Gabriela Koukalová

Gabriela Koukalová

Gabriela Koukalová (2010)
Personal information
Full name Gabriela Koukalová
Born (1989-11-01) 1 November 1989
Jablonec nad Nisou, Czechoslovakia
Height 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Weight 61 kg (134 lb)
Website gabrielasoukalova.com
Professional information
Sport Biathlon
Club SG Jablonec nad Nisou
Skis Fischer
World Cup debut 11 December 2009
Olympic Games
Teams 2 (2010, 2014)
Medals 2 (0 gold)
World Championships
Teams 5 (2010, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016)
Medals 3 (1 gold)
World Cup
Seasons 6 (2009/10–)
Individual races 114
All races 150
Individual victories 13
All victories 19
Individual podiums 27
All podiums 44
Overall titles 1 (2015-16)
Discipline titles 4:
1 Individual (2013–14)
1 Sprint (2015–16)
1 Pursuit (2015–16)
1 Mass Start (2015–16)
Medal record
Women's biathlon
Representing  Czech Republic
Olympic Games
2014 Sochi 12.5 km Mass start
2014 Sochi Mixed relay
World Championships
2015 Kontiolahti Mixed relay
2015 Kontiolahti 15 km individual
2013 Nové Město Mixed relay
Updated on 4 December 2016.

Gabriela Koukalová,[1] née Soukalová (Czech pronunciation: [ˈɡabrɪjɛla ˈkou̯kalovaː/ˈsou̯kalovaː], born 1 November 1989, Jablonec nad Nisou, Czechoslovakia) is a Czech biathlete.[2] She won two Olympic silver medals at the 2014 Sochi Games.[3] In the season 2015/2016 (World Cup) she has got the Crystal Globe, the complete collection of her actual awards includes also four Small Crystal Globes (the first - 2013/2014 season for individual races, the next three were taken during the season 2015/2016 for the sprint, pursuit and mass-start races).

Career

Soukalová began her biathlon career in 2005. After several years she made a good progress at the national level and got more attention from trainers of the national Olympic team. Since 2007 Gabriela began a member of the national team, in 2008 she took part in the Biathlon Junior World Championship. The first experience at the international level was not very good: G.Soukalova was worse at that time then many others both in shooting performans and running speed, she could not be better than 22 in the rank. Nevertheless, this unsuccessful period did not disappoint the trainers and they give a chance to take part in some international competitions, e.g. in IBU Cup in biathlon (the season 2008/09). The hard work and experience led to improving of the personal performance: Gabriela, despite some difficulties in shooting had become better than Olga Vilukhina and helps the Czech team to win a gold.

Taking time and growing in the performance Gabriela for the first time was taking part in the Biathlon World Cup (BWC) in December, 2009. Perhaps due to a relatively low speed trainers made the decision to let her take part in IBU Cup again, but that period was not too long because she regularly won with good results and took a silver medal (Sprint race, European Championships). Because of the good progress she made, the trainers include her into the national team, she represented Czech Republic at the World Cup and 2010 Winter Olympics.[4]

In time the results are becoming better. The first significant success was recorded in December, 2011: in a MIxed Relay (the World Cup, Austria) she helps to win the second place as a member of the Czech team. Her several impressive wins in the Biathlon World Cup came during the 2012–13 season, where she had four wins.[5] She added three more wins in the 2013–14 World Cup season.[6] At the 2014 Winter Olympics, she finished fourth in both the 10 km Pursuit and 15 km individual before winning silver medals in both the 12.5 km Mass Start and Mixed relay (together with Veronika Vítková, Jaroslav Soukup and Ondřej Moravec).[7]

At the World Championships 2015 in Kontiolahti Gabriela first became a world champion by winning in the mixed relay as a member of the Czech team. In the sprint race she took 18th place with three penalties, but in the pursuit she was able to climb to fifth place. In the individual race Soukalova wins silver medal, it became her second medal at this World Cup. At the final stage in Khanty-Mansiysk in the last race of the season Soukalova managed to win a silver medal in the race with a mass start. In the final rank Gabriela had finished the season 2015 at sixth place (752 points).

In the 2015/2016 season Gabriela shows a good performance: at the fifth stage of the World Cup (January 14, 2016) even two unclosed targets did not prevented her rise to the podium. Thus, Gabriela is showing good stability (not lower than 11 place in the season) and she is continues to lead. In the Mass Start 12.5 km (January 16, 2016) she won and got her tenth victory in the Biathlon World Cup. She also helps to win a silver for the team in the relay race (4x6 km, January 24, 2016) and took a third place in the Mass Start in Canada (February 6, 2016). In the USA (Presque Isle, February 11, 2016) in Sprint has got the best result showing a perfect accuracy and an excellent performance. Next days brought two gold medals (10 km Pursuit and 4x6 km Relay). Despite some unlucky races in Norway Gabriela did not give up and has shown very good results in Sprint in Russia (Khanty-Mansiysk, March 17, 2016), Small Crystal Globes has taken with a great confidence (413 points). Next day in Pursuit race she has got a fourth place, but with very good level both in speed and shooting. The second Small Crystal Globe has been taken in Mass Start (241 points). She was leading during the whole World Cup 2015/2016 competition period and has won the Crystal Globe (March 20, 2016) with the final general rank of 1074 points.

The new season 2016/2017 was started in Östersund, Sweeden (27th of November, 2016), where she and her teammates took 7th place in mixed relay. Although the race 15km (November, 30, 2016) was not very lucky for Gabriela (17th place), but later on, December 3, 2016, she took third place in sprint 7.5km, and the next day she has shown even better results - become a winner of the first place in pursuit, showing an excellent performance both in running and shooting.

Personal life

She is the daughter of Gabriela Svobodová, a former cross-country skier, who won an Olympic silver medal in the 4 x 5 km relay at Sarajevo in 1984.[8] Later, her mother helps as a personal trainer.

Soukalová is in a relationship with a Czech professional badminton player Petr Koukal.[9] They married on May 13, 2016, in historic unfinished church in Panenský Týnec.[10]

Biathlon results

All results are sourced from the International Biathlon Union.[11]

Olympic Games

Event Individual Sprint Pursuit Mass Start Relay Mixed Relay
Canada 2010 Vancouver 60th – – – 16th N/A
Russia 2014 Sochi 4th 29th 4th Silver 4th Silver
* Mixed relay was added as an event in 2014.

World Championships

Event Individual Sprint Pursuit Mass Start Relay Mixed Relay
Russia 2010 Khanty-Mansiysk* N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 7th
Russia 2011 Khanty-Mansiysk 47th 25th 22nd – 11th 11th
Czech Republic 2013 Nové Město 12th 14th 20th 18th 10th Bronze
Finland 2015 Kontiolahti Silver 18th 5th 5th 8th Gold
Norway 2016 Oslo 5th 4th 11th 4th 6th 6th
* During Olympic seasons competitions are only held for those events not included in the Olympic program.

World Cup

Season Overall Sprint Pursuit Individual Mass Start
Races Points Position Races Points Position Races Points Position Races Points Position Races Points Position
2012/13 24/26 800 6th 9/10 313 6th 7/8 227 8th 3/3 94 7th 5/5 166 7th
2013/14 18/22 613 4th 8/9 238 5th 6/8 203 10th 2/2 120 1st 2/3 52 23rd
2014/15 25/25 752 6th 10/10 281 9th 7/7 195 7th 3/3 86 6th 5/5 200 4th
2015/16 25/25 1074 1st 9/9 413 1st 8/8 354 1st 3/3 128 3rd 5/5 241 1st

Individual victories

No. Season Date Location Discipline Level
1 2012/13 14 December 2012 Slovenia Pokljuka, Slovenia7.5 km SprintWorld Cup
2 14 March 2013 Russia Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia7.5 km SprintWorld Cup
3 16 March 2013 Russia Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia10 km PursuitWorld Cup
4 17 March 2013 Russia Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia12.5 km Mass StartWorld Cup
5 2013/14 28 November 2013 Sweden Östersund, Sweden15 km IndividualWorld Cup
6 10 January 2014 Germany Ruhpolding, Germany15 km IndividualWorld Cup
7 12 January 2014 Germany Ruhpolding, Germany10 km PursuitWorld Cup
8 2014/15 18 December 2014 Slovenia Pokljuka, Slovenia7.5 km SprintWorld Cup
9 2015/16 2 December 2015 Sweden Östersund, Sweden7.5 km SprintWorld Cup
10 16 January 2016 Germany Ruhpolding, Germany12.5 km Mass StartWorld Cup
11 11 February 2016 United States Presque Isle, USA7.5 km SprintWorld Cup
12 12 February 2016 United States Presque Isle, USA10 km PursuitWorld Cup
13 2016/17 4 December 2016 Sweden Östersund, Sweden10 km PursuitWorld Cup

Relay victories

No. Season Date Location Discipline Level
1 2012/13 25 November 2012 Slovenia Pokljuka, SloveniaMixed 2x6+2x7.5 km RelayWorld Cup (with Vítková / Vítek / Moravec)
2 2014/15 7 January 2015 Germany Oberhof, Germany4x6 km RelayWorld Cup (with Puskarčíková / Landová / Vítková)
3 14 January 2015 Germany Ruhpolding, Germany4x6 km RelayWorld Cup (with Puskarčíková / Landová / Vítková)
4 15 February 2015 Norway Holmenkollen, Norway4x6 km RelayWorld Cup (with Puskarčíková / Landová / Vítková)
5 5 March 2015 Finland Kontiolahti, FinlandMixed 2x6+2x7.5 km RelayWorld Championships (with Vítková / Šlesingr / Moravec)
6 2015/16 14 February 2016 United States Presque Isle, USA 4x6 km RelayWorld Cup (with Puskarčíková / Charvátová / Vítková)

Overall record

Result Individual Sprint Pursuit Mass start Relay Mixed relay Total
1st place 2 5 4 2 4 2 19
2nd place 1 2 2 3 2 3 14
3rd place 1 2 1 2 2 3 11
4–10 6 13 10 6 12 2 49
11–20 2 9 9 4 4 2 30
21–40 - 7 6 1 – – 14
41–60 2 5 2 – – – 9
Others 2 2 – – – – 4
DNF – – – – – – 0
DSQ – 1 – – – – 1
Starts 16 46 34 18 24 12 150
* Results in all UIPMB and IBU World Cup races, Olympics and World Championships. Statistics as of 4 December 2016.[11]

Shooting

Shooting 2009–10 season[12] 2010–11 season[13] 2011–12 season[14] 2012–13 season[15] 2013–14 season[16] 2014–15 season[17] 2015–16 season[18] 2016–17 season* Career
Prone position 44 / 56 78% 43 / 54 80% 36 / 46 78% 198 / 228 87% 185 / 210 88% 220 / 244 90% 229 / 241 95% 29 / 31 94% 984 / 1110 89%
Standing position 48 / 57 84% 35 / 54 65% 38 / 48 79% 194 / 232 84% 177 / 212 84% 210 / 250 84% 220 / 247 89% 23 / 33 70% 945 / 1133 83%
Total 92 / 113 81% 78 / 108 72% 74 / 94 79% 392 / 460 85% 362 / 422 86% 430 / 494 87% 449 / 488 92% 52 / 64 81% 1929 / 2243 86%
* Results in all IBU World Cup races, Olympics and World Championships including relay events and disqualified races. Statistics as of 4 December 2016.[11][19]

References

  1. ↑ "Gabriela Soukalova, Marries Petr Koukal". Retrieved May 20, 2016.
  2. ↑ "Gabriela Soukalová – Player Profile – Biathlon – Eurosport Australia". Retrieved December 14, 2012.
  3. ↑ Bardsley, Daniel (8 February 2014). "Silver makes it a family affair". praguepost.com. Retrieved 2015-09-21.
  4. ↑ "Gabriela Soukalová Bio, Stats, and Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved December 14, 2012.
  5. ↑ "Soukalova Surprises Sprint Field". biathlonworld.com. 14 December 2012. Retrieved 2015-09-22.
  6. ↑ "Soukalova Sweeps with Mass Start Win". biathlonworld.com. 17 March 2013. Retrieved 2015-09-22.
  7. ↑ Kučerová, Martina (19 February 2014). "Medailové žně nekončí. Biatlonisté berou stříbro ze smíšené štafety". lidovky.cz. Retrieved 2015-09-21.
  8. ↑ Kucerova, Martina (7 January 2011). "IBU Cup Opens in Nove Mesto" (Press release). International Biathlon Union. Retrieved 2013-12-16.
  9. ↑ "Soukalová bude Koukalová? Biatlonistka randí s badmintonistou". nova.cz. 4 July 2014. Retrieved 2015-09-21.
  10. ↑ "Sportovní svatba roku: Koukal a Soukalová se tajně vzali" (in Czech). iDNES.cz. 13 May 2016. Retrieved 2016-05-13.
  11. 1 2 3 International Biathlon Union. Gabriela Soukalova. IBU Datacenter. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  12. ↑ 2009-10 Season World Cup Shooting Percentages. realbiathlon.com. Accessed 17 March 2016.
  13. ↑ 2010-11 Season World Cup Shooting Percentages. realbiathlon.com. Accessed 17 March 2016.
  14. ↑ 2011-12 Season World Cup Shooting Percentages. realbiathlon.com. Accessed 17 March 2016.
  15. ↑ 2012-13 Season World Cup Shooting Percentages. realbiathlon.com. Accessed 17 March 2016.
  16. ↑ 2013-14 Season World Cup Shooting Percentages. realbiathlon.com. Accessed 17 March 2016.
  17. ↑ 2014-15 Season World Cup Shooting Percentages. realbiathlon.com. Accessed 17 March 2016.
  18. ↑ 2015-16 Season World Cup Shooting Percentages. realbiathlon.com. Accessed 17 March 2016.
  19. ↑ Biathlon Federation of Ukraine. Gabriela Soukalova. Biathlon.com.ua. Accessed 17 March 2016.
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