It seemed like a happy marriage, but it soon turned into a nightmare. After several years, the biathlon World Champion and Olympic medalist finally found closure.

Gabriela Soukalová, the former Czech biathlon star, was famous not only for her performances on the tracks but also for her charisma and distinctive personality. Fans adored her, and thanks to her, biathlon experienced a massive boom in the Czech Republic. Many young female athletes wanted to ski fast just like Gabriela.

Doubts from the beginning

Outwardly, her career seemed idyllic, but reality was different. In the summer of 2014, she began a relationship with badminton player Petr Koukal, and on Friday, May 13, 2016, they secretly married in the Gothic church in Panenský Týnec.

Even on her wedding day, Gabriela wasn’t sure she was marrying the right man. Many people called her, warning that Koukal was using or deceiving her. In a documentary autobiographical film released in cinemas last year, she even said her father offered to take her away from the wedding on the way to the altar. “Five minutes before the ceremony, he said: We can still make a run for it!”

Sudden end to her career

Gabriela ended her career a year after the wedding. She could not get rid of chronic Achilles tendon overload and subsequent calf pain. Despite consulting many doctors, no one was able to help her.

Dispute over her autobiography

In spring 2018, she published her autobiography Another Gabriela Koukalová, written together with Martin Moravec. In it, she spoke about her tough beginnings in biathlon, her relationship with Petr Koukal, and her long struggle with anorexia.

Her then-husband convinced her to have the book published by his father’s publishing house. “They both basically told me that his father would donate the money earned from sales for the construction of the house we were building,” Soukalová recalled, according to Bezky.net. “But a few months ago, I found out that my father-in-law gave all that money only to Petr, so in the end, I have no claim to it,” she explained. The book brought in about CZK 2.5 million (about EUR 102.000).

The story continues below.

Divorce

In September 2020, she announced on Instagram that she and her husband had filed for divorce. By October, the marriage was officially over, and she returned to her maiden name. Half a year later, she met a new partner, with whom she is still together, and they have a four-year-old daughter, Izabela.

Documentary film

In March 2024, the feature-length documentary Gabriela Soukalová: The Truth Always Pays Off by director Petr Větrovský premiered. Besides her career and eating disorder struggles, she spoke about the wave of criticism after her book release, the divorce from Koukal, suicidal thoughts, her new partner, her daughter, and an unsuccessful attempt to return to biathlon.

For the first time, she also revealed what she went through with her ex-husband. After the divorce, she lost all the money she had saved from her successful career, which she had invested in building a CZK 25 million villa (about EUR 1 million) in Hořovice. “I left that house in just a sweatshirt and jeans and had nothing. When I came back, all the access codes had been changed, and since then, I had no entry—even though all my personal belongings were inside,” she described that difficult time, which escalated into a court case.

Settlement

After the divorce, Gabriela Soukalová and Petr Koukal divided their joint property. According to the court ruling that concluded the lengthy dispute, each took away a significant portion.

Petr Koukal became the sole owner of the modern villa overlooking the Brdy hills and received seven additional plots of land. Gabriela Soukalová, in turn, kept two properties in Bedřichov, one of which is her parents’ family home. They also fairly split two luxury loft apartments in Prague’s Modřany district, each worth more than CZK 9 million (about EUR 370.000).

Koukal also committed to paying Soukalová CZK 18,550,000 (approximately EUR 760,000) in four installments, with the last payment of CZK 4,250,000 (approximately EUR 174,000) due by the end of October 2025.

Soukalová’s career

Her best results included two silver and one bronze medal at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, as well as two gold, two silver, and two bronze medals from World Championships. She won the overall World Cup in the 2015/2016 season after a tight battle. In total, she claimed 23 World Cup victories and stood on the podium 54 times.

Are you interested in biathlon? Click HERE and read more about it.