Having left the Austrian national team in protest two weeks ago, the coaching figure now appears in a new top position with a controversial rival.

Earlier this spring, the Austrian Ski Federation brought in German coaching legend Wolfgang Pichler to clean up and reorganize the Federation after years of internal turmoil. It turned out to be a failure. Now, the conflicts are even greater. 

Austria’s biggest star abruptly broke with the biathlon national team, and head coach Reinhard Gösweiner resigned in protest.

Read More: Open conflict in the national team: Successful coach resigns in protest

Gösweiner has now secured a new position as coach of the Belarusian biathlon team and is already conducting the first training camp with the athletes there.

Teams up with a coaching colleague

In the Belarusian team, Gösweiner will be working alongside former Russian national team coach Jurij Kaminsky. Kaminsky left Russia in March last year to become the national coach in Belarus. He has now stated that he intends to use the Belarusian team to help Russian athletes return to the World Cup. 

“Easier for me than for the guys”

Among Gösweiner’s new athletes in Belarus is Dzinara Smolskaya, who won Olympic gold in 2018 and has previously worked with Gösweiner. She praises the Austrian’s coaching abilities. 

“As many know, he has already worked with us before, and his methods worked very well for me six years ago. He is clear and feels familiar. It is also not far from the plan we had laid out in May with Roman Pavlovich Sinichenko,” Smolskaya told Sports.ru, continuing: 

“So far, the transition has been smooth; everyone has adapted well. I think it is easier for me to accept the change than for the guys. But it really doesn’t matter who the coach is. The most important thing is to put in the work.” 

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