Egil Gjelland

Egil Gjelland (born 12 November 1973) is a Norwegian former biathlete. He is olympic champion in the biathlon relay from the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

Career Egil Gjelland grew up in Voss Municipality, 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 (b. 2004). They live on her home farm, Skjelbreid, in Bjørnafjorden Municipality 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 (1 gold, 1 silver) EventIndividualSprintPursuitRelay 1998 Nagano — 13th Silver 2002 Salt Lake City 16th 24th 15th Gold Pursuit was added as an event in 2002.

World Championships 6 medals (2 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze) EventIndividualSprintPursuitTeamRelay 1996 Ruhpolding 36th — — 4th 1997 Brezno-Osrblie — — — 4th Silver 1998 Pokljuka 36th Gold 2000 Oslo Holmenkollen — 28th 22nd 21st Silver 2001 Pokljuka 14th 4th 5th 15th Bronze 2002 Oslo Holmenkollen 22nd 2003 Khanty-Mansiysk 6th 14th 22nd 19th 4th 2004 Oberhof 35th — — 26th Silver 2005 Hochfilzen 17th 12th 22nd 28th Gold — During Olympic seasons competitions are only held for those events not included in the Olympic program. Team was removed as an event in 1998, and pursuit was added in 1997 with mass start being added in 1999 and the mixed relay in 2005.

Individual victories 1 victory (1 Pu) Season Date Location Discipline Level 2004–05 1 victory (1 Pu) 17 December 2004 Östersund12.5 km pursuitBiathlon World Cup Results are from UIPMB and IBU races which include the Biathlon World Cup, Biathlon World Championships and the Winter Olympic Games.