Jonne Kähkönen will not continue as the head coach of the biathlon national team

The head coach of the biathlon team Jonne Kähkönen, 48, the measure was full. He does not want to continue at the helm of Finland after this period, when the current agreement expires.

– One big thing is when personal trainers are in a big role, so I don’t get to coach. I can’t do the work that should be done, Kähkönen says.

Kähkönen started in 2018 and signed a two-year extension in 2020. The blue-and-white crew was completely washed in the early years. Kaisa Mäkäräinen depends on success.

Over the past and especially this season, others have also reached the top ten: Tero Seppälä, Olli Hiidensalo and Mari Eder.

– The piece went on. This should continue, but I feel that in this wash and with this title it is not possible.

President of the Biathlon Association Tango King Kalle Lähdesmäki polleana presented to the media on Wednesday in Kontiolahti how Finland is ranked 12th and 14th in the World Cup.

– There should be no chin up and ruffle that a result has been made. Now we should see a continuum of how the next four years and the next eight years will be done with the work that young people are making a profit.

Finland did well in this season’s World Championships for young people, but it is not a single blow. Medals also came a couple of years ago.

Like a nurse

Kähkönen is the only full-time coach of the Biathlon Association. Your assistant Aku Moilanen is half day.

– For the last two years of the Korona period, I have also been responsible for health care when the national team does not have a doctor, Kähkönen says.

– When I look at who I’m fighting, there’s no chance. Competitors have three to five full-time coaches, and our four-man maintenance against Norway’s eight or twelve men, he continues.

In 2020, for example, the head coach received a lot of public criticism when Finland dived into the World Cup and the World Cup in Antholz.

– It didn’t affect my decision at all. There are always instructors and advisors, it’s part of the sport, he acknowledges.

– I have been involved in the World Cup since 2002. I have coached medalists and point athletes from quite mediocre talents. It says that my emphasis works well with different types of athletes, Kähkönen continues.

The most concrete example of this is Susan Dunkleen taking the World Cup medalist. The Yankee is probably more modest in his basic talent than any of Finland’s current national team women. Kähkönen coached behind the wreck in 2010–18.

– If you brutally reduce when biathlon became a big sport in the world, Finland fell off the top. We have had Paavo Puurunen, Vesa Hietelahti, Sanna-Leena Perunka and Kaisa Mäkäräinen – ie individuals who would have succeeded in any case.

Like a team leader

Let’s go back to Kähkönen’s attention to the fact that he is not allowed to coach. That means he finds the chances of influencing his athletes too small.

The title of national team head coach could be the team leader, as Kähkönen’s job description includes jobs that the team leader of the Lions Mika Kortelainen does.

– Roughly calculated, the last two years we have had 60-70 camp days per season. Those days are by no means enough for us to have collective development.

The same trend is in the cross-country team.

– The current model imposes a terrible responsibility on personal coaches and athletes. The question is, is that enough for us? Or should one think about the structure, that there is a sustainable allied-powered base, the Lahti pilot asks and answers himself.

– I think there should be a centralized coaching center that coaches and athletes trust. In biathlon, activities should be concentrated here in the Joensuu region. An athlete should not have too many commanders at the same time. Each coach coaches with their own personality, so there are differences in nuances in coaching.

Windy ball

The trust management of the Finnish Biathlon Association has been retired for many years. Boys who have bowed to gentlemen have been hired for a few operational activities.

– Although it is said in certain speeches that there is a big union. We can’t be.

In the 2010s, the helm of Finland was run by as many as six different head coaches. About the men of a tough CV Marko Laaksonen (2014–16) and Antti Leppävuori (2016–18) measure was met in the same way as in Kähkönen.

– For these four years, I have raised things on the wallpaper, which should be the meat of young people in the World Cup group. But when there is no system, nothing happens. And this is not facilitated by the fact that the head coach has changed frequently.

Kähkönen highlights the example of the union’s intransigence that happened last summer.

– It was said that one high-altitude training camp in Europe should be left out. I did not accept it. I organized a fundraising dinner in Lahti to be able to hold that camp. Such thinking outside the box is needed, and hands are not immediately raised.

So what?

Kähkönen describes feeling frustrated.

– The project was interrupted. In four years, things have gotten to their gangs. It’s easy for a follower to start making a profit. For example, Tero can win the World Cup at any time.

It is hard to imagine that in the current operating environment, Kähkönen will be succeeded by a top player in Finland.

– What worries me most is that we are looking for a Rainmaker. It has been said that a shooting coaching guru is being taken from Norway. It may bring a momentary spike, but now the system should be made such that young people forge four years from now.