Kowalczyk hits out at coach after Polish biathletes' below-par showing in Beijing

WARSAW -- Polish biathlon team director and former cross-country skier Justyna Kowalczyk claimed that Polish biathletes lack of success at the Winter Olympics was due to inproper training methods.

The results of the Polish biathletes in Beijing were not good as expected. The best result for biggest hope Monika Hojnisz-Starega was a ninth-place finish in the women's 10km pursuit.

"When I came to work in biathlon over a year ago, I went for a few consultations with the team led by coach [Adam] Kolodziejczyk and immediately told President of the Polish Biathlon Association [Zbigniew] Waskiewicz that there was no point in counting on good results during the Olympics," Kowalczyk told Polish media on Monday.

"I completely disagree with what loads he applied and how he arranged all the work with the athletes. There was no time to change. All I could do was leave the athletes alone and hope for a miracle. We performed really poorly at the Olympics," the former cross-country skier added.

Kolodziejczyk has already responded to Kowalczyk's accusations in an interview for TVP Sport.

"This is not only a criticism of my training methods, but also a total criticism of everything we have done in the biathlon so far. According to Kowalczyk, everything is bad, and our discipline is ashes. It is ridiculous," he claimed.

"I'm not saying that I don't make mistakes. In Beijing, the level was very high. Individually, only seven female athletes from five countries won medals. You have to be aware of your real possibilities and limitations," Kolodziejczyk said.