Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen has had an extremely successful season in the Biathlon World Cup, which he ended with one win and three podium places. The Norwegian veteran’s excellent winter was rounded off by winning a silver medal in the sprint. Nevertheless, there were rumors that the 34-year-old might hang up his skis. He now clearly contradicted this.
“Sjåstad Christiansen indicates the end of his career,” was the headline on the Norwegian online portal “langrenn.com” in March. “I probably said in an interview that I wanted to quit in three years. There was a headline from an online newspaper that makes the worst clickbait of all,” said the 34-year-old in “Dagbladet” annoyed about a headline that he didn’t like at all.
Afterwards, he “received a lot of messages from people who are worried about me and there are rumors that I’m in poor health, both physically and mentally… That bothers me a bit,” he continued.
Biathlon: Sjåstad Christiansen will “definitely continue”
The fact that the media works with “clickbait headlines is fine with me, but it goes too far when you take things to the extreme,” he added, brushing aside the rumors about a possible end to his career. “Yes, of course, I’ll definitely continue. First and foremost towards the World Cup in Holmenkollen in 2029,” he made clear in an interview with the Norwegian daily newspaper.
But even after the home World Cup, he doesn’t want to call it a day: “Then the Olympic Games in France will certainly be fantastic, but the Olympic Games are mentally very demanding, so I have the World Cup on my mind – if I’m good enough,” revealed Sjåstad Christiansen. He is also well prepared for the time after his career ends.
“When the time comes at some point, I have a lot of interests that I would like to start with,” explained the veteran, who did not want to go into further detail.
