Despite the victory in Oberhof
Biathlon winner emotional: “Extremely sad”
Updated on January 8, 2026 – 2:01 p.mReading time: 1 min.
Tomasso Giacomel won the sprint in Oberhof. However, he couldn’t be in a good mood because of that.
After his victory in the early sprint race in Oberhof, Tomasso Giacomel reacted emotionally in the interview. When asked whether he was happy about his first place, he replied on ARD: “No. It’s really strange today. That was one of my best performances in biathlon – and at the same time one of my worst, because Sivert is no longer here. That makes me extremely sad.”
Norwegian biathlete Sivert Guttorm Bakken was found dead in his hotel room on December 23rd. Bakken and Giacomel were very good friends, and the death weighed heavily on Giacomel.
The Frenchman still tries to look forward as best he can: “Even though Sivert is no longer here, I concentrated on training because of the Christmas break. And that worked well.”
Because of his mixed feelings, “the award ceremony will be very emotional, certainly.” Already on Wednesday, Giacomel cried in an interview because of his deceased friend. “I immediately started crying. He should be here and he’s not,” Giacomel said. He would dedicate a possible Olympic victory to his late friend. The Olympic Games start on February 7th in South Tyrol (Italy).