There will be no more Olympic Games gold medals for Thingnes Bø. This season will be his last and he will therefore not start in Milano Cortina next year. Despite wanting to.
The last six seasons I have combined elite sports with family life. It has been fantastic, but very demanding. And as everyone knows, I would have liked to make an effort for another year. But an Olympic effort requires even more, also for those around me, says Johannes Thingnes Bø at an extra press conference in connection with the World Cup in Ruhpolding.
Praises his brother
He has prepared what he is going to say, reads it on his mobile. But cannot hold back tears. Especially not when he tells what his older brother Tarjei, with whom he has competed side by side throughout his career, has meant.
We are approaching the end of a dream. A dream that seriously ignited when Tarjei became junior World Champion in 2006. I was 13 years old and decided to experience it too, says Thingnes Bø before he has to collect himself again.
It's tough ... 2012 we were part of the same national team and it has been a fantastic journey. Thanks for being an exemplary role model for me ... and for everyone else.
The 31-year-old has dominated biathlon for a long time and taken 88 individual World Cup victories. Only his fellow countryman Ole Einar Bjørndalen (95) has more. In addition, Thingnes Bø has also won 20 World Championship gold medals (tied with Bjørndalen), five Olympic Games gold medals and five total World Cup victories.
Finishing on home ground
For 13 years, the national team and my sponsors have invested in me. They have given me the trust to let me do my thing all the way, especially after I became a father, says Johannes Thingnes Bø.
Next month, he will compete in his last championship, the World Championship in Swiss Lenzerheide. The last competition weekend of his career will then be on home ground, in Holmenkollen on 20-23 March.
I'm looking forward to enjoying the last time of this adventurous career, with the finale in Holmenkollen in March. I am incredibly proud of what I have achieved. I want to thank everyone who has helped me along the way.
It has been incredible.
Born: 16 May 1993 (31 years old) in Stryn, Norway.
Family: Wife Hedda, son Gustav and daughter Sofia. Brother of national team skier Tarjei Bø.
Achievements: Olympic Games: 5 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze. World Championship: 20 gold, 13 silver, 5 bronze. World Cup: 105 victories (88 individual), 29 second places, 26 third places. Won the total World Cup five times (2019, 2020, 2021, 2023, 2024).
Source: IBU.
