Gabriela Soukalová
|
Gabriela Soukalová (2010) | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Gabriela Soukalová |
| Born |
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 | 2 (2013, 2015) |
| Medals | 3 (1 gold) |
| World Cup | |
| Seasons | 6 (2009/10–) |
| Individual races | 105 |
| All races | 138 |
| Individual victories | 12 |
| All victories | 18 |
| Individual podiums | 24 |
| All podiums | 40 |
| Discipline titles |
1: 1 Individual (2013–14) |
Medal record
| |
| Updated on 13 February 2016. | |
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Gabriela Soukalová (Czech pronunciation: [ˈɡabrɪjɛla ˈsou̯kalovaː], born 1 November 1989, Jablonec nad Nisou, Czechoslovakia) is a Czech biathlete.[1] She won two Olympic silver medals at the 2014 Sochi Games.[2]
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 performans: 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 performans 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 siver 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.[3]
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.[4] She added three more wins in the 2013–14 World Cup season.[5] 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).[6]
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 new 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 9 place in the season) and she is continues to lead after the individual race at the fifth stage of the World Cup in Ruhpolding. 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). She is leading now with the general rank.
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.[7] Later, her mother helps as a personal trainer.
Soukalová is in a relationship with a Czech professional badminton player Petr Koukal.[8]
Biathlon results
All results are sourced from the International Biathlon Union.[9]
Olympic Games
| Event | Individual | Sprint | Pursuit | Mass Start | Relay | Mixed Relay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 2010 Vancouver |
60th | – | – | – | 16th | N/A |
 2014 Sochi |
4th | 29th | 4th | Silver | 4th | Silver |
World Championships
| Event | Individual | Sprint | Pursuit | Mass Start | Relay | Mixed Relay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 Khanty-Mansiysk |
47th | 25th | 22nd | – | 11th | 11th |
 2013 Nové Město |
12th | 14th | 20th | 18th | 10th | Bronze |
 2015 Kontiolahti |
Silver | 18th | 5th | 5th | 8th | Gold |
World Cup
| Season | Overall | Sprint | Pursuit | Individual | Mass Start | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points | Position | Points | Position | Points | Position | Points | Position | Points | Position | |
| 2012/13 | 800 | 6th | 313 | 6th | 227 | 8th | 94 | 7th | 166 | 7th |
| 2013/14 | 613 | 4th | 238 | 5th | 203 | 10th | 120 | 1st | 52 | 23rd |
| 2014/15 | 752 | 6th | 281 | 9th | 195 | 7th | 86 | 6th | 200 | 4th |
Individual victories
- 12 victories – (5 Sp, 3 Pu, 2 In, 2 MS)
| No. | Season | Date | Location | Discipline | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2012/13 | 14 December 2012 |  Pokljuka, Slovenia | 7.5 km Sprint | World Cup |
| 2 | 14 March 2013 | Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia | 7.5 km Sprint | World Cup | |
| 3 | 16 March 2013 | Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia | 10 km Pursuit | World Cup | |
| 4 | 17 March 2013 | Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia | 12.5 km Mass Start | World Cup | |
| 5 | 2013/14 | 28 November 2013 |  Östersund, Sweden | 15 km Individual | World Cup |
| 6 | 10 January 2014 |  Ruhpolding, Germany | 15 km Individual | World Cup | |
| 7 | 12 January 2014 | Ruhpolding, Germany | 10 km Pursuit | World Cup | |
| 8 | 2014/15 | 18 December 2014 | Pokljuka, Slovenia | 7.5 km Sprint | World Cup |
| 9 | 2015/16 | 2 December 2015 | Östersund, Sweden | 7.5 km Sprint | World Cup |
| 10 | 16 January 2016 | Ruhpolding, Germany | 12.5 km Mass Start | World Cup | |
| 11 | 11 February 2016 |  Presque Isle, USA | 7.5 km Sprint | World Cup | |
| 12 | 12 February 2016 | Presque Isle, USA | 10 km Pursuit | World Cup |
Relay victories
- 6 victories – (4 Relay, 2 Mixed Relay)
| No. | Season | Date | Location | Discipline | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2012/13 | 25 November 2012 | Pokljuka, Slovenia | Mixed 2x6+2x7.5 km Relay | World Cup |
| 2 | 2014/15 | 7 January 2015 | Oberhof, Germany | 4x6 km Relay | World Cup |
| 3 | 14 January 2015 | Ruhpolding, Germany | 4x6 km Relay | World Cup | |
| 4 | 15 February 2015 |  Oslo Holmenkollen, Norway | 4x6 km Relay | World Cup | |
| 5 | 5 March 2015 | Kontiolahti, Finland | Mixed 2x6+2x7.5 km Relay | World Championships | |
| 6 | 2015/16 | 14 February 2016 | Presque Isle, USA | 4x6 km Relay | World Cup |
Overall record
| Result | Individual | Sprint | Pursuit | Mass start | Relay | Mixed relay | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st place | 2 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 18 |
| 2nd place | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 12 |
| 3rd place | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 10 |
| 4–10 | 5 | 12 | 9 | 5 | 10 | 1 | 42 |
| 11–20 | 1 | 9 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 28 |
| 21–40 | - | 7 | 6 | 1 | – | – | 14 |
| 41–60 | 2 | 5 | 2 | – | – | – | 9 |
| Others | 2 | 2 | – | – | – | – | 4 |
| DNF | – | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| DSQ | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | 1 |
| Starts | 14 | 43 | 31 | 17 | 22 | 11 | 138 |
- *Results in all UIPMB and IBU World Cup races, Olympics and World Championships. Statistics as of 13 February 2016.[9]
Shooting
| Shooting | 2009–10 season | 2010–11 season | 2011–12 season | 2012–13 season | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prone position | 78% | – | 75% | TBD | 77% |
| Standing position | 84% | – | 76% | TBD | 80% |
| Total | 81% | - | 76% | TBD | 79% |
References
- ↑ "Gabriela Soukalová – Player Profile – Biathlon – Eurosport Australia". Retrieved December 14, 2012.
- ↑ Bardsley, Daniel (8 February 2014). "Silver makes it a family affair". praguepost.com. Retrieved 2015-09-21.
- ↑ "Gabriela Soukalová Bio, Stats, and Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved December 14, 2012.
- ↑ "Soukalova Surprises Sprint Field". biathlonworld.com. 14 December 2012. Retrieved 2015-09-22.
- ↑ "Soukalova Sweeps with Mass Start Win". biathlonworld.com. 17 March 2013. Retrieved 2015-09-22.
- ↑ Kučerová, Martina (19 February 2014). "Medailové žně nekončí. Biatlonisté berou stříbro ze smíšené štafety". lidovky.cz. Retrieved 2015-09-21.
- ↑ Kucerova, Martina (7 January 2011). "IBU Cup Opens in Nove Mesto" (Press release). International Biathlon Union. Retrieved 2013-12-16.
- ↑ "Soukalová bude Koukalová? Biatlonistka randí s badmintonistou". nova.cz. 4 July 2014. Retrieved 2015-09-21.
- 1 2 International Biathlon Union. Gabriela Soukalova. IBU Datacenter. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gabriela Soukalová. |
- Official website
- Gabriela Soukalová at the International Biathlon Union
- Gabriela Soukalova at Getty Images
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