Shortly before the Christmas holidays, the biathlon brothers Johannes Thingnes and Tarjei Bö thought of the little fans and came up with a touching surprise. The children were thrilled afterwards.
Great action by biathlon superstars Johannes Thingnes and Tarjei Bö: Before Christmas, the Norwegian pair of brothers gave away some of the medals they had won over the course of their careers to children.
“We hope to give the children a memory for life and that we can motivate them to become the ones that Johannes and I cheer for when we are old and sitting on the sofa,” Tarjei Bö was quoted as saying on TV2.
The very special gift-giving took place as part of a regional biathlon race in Ullsheim, Norway, where around 40 children and young people were surprised with the gifts by the World Cup stars. “I think there were a lot of kids who got such a cool surprise when they went to the awards ceremony.”
Medal gifts from biathlon stars are well received
At the last World Cup of the year in Annecy, France, Johannes Thingnes Bö spontaneously handed out his honors to children. After third place in the mass start, he gave one his certificate and another his medal.
The 2023/24 overall World Cup winner explained: “We often get a medal in the World Cup when we are on the podium. We give some away to little children we see in the stands. If not, we take them home and give them to sports clubs. We think that’s great.”
The generous gifts were very well received by the children. A father tells TV2 that his son hardly wants to take the medal anymore: “Since he got it, he hasn’t talked about anything else.”
The 31-year-old Johannes Thingnes Bö is a five-time Olympic champion, 20-time world champion and five-time overall World Cup winner in biathlon. His older brother Tarjei won three Olympics with the Norwegian relay team and won eleven world titles throughout his career. He secured the overall World Cup in the 2010/11 season.