The decision, announced by the Polish Biathlon Association on Wednesday, follows a series of uninspiring performances by Polish biathletes, both men and women, this season, including their disastrous showing at the recently-ended world championships in Hochfilzen, Germany.
In previous seasons, Kołodziejczyk’s term as coach marked a heyday for the Polish women’s biathlon team.
During this time Polish women biathletes won four world championship medals, six European championships medals, and claimed more World Cup podiums than ever before.
Kołodziejczyk began working with the Polish national biathlon team in January 2011 when he replaced Norwegian Jon Arne Enevoldsen as coach of the women’s team.
From the 2011/2012 season for three years he worked together with assistant coach Andrzej Koziński, and in the 2014/2015 season he managed the team on his own.
From May 2015 he worked together with assistant coach Tomasz Sikora, a former Polish biathlete who retired from the sport in 2012.
Sikora, a 1995 world champion and a silver medallist from the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, has also offered to resign, according to the Polish Biathlon Association. But it was not immediately clear if his resignation would be accepted.
A new coach of the Polish national biathlon team will be appointed after the end of the season, the association announced.
It also said that, due to earlier organizational commitments, both coaches will continue to work with the team until the end of the season; Kołodziejczyk will take the team to World Cup competitions in Pyeongchang, South Korea, while Sikora will manage it during World Cup events in Kontiolahti, Finland and Oslo, Norway.
Biathlon is an Olympic winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. (str/pk)
Source: Polish Biathlon Association, Przegląd Sportowy