A Biathlon Hero With A Scandalous Story | Gabriela Soukalova
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- Опубликовано: 28 май 2024
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0:00 Intro
0:51 Support on Patreon
1:10 Early Career
3:32 Rise to Stardom
5:01 A household name
6:13 Koukalova
7:12 The Downfall
8:26 The Book
10:27 Gabi's Legacy
There was nothing about the start to Gabriela Soukalova’s career that indicated the legacy that was to come. Veronika Vitkova bested Soukalova in every Jr World Championship race the two competed in together. The duo teamed up and earned a gold medal in a 2009 Relay in Canmore but other than that there was no sign of what the future had in store for this young Czech athlete.
Due to her consistent results in 2009 Soukalova would earn her first World Cup start spot in the early part of the 09/2010 season. Gabi would somehow qualified for the Czech Olympic team after only ever having competed in 3 World Cup races.
She was posting some fast ski times on the IBU cup but her shooting was holding her back from being more consistently in the top 10.
Gabi was able to turn things around at the start of the season: Gabi’s shooting percentage jumped and she started earning consistent top 10 results on the IBU cup, eventually moving up to the World Cup in March of 2011, becoming a World cup regular for the remainder of the season.
Gabi didn’t race very much in the 2011/2012 season.
Soukalova started the 2012/2013 season with a bang: now in second place in the overall standings. Her ski speed is what made the biggest difference. The season was capped with a Mixed Relay bronze medal in front of the home Nove Mesto Na Morave crowd.
But Gabi’s true break out into biathlon stardom was when she sang “For Your Eyes Only” in the hit IBU skit “The Spy Who Loved Biathlon”.
Over the next two seasons she would finish in 4th and 6th overall and earn the Individual crystal globe in 2014. She capped off her success by earning three medals at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
Every season she would continue to improve on the range and earned herself a reputation as one of the fastest skiers on course and most exciting personalities in the media. In the 2015 season Gabi was able to dominate her competition and earn 3 out of 4 small crystal globes and easily secure the season title.
In the spring after the 2016 season Soukalova married Czech badminton player Petr Koukal.
Going into the 2016/2017 season, Koukalova needed to prove last season was not a fluke. Gabi was able to defend two of her small globes and finished in a close second in defending her overall title. Months later she became the first biathlete to be named Czech Sportsperson of the Year.
In the summer prior to the Olympic season Gabi started having calve issues, Gabi herself admitted that her participation in the Olympics was in jeopardy.
Gabi would end up missing the first few races of the season and things began to become rocky within the Czech team. Gabi and her coach Ondřej Rybář were both using the media to make public comments about the other.
Gabi ultimately ended up missing the Olympics and the entire 2018 season. Gabi published a tell-all biography in the spring of 2018 where she didn’t hold back.
The first revelation was that Gabi had a very poor relationship with her teammates. Specifically Veronica Vitova.
Gabi also admitted that she never truly had a passion for biathlon and her parents forced her to compete as a child.
The biggest and most scandalous thing to come out of the book however was Gabi’s revelation of her eating disorder and how she battled bulimia and anorexia that she believes was ignited by the Czech junior team coach who would constantly call her fat. Gabi even once accidentally swallowed a spoon during a bulimic episode.
Gabi was the biggest female athlete in the country and this book was taking all the headlines.
Rumors began circulating that Gabi’s husband Petr Koukal, who had somewhat of a shady reputation, forced Gabi to write the book in an elaborate attempt to make money off of Gabi’s fame.
Gabi always toyed with the media with the idea of coming back to biathlon but in a facebook post in may of 2019 she officially announced her retirement, citing lack of motivation and drive.
Prior to Gabi’s World Cup success biathlon wasn’t even on TV in the Czech Republic.
In the fall of 2020 Petr and Gabi filed for divorce. Today Gabi has gone back to the Soukalova name, is now a mother with her new partner and works as a television presenter for TV Prima.
It’s important to notice the positive impact Gabi’s career has had on Czech Biathlon. It is clear to see that the Czech Women’s team as a whole is performing much better after the Gabi era than before.
And with success at recent Junior World Championships, the generation of kids who started biathlon because of Gabi’s fame will soon create their own era of Czech biathlon success. 
Спорт
What a great video! I'm Czech and I believe you said everything about Gabi and her life you could! I usually don't write comments, but this video is so great, it deserves one. Really great video!!
This means a lot. I appreciate it. Put more time researching into this video than any other.
Her victory in Nove Mesto in front of her home crowd was one of the most epic biathlon competitions ever.
She was one of my favourites a couple years ago ! I remember watching her in 2016 aged 7 and i fell in love with biathlon! As a Czech, easily one of the most inspirational athletes our country has ever seen
She's the reason many Czechs started watching biathlon. She was not just a sportsperson but an icon. Thanks for this!
Several times she fought with Dahlmeier, but unfortunately we miss the comparison with Eckhoff and Wierer at their top level
Thank you for covering this and especially mentioning the amount of impact Gabi had on the popularity of biathlon in Czechia. Amazing!
What a shame. Such a dark cloud over bright moments like the 2016 Nove Mesto mass start.
Well done. Thanks, Brian.
I hope you will have videos about me US athletes who ended their careers as well.👍🙂
Great Video Brian
awesome video Brian!
Fantastic video, Brian! 🔥
Very good video Brian! Keep up the good work!
Great video, it is a shame she had so many issues. Do you have you any idea if Doro is going to retire now?
I have no idea what Doro is thinking. I thought she was going to have a pretty bad season and retire for sure, but she proved she is still in great shape.
What an overdramatizing video, do you reaaly think that the highlight of Gary's career is singing For your eyes only? How condescending of all rhe work she put in, despite her feeling uncomfortable with the discipline and relations in sport. Get serious, and keep talk - and voice - sober.