the separation went out of him and explained that a new impulse was needed in order to be particularly successful with a view to Olympics.
“With enough time, we would certainly be able to get out of this difficult situation together, in which we are in. But as head coach, I also see myself as a responsibility in the short and medium term,” Velepc explained at the time.
The German biathlon men were unable to convince under Velepec last year. As 14th, Philipp Nawrath was the most successful DSV ski hunter in the overall World Cup ranking.