The world champion from the Czech Republic fiercely hated Russia, and then ended her career in a strange way, allegedly having lost her motivation. Where did Gabriela Koukalova disappear to and what has she been doing lately?
A strange departure from biathlon
Gabriela made her debut at the World Cup at the end of 2009, and then even managed to qualify for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. However, for a long time Koukalova did not show decent speeds and trudged at best in the second or third ten. Nothing foreshadowed a breakthrough, when suddenly in the 2012/13 season the Czech suddenly began to run at the level of the elite of the world biathlon.On the wave of success, she took two world championships, several Olympic medals and the overall World Cup standings in the 2015/16 season. And a year later she interrupted her career for no clear reason. Gaby complained of problems with the calf muscles, but so far no details about that injury have been voiced by anyone. The pause lasted several years, and then Koukalova officially ended her career.It all looked very strange. The biathlete suspended her career at the age of 27, while she finished her penultimate season in second place in the total with the personal gold of the World Championship. Then a triumph at the Olympics in South Korea was predicted, but it was at this moment that the Czech took a break. Added hot and the main person of the Czech biathlon at that time, Jiri Gamza, who would later become vice-president of the International Biathlon Union.
“I don’t think her return is something impossible. We all make mistakes, but we will leave the door to the national team open for her. If she wants to return, I will help her. We will not give up a powerful biathlete. But no one will pretend that nothing was,» Gamza said in an interview with the Czech media. jpg» />
Fought against Russian doping
Jiri unequivocally hinted that the suspension of his career happened for a reason. And, of course, it was not about an injury to the calf muscle, which is certainly not treated for two years. Perhaps it was about not too clean doping tests of an athlete who was asked to leave on good terms. Or she was not extended the validity of therapeutic exceptions.
It is ironic that against this background, Gaby has always acted as an ardent fighter against Russian doping. She criticized our athletes without giving any weighty arguments. Koukalova demanded the removal of Russia from international competitions. Although it must be admitted that in her rhetoric she could not surpass other fighters against Russia — Sebastian Samuelsson and the Be brothers, who sometimes slipped into outright insults.
«I don't trust any of the Russians anymore. Not even Shipulin. I would like to say that when people and teams don't respect the international anti-doping rules, they shouldn't compete with us,» she said in an interview with Chempionat .
Revelations, adultery, divorce
We must pay tribute to Gaby — she always tried to speak frankly about everything. In the book «The Other» she completely went to pieces. Koukalova told about her first sexual experience, about how sex helps to win races, why her teammates planted a vibrator at the airport and a lot of other interesting things. However, it was not possible to improve relations within the team. Gabi was not loved in the Czech national team and considered her an arrogant star. They did not communicate with Veronika Vitkova at all and even refused to go to training in the same car.
After completing her career, Koukalova went into show business. She starred for Playboy, participated in «Dancing with the Stars» and other major television projects, starred in films and commercials. And that's not even talking about charitable work. In 2020, her scandalous divorce from Petr Koukal became known. The reason is the betrayal of Gaby herself. It turned out that during the filming of «Dancing with the Stars» she was too carried away by her partner. Czech paparazzi quickly exposed the athlete, so there was no point in remaining silent. Koukalova did not feel sad for a long time and less than a year later she told about her new boyfriend. His name is Milos.In recent years he has worked a lot in gastronomy, his family has several establishments.He respects me with all my shortcomings, which is incredibly liberating.He has many talents in sports and he is drawn to art, which is close to me.So that we have a lot in common. I'm happy,» Gaby quotes CNN. and did not recognize.