Pineland Farms, New Gloucester, ME, June 29. The US Biathlon Association has hired two experienced Swedish coaches, Per Nilsson and Mikael Lofgren, to lead US biathletes to “new levels of success,” according to US Biathlon Executive Director Max Cobb. 

Nilsson and Lofgren, both 36 years old, take the reins of the National Team immediately to begin preparation for the coming World Cup season, with a training camp scheduled for July 6-15 at the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, NY.

“I see this as a big challenge for Mikael and me,”Nilsson stated, adding, “But I think the timing is perfect. The USBA, with their sponsors and the US Olympic Committee have shown a professional setup for success in the future. Mikael and I have a common coaching philosophy, based on hard work, but we are also open-minded and feel our training philosophy will allow us to work well with the US athletes.”

Lofgren seconded that statement, commenting, “I am looking forward to working for USBA and the National Team. I am very excited about working with the talented US athletes. I have butterflies in my stomach and restless nights thinking about it.”

Per Nilsson, who coached a number of the athletes on the 2006 US Olympic Biathlon Team when he was the head biathlon coach for the Maine Winter Sports Center during the 2001-2002 season, has been working as a biathlon coach at the National Sports Academy in Solleftea, Sweden since 1996. The National Sports Academy’s goals are to prepare athletes for World Cup competition, with a “clear philosophy in training,” while educating them in “physiology, psychology, nutrition and technique”. He has also worked with the Swedish National Junior Team and been instrumental in creating an athlete development program in Sweden.   He commented, “Both skiing and shooting have high demands today. I anticipate that I will handle the volume (physical) training aspect of our program while Mikael will focus more on shooting. Shooting and physical training always overlap, so both of us will be working with all of the athletes.”

Coming off a season where Jay Hakkinen placed 10th in the Olympic Men’s 20K Individual and the US men placed 9th in the Olympic Relay, Nilsson has lofty goals. “I am influenced by the success of the Swedish program which after 5 or 6 years had success with their men’s team (4th in the Olympic Relay) and Anna Carin Olofsson’s medals. The US men can aspire to those same levels this year. Individually, Jay Hakkinen and Jeremy Teela have previously been in the top 10 at World Cups, so we want to be back there. For the women, there is a great opportunity. Good shooters like the Barnes sisters with decent skiing can be in the top 30.”

Mikael Lofgren has worked at the National Sports Academy in Torsby, Sweden since 2000. In the early 90s, he was one of the top biathletes in the world, winning two Bronze Medals at the Albertville Olympic Winter Games and the Overall World Cup title in 1992-93. Concurrently, Lofgren commented on his new position with the US Biathlon Team, “For the US athletes, I think our job will be to help them make improvements, especially in their shooting. We know they have the skills, so it is a matter of improving things like their self-confidence on the shooting range.”

Max Cobb commented on the hiring of the new coaching staff, “Per and Mikael bring their great experience to our team and the enthusiasm expressed by the athletes has been overwhelming.  With hard working athletes, great coaching and ski preparation, we're in for very a very exciting season ahead of us. The Olympic Winter Games return to North America in 2010 at Vancouver and we have a great opportunity to make history!”

After the Lake Placid Training camp, the US Biathlon Team, under the direction of Nilsson and Lofgren will divide their training time between the US and Europe in preparation for the upcoming season.

The United States Biathlon Association is the National Governing Body for the sport of Biathlon in the United States as recognized by the United States Olympic Committee and the International Biathlon Union. The US Biathlon Association supports the US Biathlon Team and development of the sport on all levels within the United States.