“It was a sad Christmas”
Biathlete mourns dead teammate
December 28, 2025 – 8:40 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
The death of the young biathlete Sivert Guttorm Bakken shocked the Norwegian biathlon sport. A teammate is now talking about her grief.
It’s been almost a week since biathlete Sivert Guttorm Bakken was found dead in a hotel room. The circumstances remain unclear and investigations are ongoing. For teammate Juni Arnekleiv, the 27-year-old’s death is still hard to believe. She spoke to the Norwegian TV station NRK about the “shocking news”.
“It was a very different and sad Christmas,” she said. “I have to take each day as it comes. It is impossible to prepare for how the emotions and the body will react in the future. Whether during training or competitions.”
For Arnekleiv, things only had to move on shortly afterwards. This Sunday she and her team were guests at the biathlon in the Veltins Arena Gelsenkirchen. “We want to go to the start to honor and remember him as a fantastic person. That’s what Sivert would have wanted too,” she said in advance.
At the same time, she admitted: “We thought about skipping Schalke, but we agreed that Sivert was someone who never gave up and always gave his best.”
Bakken was found dead in his hotel room in the Lavazè high camp in South Tyrol at the beginning of the week. He was 27 years old. According to the family’s lawyers, there is currently no evidence of foul play. The exact cause of death remains unclear.
The Norwegian Ski Association said on Wednesday that Bakken was wearing an altitude training mask when he was found. Whether there is a connection to the death is currently the subject of investigations. No further communications from the office are expected until the preliminary autopsy report is available at the beginning of next week.