Johannes Thingnes Bö missed his sixth gold in Oberhof, but set several records at the Biathlon World Championships in Thuringia and was surprised on the final day.
After the last competition, the Norwegian was given a sign at the entrance to the town – Oberhof was then renamed Boeberhof in recognition of his success. “Thank you, that’s really nice”said the 29-year-old, who had dominated the title fights in Thuringia like no other ski hunter ever before.
Bö was the first male biathlete to win seven medals at a world championship. Finally, the 29-year-old took bronze in the mass start on Sunday, but missed his sixth gold with a miss on the last shot.
The exceptional talent had previously collected five golds and one silver and was on the podium in all seven starts. Bö’s compatriot Marte Olsbu Röiseland was the only one to have won a World Championship medal in all seven races in Antholz in 2020, including five titles.
Bö chasing record world champion Björndalen
Bö had already missed the Golden Slam with seven titles in all seven World Championship races due to relay silver on Saturday. The five-time Olympic champion now has a total of 17 World Cup successes under his belt. The record world champion is the Norwegian biathlon icon Ole Einar Björndalen with 20 gold medals.
Bö had already set a record of victories in a row before the final: The exceptional talent remained undefeated in nine individual competitions, which neither a woman nor a man managed before him. Before the World Championships he had remained unbeaten in six races in a row, at the World Championships three more came with sprint, pursuit and individual. Before Bö, the record was held by Swede Magdalena Forsberg, who could not be beaten eight times in a row in the 2000/2001 season.