 Soukalová in 2019 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Gabriela Soukalová |
| Born | (1989-11-01)1 November 1989 (age 36) |
| Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) |
| Weight | 61 kg (134 lb) |
| Website | gabionline |
| Sport | |
| Professional information | |
| Sport | Biathlon |
| Club | SG Jablonec nad Nisou |
| Skis | Fischer |
| World Cup debut | 11 December 2009 |
| Olympic Games | |
| Teams | 2 (2010,2014) |
| Medals | 2 (0 gold) |
| World Championships | |
| Teams | 5 (2010,2011,2013,2015,2016,2017) |
| Medals | 6 (2 gold) |
| World Cup | |
| Seasons | 8 (2009/10–2016/17) |
| Individual victories | 17 |
| All victories | 23 |
| Individual podiums | 39 |
| All podiums | 56 |
| Overall titles | 1 (2015–16) |
| Discipline titles | 6: 1 individual (2013–14) 2 sprint (2015–16, 2016–17) 1 pursuit (2015–16) 2 mass start (2015–16, 2016–17) |
Medal record | |
Gabriela Soukalová, formerlyKoukalová[1][2] (Czech pronunciation:[ˈɡabrɪjɛlaˈsoukalovaː]) (born 1 November 1989 inJablonec nad Nisou,Czechoslovakia) is a former Czechbiathlete and television presenter forTV Prima.[3][4] She won three Olympic medals at the2014 Sochi Games and she is a two-time World Championship winner, gold medalist at the 2015 Kontiolahti in mixed relay and gold medalist at 2017 Hochfilzen in 7.5 km sprint.[5] In the 2015/2016 World Cup season she was overall champion, and she has also taken six discipline Crystal Globes: the 2013/2014 individual title, the 2015/2016 sprint, pursuit and mass-start titles, and the 2016/17 sprint and mass start titles.
Soukalová began her biathlon career in 2005. In 2007 Soukalová became a member of the national team, and in 2008 she took part in theBiathlon Junior World Championship. Her first experience at the international level was not very good: Soukalová's shooting accuracy and ski speed were at that time not as strong as many of her peers, and her best result at the 2008 Junior Worlds was a 22nd place. Nevertheless, her coaches gave her a chance to take part in further international competitions, including theIBU Cup in the2008/09 season. Her performances improved: Soukalová, despite some difficulties in shooting, became better thanOlga Vilukhina and helped the Czech women's relay team to win a gold at the2009 Junior World Championships.
Soukalová made her debut on the Biathlon World Cup in December 2009. Her coaches subsequently made the decision to move her back down to the IBU Cup, but her period at that level was relatively brief after she regularly took good results and won a silver medal in the sprint at the2011 European Championships. She was selected to represent the Czech Republic in the World Cup and at the2010 Winter Olympics.[6]
Her first significant success was in December 2011: in a World Cup mixed relay in Austria she helped to secure the Czech team second place. During the 2012–13 season she took four wins in theBiathlon World Cup.[7] She added three more wins in the 2013–14 World Cup season.[8] At the2014 Winter Olympics, she finished fourth in both the10 km pursuit and15 km individual before winning silver medals in both the12.5 km mass start andmixed relay (together withVeronika Vítková,Jaroslav Soukup andOndřej Moravec).[9]
At the World Championships 2015 in Kontiolahti Soukalová took her first world championship title in the mixed relay as a member of the successful Czech team. In the sprint race she took 18th place with three penalties, but in the pursuit she was able to climb to fifth place. In the individual race Soukalová won a silver medal, which became her second medal at these World Championships. At the final World Cup meeting of the season inKhanty-Mansiysk Soukalová managed to win a silver medal in the mass start. In the final overall World Cup rankings for 2014/15, she finished in sixth place with 752 points.
In the 2015/2016 season put in strong performances: at the fifth round of the World Cup on 4 January 2016, even two missed targets did not prevent her from making the podium. Gabriela showed good consistency, finishing no lower than 11th place during the season, and continued to lead the World Cup standings. In the 12.5 km mass start on 16 January 2016 she won and got her tenth victory in the Biathlon World Cup. She also helped to win a silver for the team in the 4x6 km relay on 24 January 2016, and took a third place in the mass start in Canada on 6 February 2016. In the US at Presque Isle on 11 February 2016 in sprint, she got the best result showing perfect accuracy and an excellent performance. The following days brought two gold medals in the 10 km pursuit and 4x6 km relay. Despite some poorer results in Norway, Soukalová took a better result in the sprint in Khanty-Mansiysk in Russia on 17 March 2016 clinching her the small Crystal Globe in the sprint with a total of 413 points. On the next day in the pursuit she got a fourth place, but with a very good level both in speed and shooting. She also took a second small Crystal Globe in the mass start with 241 points. She led the standings in the 2015/2016 World Cup from start to finish, and won the overall Crystal Globe on 20 March 2016 with a final score of 1074 points.
The 2016/2017 season started in Östersund, Sweden on 27 November 2016, where she and her teammates took 7th place in the mixed relay. The 15 km race on 30 November 2016 brought a 17th place, but later on, on 3 December 2016, she took third place in the 7.5 km sprint, and the next day she showed even better results - winning the pursuit, showing an excellent performance both in skiing and shooting. The next medal (first place) was taken in a mass start race on December 18, 2016.
On 21 December 2017 she became the firstbiathlete to be namedCzech Sportsperson of the Year.[10] Due to a leg injury she did not start in the 2017/2018 season, and later revealed that she will possibly not return to the World Cup ever again.[11] On 28 May 2019 she announced her retirement.
On 16 February 2024, Soukalová was introduced into theIBU Hall of Fame along withMagdalena Forsberg andRaphaël Poirée.[12][13]
She is the daughter ofGabriela Svobodová, a former cross-country skier, who won an Olympic silver medal in the4 x 5 km relay atSarajevo in 1984.[14] Later, her mother helps as a personal trainer.
In summer 2014, Soukalová started datingCzech professionalbadminton playerPetr Koukal.[15] They married on 13 May 2016, in the historic unfinished church inPanenský Týnec.[16] They divorced in September or October 2020.[17]
In April 2018 she published her autobiographyJiná (meaningDifferent), in which she revealed a long history of eating disorders.[11]
In December 2020 Soukalová posed for Czech version ofPlayboy magazine and charity calendar.[18] On 1 March 2021 Soukalová announced her pregnancy with her new partner Miloš Kadeřábek and return to her birth name.[2]
On 5 March 2024 in movie theatre Cinema City Slovanský dům, Prague premiered documentary about Soukalová namedGabriela Soukalová: Pravda se pořád vyplatí (Gabriela Soukalová: The truth always pays off) directed by Petr Větrovský.[19][20] Soukalová sang duet withŠtefan Margita namedTeď budu mluvit já (Now I will speak) for her documentary.[21][22]
All results are sourced from theInternational Biathlon Union.[23]
| Event | Individual | Sprint | Pursuit | Mass start | Relay | Mixed relay[a] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 2010 Vancouver | 60th | – | – | – | 16th | — |
 2014 Sochi | 4th | 29th | 4th | Silver | Bronze | Silver |
 2018 Pyeongchang | injured: did not compete | |||||
| Event | Individual | Sprint | Pursuit | Mass start | Relay | Mixed relay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 Khanty-Mansiysk[a] | — | — | — | — | — | 7th |
| 2011 Khanty-Mansiysk | 47th | 25th | 22nd | – | 11th | 11th |
 2013 Nové Město | 12th | 14th | 20th | 18th | 10th | Bronze |
 2015 Kontiolahti | Silver | 18th | 5th | 5th | 8th | Gold |
 2016 Oslo | 5th | 4th | 11th | 4th | 6th | 6th |
 2017 Hochfilzen | Silver | Gold | Bronze | 4th | 4th | 7th |
| Season | Overall | Sprint | Pursuit | Individual | Mass start | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Races | Points | Position | Races | Points | Position | Races | Points | Position | Races | Points | Position | Races | Points | Position | |
| 2012/13 | 24/26 | 800 | 6th | 9/10 | 313 | 6th | 7/8 | 227 | 8th | 3/3 | 94 | 7th | 5/5 | 166 | 7th |
| 2013/14 | 18/22 | 613 | 4th | 8/9 | 238 | 5th | 6/8 | 203 | 10th | 2/2 | 120 | 1st | 2/3 | 52 | 23rd |
| 2014/15 | 25/25 | 752 | 6th | 10/10 | 281 | 9th | 7/7 | 195 | 7th | 3/3 | 86 | 6th | 5/5 | 200 | 4th |
| 2015/16 | 25/25 | 1074 | 1st | 9/9 | 413 | 1st | 8/8 | 354 | 1st | 3/3 | 128 | 3rd | 5/5 | 241 | 1st |
| 2016/17 | 26/26 | 1089 | 2nd | 9/9 | 377 | 1st | 9/9 | 384 | 2nd | 3/3 | 95 | 4th | 5/5 | 265 | 1st |
| 2017/18 | injured: did not compete | ||||||||||||||
| No. | Season | Date | Location | Discipline | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2012/13 | 14 December 2012 |  Pokljuka, Slovenia | 7.5 km sprint | World Cup |
| 2 | 14 March 2013 | Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia | 7.5 km sprint | World Cup | |
| 3 | 16 March 2013 | Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia | 10 km pursuit | World Cup | |
| 4 | 17 March 2013 | Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia | 12.5 km mass start | World Cup | |
| 5 | 2013/14 | 28 November 2013 |  Östersund, Sweden | 15 km individual | World Cup |
| 6 | 10 January 2014 |  Ruhpolding, Germany | 15 km individual | World Cup | |
| 7 | 12 January 2014 | Ruhpolding, Germany | 10 km pursuit | World Cup | |
| 8 | 2014/15 | 18 December 2014 | Pokljuka, Slovenia | 7.5 km sprint | World Cup |
| 9 | 2015/16 | 2 December 2015 | Östersund, Sweden | 7.5 km sprint | World Cup |
| 10 | 16 January 2016 | Ruhpolding, Germany | 12.5 km mass start | World Cup | |
| 11 | 11 February 2016 |  Presque Isle, USA | 7.5 km sprint | World Cup | |
| 12 | 12 February 2016 | Presque Isle, USA | 10 km pursuit | World Cup | |
| 13 | 2016/17 | 4 December 2016 | Östersund, Sweden | 10 km pursuit | World Cup |
| 14 | 18 December 2016 | Nové Město, Czech Republic | 12.5 km mass start | World Cup | |
| 15 | 6 January 2017 | Oberhof, Germany | 7.5 km sprint | World Cup | |
| 16 | 8 January 2017 | Oberhof, Germany | 12.5 km mass start | World Cup | |
| 17 | 10 February 2017 | Hochfilzen, Austria | 7.5 km sprint | World Championships |
| No. | Season | Date | Location | Discipline | Level | Teammates |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2013/14 | 24 November 2013 | Östersund, Sweden | Mixed 2x6+2x7.5 km relay | World Cup | Vítková /Vítek /Moravec |
| 2 | 2014/15 | 7 January 2015 | Oberhof, Germany | 4x6 km relay | World Cup | Puskarčíková /Landová /Vítková |
| 3 | 14 January 2015 | Ruhpolding, Germany | 4x6 km relay | World Cup | Puskarčíková /Landová /Vítková | |
| 4 | 15 February 2015 | Holmenkollen, Norway | 4x6 km Relay | World Cup | Puskarčíková /Landová /Vítková | |
| 5 | 5 March 2015 | Kontiolahti, Finland | Mixed 2x6+2x7.5 km relay | World Championships | Vítková /Šlesingr /Moravec | |
| 6 | 2015/16 | 14 February 2016 | Presque Isle, USA | 4x6 km relay | World Cup | Puskarčíková /Charvátová /Vítková |
| Result | Individual | Sprint | Pursuit | Mass start | Relay | Mixed relay | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Individual events | Team events | All events | |||||||
| 1st place | 2 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 17 | 6 | 23 |
| 2nd place | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 14 | 5 | 19 |
| 3rd place | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 6 | 14 |
| Podiums | 5 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 39 | 17 | 56 |
| Top 10 | 11 | 27 | 24 | 18 | 23 | 13 | 80 | 36 | 116 |
| Points | 14 | 46 | 40 | 23 | 27 | 15 | 123 | 42 | 165 |
| Others | 4 | 7 | 2 | – | – | – | 13 | – | 13 |
| DNF | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| DSQ | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | 1 |
| Starts | 18 | 54 | 42 | 23 | 27 | 15 | 137 | 42 | 179 |
| Shooting | 2009–10 season[24] | 2010–11 season[25] | 2011–12 season[26] | 2012–13 season[27] | 2013–14 season[28] | 2014–15 season[29] | 2015–16 season[30] | 2016–17 season[23] | 2017–18 season[23] | Career | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prone position | 44 / 56 | 78.6% | 43 / 54 | 79.6% | 36 / 46 | 78.3% | 198 / 228 | 86.8% | 185 / 210 | 88.1% | 220 / 244 | 90.2% | 229 / 241 | 95.0% | 237 / 260 | 91.2% | — | — | 1192 / 1339 | 88.9% |
| Standing position | 48 / 57 | 84.2% | 35 / 54 | 64.8% | 38 / 48 | 79.2% | 194 / 232 | 83.6% | 177 / 212 | 83.5% | 210 / 250 | 84.0% | 220 / 247 | 89.1% | 225 / 265 | 84.9% | — | — | 1147 / 1365 | 84.0% |
| Total | 92 / 113 | 81.4% | 78 / 108 | 72.2% | 74 / 94 | 78.7% | 392 / 460 | 85.2% | 362 / 422 | 85.8% | 430 / 494 | 87.0% | 449 / 488 | 92.0% | 462 / 525 | 88.0% | — | — | 2339 / 2704 | 86.5% |
Media related toGabriela Soukalová at Wikimedia Commons
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Czech Athlete of the Year 2017 | Succeeded by |
| 5 km |
|
|---|---|
| 7.5 km |
|
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
