Mourning for the former Swiss biathlete Simon Hallenbarter. The Valaisan took his own life at the age of just 43.
Simon Hallenbarter is dead. The former Swiss biathlon professional, who took part in the Olympic Games in Turin in 2006, in Vancouver in 2010 and in Sochi in 2014, committed suicide at the age of just 43. This was initially reported by the Swiss newspaper “NZZ“.
Accordingly, Hallenbarter was on vacation with his partner in Austria at the time of his suicide. Further details of the circumstances are not known. According to “NZZ”, the former biathlete suffered from mental problems.
Hallenbarter began his career in cross-country skiing and switched to biathlon in 2002. There he made a name for himself with some respectable successes. In addition to his three participations in the Olympic Games, the Swiss also qualified for a total of eight world championships. In the Biathlon World Cup he made it into the top ten ten times.
One of the best biathlon sprinters of 2008/09
Hallenbarter recorded some of his best results in the 2008/09 World Cup season. There he finished the sprint at the World Championships in Pyeonchang, Korea, in ninth place. In the overall sprint ranking that year, he made it into the top 25.
Simon Hallenbarter gained notoriety in the early years of his career mainly because of his last name. In 1983, his uncle Koni Hallenbarter was the first and, to date, the only Swiss person to have achieved the feat of winning the legendary Vasa Run. After all, it was the former cross-country skier who introduced his nephew Simon to cross-country skiing.
After twelve years in the Biathlon World Cup, Hallenbarter ended his active career in 2014 and then took over his uncle Koni’s sports shop.