Matthias Ahrens, Head Coach

Born in Germany, Matthias Ahrens competed internationally as a cross-country skier and biathlete between 1978 and 1984. After his active career as an athlete, he became a cross-country ski and biathlon coach. He is a chartered professional coach certified at NCCP level 5.  In 2004 he became a member of Biathlon Canada’s coaching staff at the National Training Centre in Canmore, Alberta. In 2005 Ahrens was named as Biathlon Canada Coach of the Year. In 2012 he was appointed as head coach of the Canadian national biathlon team. In this role he coached two athletes to World Cup race wins: Jean-Philippe Leguellec in 2012 and Nathan Smith in 2015. Since then, the Canadian team achieved its first-ever male World Championship medal, won by Nathan Smith in 2015, followed by winning a bronze medal at the 2016 Biathlon World Championships in Oslo in the 4×7.5 km men’s relay. In 2015 and 2016 Ahrens won the Petro-Canada Coaching Excellence Award. After 15 years with the Canadian national team, in April 2019 he left his role as head coach, subsequently being appointed as head coach at the Biathlon Alberta Training Centre.

Matthias is excited to come back full circle where he started 15 years ago with junior athletes.

Contact Matthias: Matthias@biathlon.ca

Helene Jørgensen, Assistant Coach

Helene Jørgensen is a PhD candidate in the Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation at the University of Alberta. Her research field is sport psychology and coaching where she conducts research drawing on positive psychology. Specifically, her research interests include personal development in high-performance sport environments. Helene combines her research interest with her passion for coaching. In her role as a BATC coach, she strives to develop the person as well as the athlete, and help each individual to perform at their best.

Helene is an enthusiastic and passionate coach with experience from both Norway and Canada. She originally moved to Canada in 2015 to become a biathlon head coach for Edmonton Nordic. She has since gained leadership and coaching experience with Team Canada at various international competitions, including Junior IBU Cup, WYJC, IBU Cup, and World Cup.

Helene is excited to work with BATC this season, hoping to take small and big steps with the Team!

Chelsea Deschamps, Strength and Movement Coach

Chelsea has been a strength and movement coach for over 8 years and has been working with the Biathlon Alberta Training Centre for the past three seasons. She has worked with athletes from many sports and has coached Nordic athletes in both biathlon and cross-country, some of whom have gone on to ski on the national team. She completed her master’s degree in Kinesiology from the University of Calgary in 2016 and belongs to both the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology as an exercise physiologist and the National Strength and Conditioning Association as a strength and conditioning specialist. Chelsea firmly believes in strong movement foundations for the athletes and enjoys working creatively with them to establish stability and strength transferrable to skiing. As an athlete herself she competed in luge, national level university rowing, and recreational trail running races. These days she enjoys downhill skiing, trail running, climbing, and baking.