Egil Gjelland


Egil Gjelland is a former Norwegian biathlete. He is olympic champion in the biathlon relay from the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.
Egil Gjelland grew up in Voss, the home of many world class biathletes, and started doing biathlon at the age of 15. He first entered the national team in 1996.
Gjelland's strength is in shooting. His greatest triumphs have come on Norway's relay team, where he was a regular feature for several years, thanks to his ability to keep his cool and deliver faultless shooting. In the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, he won the gold medal on the relay, together with Ole Einar Bjørndalen, Halvard Hanevold and Frode Andresen. In the Biathlon World Championship 2005 in Hochfilzen, Gjelland again helped win the relay, Norway's first relay-gold in the world championships for 38 years. He won one race in the Biathlon World Cup, the pursuit in Östersund on 17 December 2004.
Egil Gjelland is a carpenter by trade. He married fellow biathlete Ann-Elen Skjelbreid in 2002. They have one daughter, Kristi. They live on her home farm, Skjelbreid, in Fusa in western Norway.
Since retiring from competition Gjelland has worked as a coach with the Norwegian biathlon team, and he was appointed as head coach for the Norwegian men's biathlon squad ahead of the 2014–15 season, having previously performed the equivalent role for the Norwegian women's team. In 2018 he was announced as head coach of the Czech women's biathlon team, becoming the first foreign coach to be employed by the Czech Biathlon Association alongside countryman and assistant coach to the men's team Anders Magnus Bratli.

Biathlon results

All results are sourced from the International Biathlon Union.

Olympic Games

2 medals
EventIndividualSprintPursuitRelay
1998 Nagano—13thSilver
2002 Salt Lake City16th24th15thGold

World Championships

6 medals
EventIndividualSprintPursuitTeamRelay
1996 Ruhpolding36th——4th
1997 Brezno-Osrblie———4thSilver
1998 Pokljuka36thGold
2000 Oslo Holmenkollen—28th22nd21stSilver
2001 Pokljuka14th4th5th15thBronze
2002 Oslo Holmenkollen22nd
2003 Khanty-Mansiysk6th14th22nd19th4th
2004 Oberhof35th——26thSilver
2005 Hochfilzen17th12th22nd28thGold—

Individual victories

1 victory
SeasonDateLocationDisciplineLevel
2004–05
1 victory
17 December 2004 Östersund12.5 km pursuitBiathlon World Cup