Only bronze instead of the world title
Biathlon star Tandrevold cries over lost gold medal
February 15, 2024, 9:17 p.m
What doesn’t help in biathlon is fear of shooting. However, Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold reports exactly that – and bursts into tears after winning bronze in the single mixed relay at the World Championships. The Norwegian missed the chance for the gold medal in the last shooting.
Shortly before the press conference, Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold could no longer hold back her tears. Completely distraught and sobbing, Norway’s biathlon superstar Johannes Thingnes Bö hugged his teammate on the podium in front of the assembled crowd of journalists and spoke comfortingly to the 27-year-old for a long time.
What happened? The overall World Cup leader had given up a possible victory in the single mixed relay with a penalty loop in the last shooting – in the end she only managed bronze behind France and Italy. Justus Strelow and Vanessa Voigt missed out on the third medal within three days for the German biathlon team. The duo from the German Ski Association (DSV) only took sixth place with four spares.
The 18-time world champion Bö didn’t want to say what he said to her at that exact moment. The duo quickly left the scene. Just this much: “I had problems too. If you look at it that way, I made just as many mistakes as you did.” Even at the finish, he tried to build up his teammate: “I’m proud of her.” If it had been enough to win his third gold in the Czech Republic, Bö would have moved within one title of record world champion Ole Einar Björndalen.
It is probably her disappointing shooting performance so far, especially at the peak of the season, that is slowly causing Tandrevold to despair. While standing, she made one mistake after another – she didn’t get through cleanly in any of her five missions. The results with ranks 25, 27 and 34 in the individual races are desolate by their standards. “I don’t recognize myself. I have no feeling, neither in a positive nor in a negative sense. I’m empty,” Tandrevold told Norwegian broadcaster NRK after the race. Now she’s even afraid to shoot.