A familiar name will appear at the shooting range for the Swiss biathletes in the upcoming season. The 55-year-old from Germany has four Olympic gold medals and has recently coached several national teams, most recently Slovenia.

Meanwhile, there is a significant carousel of coaching changes among various national teams in biathlon.

Ricco Groß from Ruhpolding will replace Sandra Flunger, who has now been appointed as the new coach for the German biathlon team. With four Olympic gold medals and nine World Championship titles, Groß is one of the most decorated biathletes in history.

In the past two years, he has been coaching at the training center in Lenzerheide, the venue for the 2025 World Championships. Before that, Ricco Groß coached the national teams of Germany, Russia, Austria, and Slovenia.

Joining Groß is former national cross-country skier Gion-Andrea Bundi as the physical trainer. The head coach for the Swiss men’s team is Estonian Kein Einaste, who has been in the country for four years. He is married to former Swedish cross-country skier Maria Gräfnings. Ricco Groß will also receive assistance from Andreas Kuppelwieser as the shooting coach.

Lena Häcki-Groß is the daughter-in-law of the new shooting coach, but according to Langrenn.com, she primarily wishes to continue training with her former coach, Sandra Flunger. The 44-year-old coach from Austria takes over from Sverre Røiseland, who has been appointed as the new Norwegian women’s coach.

There is a real carousel of coaching changes in biathlon.

Siegfried Mazet has left Norway and returned to France, while Patrik Oberegger continues and takes responsibility for the Norwegian men.

In Sweden, Jean-Marc Chabloz has left the A-team and is replaced by Finnish Jonne Kähkönen, who comes from the same position with the Italian team.

Armin Auchentaller is stepping down as coach of the U.S. team and will take over responsibilities in Slovenia. Additionally, the super veteran Wolfgang Pichler is not retiring just yet. He will join the organization surrounding the Austrian team and leave Bulgaria, which he led to a surprising Olympic bronze this winter.

Also Read: Swiss biathlon teams for season 2026/2027

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