During the days of the Biathlon World Cup, Vanessa Voigt repeatedly received hate messages on social media. The DSV athlete drew attention to this in a podcast. Legend Ole Einar Bjørndalen then criticized the Germans. She now receives support from the other biathlon stars.
Ultimately, Ole Einar Børndalen explained, Vanessa Voigt had only herself to blame. He suggested that she should simply turn off her cell phone and ignore the messages from the anonymous “desk heroes.” A well-intentioned suggestion, but one that doesn’t do justice to the core of the matter.
The other active biathlon stars also see it that way, and they strongly condemn the hate messages online.
Hate messages “incredibly bad” and “sad”
“You should run at a World Cup yourself and try to hit five targets with a heart rate of 200 beats per minute. It’s not that easy,” said Norwegian Marit Ishol Skogan, among others, in clear words to the haters. It is “incredibly bad” that Voigt has to deal with this.
Juni Arnekleiv also finds it “sad” what so-called fans are taking out. Nevertheless, she emphasized that criticism of the Norwegian stars’ performances was limited. Almost a luxury these days.
Biathlon star “regularly” receives hate messages
“It’s just a shame when the fans turn against you. I wish I could say it hasn’t happened to me, but of course it happens regularly. Especially when you’re going through a bad phase,” reported the Swede Elvira Öberg from similar experiences.
Even though it’s difficult for her and she doesn’t actually want to do it, she has unconsciously followed Bjørndalen’s suggestion in the last few days. “I’ve put my phone away, I’m rarely on social media and I read less. I’m trying to isolate myself,” Öberg said of her way of avoiding the rude comments of anonymous idiots online.