After a long back and forth, Einar Hedegart decided in the spring to switch from cross-country skiing to biathlon. The Norwegian makes no secret of the fact that his conversations with Ole Einar Bjørndalen had a significant influence on him.
“I have with Ole Einar [Bjørndalen] who is of course a big supporter of biathlon, but he had a lot of good arguments that I took to heart,” said Hedegart, looking back on his much-noticed change to the newspaper “Nettavisen”.
The 24-year-old kept the winter sports world on its toes in the spring. After winning two gold medals in cross-country skiing at the 2026 Winter Olympics, Hedegart ultimately decided to switch to biathlon after much discussion. Bjørndalen had publicly advertised for the top talent.
“Commercially, biathlon is far ahead of cross-country skiing”
“The thing is that biathlon is a big sport, if I have the shooting under control, I have the opportunity to take part in all the races of the year. Commercially, biathlon is far ahead of cross-country skiing. And he [Bjørndalen] also believes that what I said – that it [Biathlon] “What I want to do is what I want to do – what’s important to take into account,” the Norwegian gave an insight into the discussions with the 20-time world champion.
He “has the feeling that biathlon motivates me even more than cross-country skiing,” said Hedegart, referring to his heartfelt decision.
At the same time, the Scandinavian is aware that not everything will go smoothly from the start. “I’m taking a pretty big risk just by betting on biathlon. Since I did so well in cross-country skiing, I would have hoped for good results in the winter, whereas in biathlon I might have to plan for one to two years to achieve my goals,” Hedegart urges patience.
