A week short of 20 years after his first-ever international competition at the 2001 IBU Junior World Championships, Ondrej Moravec hung up his rifle and skis. Although there were tears in the Vysočina Arena at the end of his final competition, the single mixed relay, there were plenty of smiles, many coming from Moravec himself. He hugged his wife and two children, hammed it up with teammates and laughed with pure glee.

Although Moravec was never the headliner like Ole Einar Bjorndalen or Martin Fourcade, Moravec earned his own special place in the sun. He retired as the most successful biathlete in Czech Biathlon history with three Olympic Winter Games medals, six IBU World Championship medals, ten IBU Summer Biathlon WCH medals and six IBU Youth/Junior WCH medals plus a not-to-be-forgotten BMW IBU World Cup victory in the 2013 Olso mass start. 

Recent seasons were not what he expected; although still shooting near 90%, the podium was elusive, with just an IBU WCH Mixed Relay Bronze medal in 2020. His 2020/21 season best fifth place came in the season-opening Kontiolahti 20 km individual last November. By the time he arrived for the two competition weeks in his home Vysočina Arena last March, Ondřej Moravec was ready to say good-bye. After high-fiving teammates in down the finish stretch, getting doused with champagne, laughing, crying and being presented with a walking stick and crossword puzzles “so you will have something to do,” he retired at age 36.

While his former teammates were toiling away in their first training camp recently, Moravec chatted about his career while on a family holiday in sunny Tenerife.

BW: Your international biathlon career lasted one week short of 20 years, from the 2001 Junior Sprint in Khanty Mansiysk to Nove Mesto, are you surprised you by that number?

OM: If you start like me at 17, and you go almost 20 years, maybe no. What I remember about that World Junior Championships was seeing one of the favorites Andi Birnbacher out training. He was probably skiing really slow but I thought to myself, ‘this is not so fast.’ I thought it would be easy to race, but it was harder than I imagined. (Birnbacher won, Moravec finished 33rd, 3:56 back with the same two penalties). That is my first memory and now the 20 years have gone so fast.

BW: As Czech hockey legend 46-year-old Jaromir Jager asked, why quit at 36?

OM: (Laughing) He said, “You are too young.” I almost decided last year; I really thought about it. It was the right time. People asked why I quit the year before the Olympics. It’s is hard to find the exact time when you want to quit. For me, it was exactly this time. Everything is done; it was the perfect time. There is no question whether it was too early or too late.

BW: Did winning the IBU WCH Mixed Relay Bronze medal in 2020 maybe push you to go one more year before retiring?

OM: One of the things that pushed me one more year was this medal. Actually, I spoke with my wife because it is totally different having kids compared with the years before. Then you just eat, train, sleep and nothing more. The last 3-4 years were totally different with kids. The medal was for me a motivation to try one more year, but then I was really clear with this decision and comfortable when the season started that this was the end.

BW: Was your strategy to end your career at home in Nove Mesto in front of a huge crowd, which unfortunately did not happen?

OM: Actually, my plan was to retire in Oslo. I really like that place and my family was there many times. But already in the middle of the season, we knew that was not possible. The second plan was Nove Mesto and we knew it would be without any crowds. That was like it was; there was no chance to change it. Still, it was really emotional; everything was perfect the day of my last race… I will probably never forget those last days. I have really nice moments saved in my mind.

BW: What was it like coming down into the finish line for the last time, were you getting emotional?

OM: It is hard to remember what I was thinking. Everything came two or three days after. When you are racing, you are just racing and you know that this is the last time I will cross the finish line and so on. The big feelings came a little bit later.

BW: All of the success and medals in your career made you the most decorated Czech Biathlete ever, was it talent, hard work, a bit of luck or what?

OM: (with definitely an embarrassed laugh) Maybe somehow a combination. You know, when I was really young with the junior medals and so on, everything was somehow really easy. I just did the sport with everything I had, a lot of motivation. Then there was breakpoint after the Olympics in Torino. There was more stress; I wanted to be better and better but it was not working. There were three or four years struggling, but the training was normal. That brought me the great years; they were perfect. Those medals are the dream of every athlete but before I never dreamed that I would reach this.

BW: When you and Michal (Slesingr) started working with Coach Ondřej Rybář, everything changed and the “great years” started, what was the biggest lesson you learned from him?

OM: I had all of the great moments with Ondřej…and also the bad ones. Our relationship in those days…we were really friends. We talked about everything but not just sport. There was something more; he gave me the strong mind. The most important thing (that helped me be successful) was to be clear in my head. He always helped me with those kind of things. We did train a little bit different thing but the most important thing was in my head.

BW: What is the biggest lesson you learned in biathlon?

OM: In biathlon and life, you learn something every day. You get more experiences each day. It is hard to say what was the biggest one, but I learned a lot of things that can help me in my next life.

BW: After Nove Mesto, the team left for Oestersund and you went home, did your wife say something like ’okay, I have this list of projects for you’?

OM: Maybe there was a list that waited for me for many years. But actually, we watched the (Oestersund) races on TV together. We were both really nervous. I never did that before. It was somehow strange but I really enjoyed it.

BW: How have you been filling your days in retirement, is it just chasing the kids and letting things happen?

OM: Life is really different; the most different thing is when you wake up. When you are doing sports, you know exactly what you will do almost every minute. Now, it’s like I do things when I have time; it does not matter. That is the biggest difference than before. Sometimes with the kids, you need a plan but it is still something I never experienced before. The most important thing was to just be with them as much as possible. They are really happy that I am there. It does not matter what we do.

With his biathlon career in the rearview mirror and a new sense of freedom, Ondřej Moravec is not sure what the future holds, but he knows what he is looking for. “I really do not know what I will do in the future but I am looking forward to this: to make a good decision; to do something again like I will love again like biathlon… It is time to step forward and start a new chapter.”

Photos: IBU/Christian Manzoni, Petr Slavik, Rene Miko, Evgeny Tumashov