He was part of the future of Norwegian biathlon in the early 2000s, with Junior World Championship medals and Norwegian Championship gold in relay. But illness had other plans. Instead, the talent from Oslo became a true nomad as a national team coach. Now, he’s back in Poland and responsible for their women’s team.

“The problems started with my heart during my junior years. It was about the same issue that Sivert Bakken is struggling with on the national team today,” says Tobias Torgersen, now 42 years old and dressed in Polish national team gear.

It wasn’t just the heart, but also asthma and other issues that held him back between the ages of 19 and 23.

“I tried to come back, but I never got into the same shape again. So, I went to sports school instead. My coaching career began with a private team in Lillehammer. Small budgets and low pay,” he recalls, after retiring in the spring of 2006.

“Then I got in and became responsible for the Norwegian juniors. I moved to the Swedish national team and was responsible for their youngest national team athletes as well. Among the new talents were names like Sebastian Samuelsson and the Öberg sisters,” says Torgersen to Langrenn.com.

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Because of this, Tobias has good knowledge of what the Swedish national team is up to. He worked closely with Anna Maria Nilsson, who is now the sports director for the Swedish national team. In between, he also coached in Switzerland, including their top athlete, Selina Gasparin.

“I got an offer to coach the Polish national team. Of course, it was a big difference from the junior teams in Norway and Sweden.”

His time in Poland was short this time, as none other than Ole Einar Bjørndalen called on Tobias and his friend Erik Bartlett Kulstad to help with a “mission impossible,” namely to make the Chinese national team competitive for the 2022 Beijing Olympics.

“They had nothing, a lot went through interpreters, and it was a tough task,” says Tobias Torgersen about the adventure.

The Chinese interest in fully committing to both cross-country skiing and biathlon seemed to wane as quickly as it came when the Olympic flame was extinguished in Beijing. As a result, Tobias Torgersen accepted a new offer from Poland.

“Now I’m in charge of the women’s team, which consists of six athletes. I now live in Lillehammer, and we have several training camps here. The team enjoys it here, and they usually stay at Birkebeineren Apartments. But it’s self-catering and careful control over every penny.”

Tobias is, of course, hoping that some of the athletes will perform well this winter. A few top 15 placements last season are almost like podium finishes for this team compared to the Norwegian athletes.

“They lose too much in the track, but with a clean shooting performance in a normal-distance race, it might be possible to fight for the top six, and on a perfect day, maybe the podium,” ponders the coach, who highlights Kamilla Zuk as perhaps the one with the most potential on the team.

For the coach, about half of each month is spent with the team, and the rest of the time, he is in close contact with the athletes. This is the first time Tobias is fully responsible for a World Cup team. He tries to implement what he learned in Norway, such as setting clear goals to work towards, something his former coach Knut Tore Berland drilled into the head of the promising Oslo athlete.

Norwegian Championship Medal Five Years in a Row

Tobias Torgersen won Norwegian Championship medals in relay five years in a row for Oslo and Akershus. They won silver in 2001, 2002, and 2003, before reaching the top in 2004 and 2005. The core of the team was the same during these golden years: Kristian Martinsen, Tobias Torgersen, Stian Eckhoff, and Halvard Hanevold.

Oslo and Akershus also won the Norwegian Championship relay in 2007 and 2008, but without Tobias. The strange thing is that before this fantastic decade for Oslo and Akershus, they had never won a Norwegian Championship medal in the relay.

Tobias participated in two Junior World Championships. The first was in Khanty-Mansiysk in 2001, where he finished fourth in both the sprint and individual races and won bronze in the relay. In his second Junior World Championship in Koscielisko in 2003, he didn’t reach the top after his heart problems earlier.

The big goal for the season is, of course, the Biathlon World Championships in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, also for the Polish national team. Should they take a sensational medal there, Tobias Torgersen will have exceeded all expectations.

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*Story by Kjell-Erik Kristiansen/translated by Leandro Lutz