Biathlon skier Rene Zahkna will soon mark ten years since his MK debut. Alvar Tiisler asked Zahkna what motivates him and what goals still need to be achieved.
Rene, you will soon be ten years old in the MK series. Is it also strange to think that you’ve been doing all this for a long time?
Yes, I started with the MK series when I was very young, this is a special feature of Estonia. Our competition is not as tough as that of the Norwegians or the Germans. At the end of my second year as a junior I was able to try Kontiolahti. In this sense, I have competed in the MK series for a long time.
What still drives and motivates you?
In recent years I have been motivated by personal development and certainly by the fact that I can be an athlete every day. I am an athlete at heart. Obviously against my will, I wouldn’t compete for that long.
You have a place on the podium, but what else do you want to achieve?
I cringe because I haven’t gotten four zeros in a four-hole competition yet. There was a time when I passed four or five pieces in a row with a fine. This is one of my big goals.
I’m looking forward to the moment when we get a good result in the relay. I want things to work out for us in such a way that everything goes well from the beginning and that we carry it through to the end.
Young people are slowly emerging in the Estonian team. You grew up on the team with Roland (Lessing – editor), who was, so to speak, a father figure in the team. Do you feel like you’re in that role now?
I can immediately say about Jakob Kulbin that I remember very well when he was 12 years old and at the table he said he wanted to join the Estonian national team. I told him I’ll take your time. Then he was 12, it seemed like a long time, but I managed to wait for him!
I actually like this role, I like helping others. Since Estonia is so small that everyone knows each other, the younger ones still ask the national team members for advice.
There’s something I’ve always wanted to ask you, honestly. In recent years you have tried a lot yourself to find the training options that are right for you. Why do you want to train alone so much?
The honest answer is that I’ve been on the team with four or five different coaches, but I haven’t noticed any particular development during that time. So I decided that I would learn on my own what Norwegians or Germans do. Scientific articles are searchable and accessible, and in reality, if an athlete goes wild, the coach is not responsible. I wanted to take a step forward, I just wasn’t improving.
Last year actually went pretty well. I ended the season due to the coronavirus, but I enjoyed the process more. The most important thing is that in the summer and autumn I saw that I was improving physically. I definitely won’t do it all myself. I also have my assistants, from whom I ask for advice.
2024-01-18 12:28:00
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