“All joy lost”
European biathlon champion resigns during TV broadcast
Updated March 30, 2026 – 7:06 a.mReading time: 1 min.
Anton Ivarsson ended his biathlon career at just 25 years old. He gives a clear reason.
Swedish biathlete Anton Ivarsson announced the end of his career in the middle of a live broadcast of the Swedish Biathlon Championships in Piteå by “Expressen”. In the interview, Ivarsson said: “I have lost all joy in biathlon and it feels like it was the right decision to do something else.”
The biathlete repeatedly suffered from injuries, which apparently also bothered him. He explained: “I’ve had to deal with a lot of operations over the last few years, and this year it’s been particularly bad.”
According to the 25-year-old, one reason for the loss of joy in biathlon was last fall. Back then he “trained incorrectly”. The result: Since then he has been “completely depressed.”
Ivarsson celebrated his greatest success at the 2024 European Biathlon Championships in Estonia. In the single mixed relay he won the gold medal with his compatriot Sara Andersson.
Now it’s time to “try something new,” said Ivarsson, who has been playing the sport for many years. At the same time, he feels that the decision will lift “a huge burden.” He added: “Instead of just walking around and being depressed, I now have something else to look forward to.” According to his own statement, he had already made the decision to end his career in January.
