Egil Gjelland

Egil Gjelland
Personal information
Full nameEgil Gjelland
Born (1973-11-12) 12 November 1973 (age 50)
Voss, Hordaland, Norway
Height1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Professional information
SportBiathlon
ClubVoss Skiskyttarlag
World Cup debut7 December 1995
Olympic Games
Teams2 (1998, 2002)
Medals2 (1 gold)
World Championships
Teams9 (1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005)
Medals6 (2 gold)
World Cup
Seasons12 (1995/96–2006/07)
Individual victories1
All victories16
Individual podiums7
All podiums47
Medal record
Men's biathlon
Representing  Norway
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2002 Salt Lake City 4 × 7.5 km relay
Silver medal – second place 1998 Nagano 4 × 7.5 km relay
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1998 Hochfilzen Team event
Gold medal – first place 2005 Hochfilzen 4 × 7.5 km relay
Silver medal – second place 1997 Brezno-Osrblie 4 × 7.5 km relay
Silver medal – second place 2000 Lahti 4 × 7.5 km relay
Silver medal – second place 2004 Oberhof 4 × 7.5 km relay
Bronze medal – third place 2001 Pokljuka 4 × 7.5 km relay

Egil Gjelland (born 12 November 1973) is a former Norwegian biathlete. He is olympic champion in the biathlon relay from the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

Egil Gjelland grew up in Voss, the home of many world class biathletes, and started doing biathlon at the age of 15. He first entered the national team in 1996.

Gjelland's strength is in shooting. His greatest triumphs have come on Norway's relay team, where he was a regular feature for several years, thanks to his ability to keep his cool and deliver faultless shooting. In the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, he won the gold medal on the relay, together with Ole Einar Bjørndalen, Halvard Hanevold and Frode Andresen. In the Biathlon World Championship 2005 in Hochfilzen, Gjelland again helped win the relay, Norway's first relay-gold in the world championships for 38 years. He won one race in the Biathlon World Cup, the pursuit in Östersund on 17 December 2004.

Egil Gjelland is a carpenter by trade. He married fellow biathlete Ann-Elen Skjelbreid in 2002. They have one daughter, Kristi (b. 2004). They live on her home farm, Skjelbreid, in Fusa in western Norway.

Since retiring from competition Gjelland has worked as a coach with the Norwegian biathlon team, and he was appointed as head coach for the Norwegian men's biathlon squad ahead of the 2014–15 season, having previously performed the equivalent role for the Norwegian women's team.[1] In 2018 he was announced as head coach of the Czech women's biathlon team, becoming the first foreign coach to be employed by the Czech Biathlon Association alongside countryman and assistant coach to the men's team Anders Magnus Bratli.[2][3]

Biathlon results

All results are sourced from the International Biathlon Union.[4]

Olympic Games

2 medals (1 gold, 1 silver)

Event Individual Sprint Pursuit Relay
Japan 1998 Nagano — 13th — Silver
United States 2002 Salt Lake City 16th 24th 15th Gold
*Pursuit was added as an event in 2002.

World Championships

6 medals (2 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze)

Event Individual Sprint Pursuit Mass start Team Relay Mixed relay
Germany 1996 Ruhpolding 36th — — — — 4th —
Slovakia 1997 Brezno-Osrblie — — — — 4th Silver —
Slovenia 1998 Pokljuka — — 36th — Gold — —
Norway 2000 Oslo Holmenkollen — 28th 22nd 21st — Silver —
Slovenia 2001 Pokljuka 14th 4th 5th 15th — Bronze —
Norway 2002 Oslo Holmenkollen — — — 22nd — — —
Russia 2003 Khanty-Mansiysk 6th 14th 22nd 19th — 4th —
Germany 2004 Oberhof 35th — — 26th — Silver —
Austria 2005 Hochfilzen 17th 12th 22nd 28th — Gold —
*During Olympic seasons competitions are only held for those events not included in the Olympic program.
**Team was removed as an event in 1998, and pursuit was added in 1997 with mass start being added in 1999 and the mixed relay in 2005.

Individual victories

1 victory (1 Pu)

Season Date Location Discipline Level
2004–05
1 victory
(1 Pu)		 17 December 2004 Sweden Östersund 12.5 km pursuit Biathlon World Cup
*Results are from UIPMB and IBU races which include the Biathlon World Cup, Biathlon World Championships and the Winter Olympic Games.

References

  1. ^ "Coaching Changes 2: Norway, Russia, Austria, Finland". International Biathlon Union. 16 April 2014. Archived from the original on 16 December 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  2. ^ Johnstone, Chris (5 June 2018). "Norwegian Egil Gjelland Appointed Biathlon Head Trainer". radio.cz. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  3. ^ "Coaching Carousel, Gala Evening, and New Stadium in Czech Republic". International Biathlon Union. 7 June 2018. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  4. ^ "Egil Gjelland". IBU Datacenter. International Biathlon Union. Archived from the original on 16 July 2015. Retrieved 24 July 2015.