Erika Jänkä, 27, will remember Friday night’s run for a long time.
Erika Jänkä is one of Finland’s best biathletes. PDO
Member of the Finnish national biathlon team Erika Jänkä ran into a bear on an evening run on Friday in Kuhmo, near the Vartius border station.
Jänkä told about the incident on Instagram on Saturday evening.
– Yesterday’s encounter in nature will definitely leave a memory mark for a long time, and experiencing a strong, or one might say certain, fear of death is something you cannot prepare for.
Operations manager of the Kuhmo game management association Kimmo Piirainen told Iltalehte that the bear that attacked from the ditch surprised Jängä when he was listening to music with headphones.
After this, Jänkä had pretended to be dead. He had closed his eyes and pressed his face to the ground. So the bear finally left him alone and left the place.
Jänkä says on Instagram that he survived the situation without injuries.
– I’m speechless for a while, but I’m grateful for the lessons I’ve learned over the course of my life about moving around in nature and meeting animals.
– Thank you colleagues, family, friends – grateful for life, Jänkä concluded his update.
If you don’t see the Instagram update on your device, you can view it from here.