Johannes Dale-Skjevdal has had a turbulent 2024/25 season in which he had to commute between the first and second biathlon league. Then came the birth of his son in the fall, which turned everything upside down, as he explained just a few weeks before the start of the World Cup winter.
For Johannes Dale-Skjevdal, the priorities in life have completely shifted in the last few weeks. Biathlon has moved down in the rankings, as the 28-year-old revealed in an interview with TV2 – but that doesn’t necessarily mean a disadvantage for the coming winter.
“It’s everything I dreamed of and more,” he says, still beaming about the birth of his son Jon, who was born in mid-September: “I really appreciate the new life.”
The new role as a father also brought changes to his work as a biathlete. “Before, I was probably someone who could get lost in things a bit. Now I think less about biathlon than before. And I notice that I concentrate more on my training now than before. I’m much more efficient in my training sessions,” noted the Norwegian.
Biathlon professional Dale-Skjevdal doesn’t want a second “rollercoaster season”
He also makes sure to get “enough sleep and good exercise” in order to best prepare for the strenuous season. Dale-Skjevdal is now heading to the altitude training camp to put the finishing touches to his form.
The biathlete had to deal with persistent back pain until the end. He regularly underwent electrotherapy to get the problems under control.
After a “rollercoaster season,” as he summarized to “Langrenn.com” in the spring, Johannes Dale-Skjevdal wants to celebrate lasting success again in the 2025/26 Olympic season. “My body has been tested by racing this winter. I’m hungry for revenge and that increases my desire for success,” he announced at the time.
In the strong Norwegian squad he had to lose out again and again and compete in the IBU Cup.