Athlete Webinar – Media & The Athlete

On 10 September 2025, the IBU Academy hosted an international webinar for athletes titled “Media & The Athlete.” The audience included athletes, coaches, and staff from around the world, all eager to explore the opportunities and challenges of the dynamic relationship between media and sport.

Expert Presentations

The webinar featured five highly respected international speakers who shared valuable insights, best-practice examples, and personal experiences on how athletes can navigate the media landscape with confidence:

• Christian Winkler (Germany) outlined the vital role of media in promoting biathlon globally, highlighting how athletes can actively contribute to the sport’s visibility in a constantly evolving media environment.

• Christian Dexne (Germany) offered the journalist’s perspective, stressing the importance of building trust with the media and reflecting on his extensive experience covering biathlon at the highest level.

• Selina Gasparin (Switzerland) provided practical advice drawn from her career, including how to handle interviews, address sensitive topics, and use media relationships to share one’s story both during and after an athletic career. She highlighted the opportunities that effective media engagement can bring while underlining the need for preparation and caution about how messages can be perceived.

• Christoph Iglhauser (Austria) shared his “golden rules” for media and PR, guiding athletes on how to prepare for press interactions and encouraging them to see the media not as adversaries, but as powerful allies who can amplify both their careers and biathlon as a whole.

• Dorina Szekeres (Hungary) together with colleagues from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), presented the IOC's social and digital media guidelines for athletes in the lead-up to the 2026 Olympic Winter Games.

Through presentations and discussions, participants explored strategies for handling interviews, press events, and public appearances with confidence and professionalism. With the Olympic season approaching, the event provided valuable tools to strengthen media presence and represent the sport at the highest level.

“The webinar provided valuable insights and practical examples on how to navigate the media landscape. The topic is extremely useful and important not only for athletes, but also for coaches who are increasingly facing media appearances, which will be even more frequent and closely analyzed in the Olympic season,” said Gerold Sattlecker, Head of the IBU Academy.

Stay tuned for the Coach Webinar - The Power of Soft Skills in Coaching on 2 October 2025.

Register here.

Please find all past webinar recordings on our e-learning platform, Learning Suite, here: LINK.