With Johannes Thingnes Bø, one of the most successful biathletes of all time is retiring. Martin Fourcade traveled to Oslo especially to be there live and personally tell his former adversary.
France’s former biathlon hero Martin Fourcade did not miss the opportunity to be there live at Osloer Holmenkollen at the great farewell of Johannes Thingnes Bø. “I booked my cards in January when I saw his announcement on TV. I wanted to be here to celebrate my best rivals and see his last race,” said Fourcade at the “NRK” microphone about the man with whom he had fought many hot duels in the past.
Perhaps the biggest of this was at the 2018 Olympic Games when the duo fought a duel for gold until the last shooting, which the Norwegian won.
“I had led to the last shooting and could have won with a mistake, but I shot two. Johannes won. It was a great duel. He pushed me to get better,” Fourcade recalled back to the race in Pyeongchang.
Fourcade via Bø: A real champion
The basis of every sporting rivalry is the quality of the challenge that athletes stand with each other, added Fourcade in the “Fondo Italia” discussion. “And I will always remember that. Because it is proof that I had a champion in front of me,” the Frenchman neated the Norwegian dominator.
Bø as an athlete was open and sympathetic on the one hand, but at the same time he also set standards in terms of discipline, “by gaining without interruption since 2019,” said Fourcade.
“We had similar qualities. I always had to be at 100 percent to beat him. He was more offensive than me and had enormous self -confidence,” summarized the Frenchman. Ultimately, Bø could have continued “a few years” in his eyes. “But he heard of his gut feeling and I respect that.”