The Swedish sisters Hanna and Elvira Öberg are among the big stars in international biathlon. Hanna Öberg, who won four medals at the recent World Championships in Oberhof, now admits that she initially struggled with her younger sister’s success.
For Hanna Öberg it is now a blessing to have her sister, who is three years younger, by her side every day in training and in the World Cup. “It gives you so much energy when you’re not just happy for yourself but for someone else,” said the 27-year-old in an interview with “biathlonworld.com”.
But first she had to accept the fact that her sister was also competing in the World Cup. “I have to say that in the beginning, when Elvira became super fast on her skis and was stronger than me in some training sessions, I struggled a bit.”
Hanna Öberg: “I’m happy about her success”
Both “spoke a lot about it at the time,” said Hanna Öberg, who ultimately recognized “that her success doesn’t mean that I did badly.”
So she is now in “the very best situation that a biathlete can have. We train together almost every day and we can push each other in most training sessions,” says the Swede, who won two gold medals at the past Biathlon World Championships and one silver and one bronze.
“I’m grateful to have them and I know that without them I wouldn’t have been able to improve my ski speed the way I’ve done over the past few years. I’m also excited for their achievements,” added her. Since both started for the Swedish national team, their relationship has become even closer: “We can share so much together, and I’m very grateful for that.”