The biathlon scene almost lost one of its most famous and successful names last season. As Swedish double Olympic champion Hanna Öberg revealed, before the new year she thought about putting her skis and rifle away once and for all.
The 2022/23 biathlon season started according to plan for Hanna Öberg. In the Kontiolahti individual, the first race of the World Cup winter, she secured victory straight away. But then a long, unexpected and inexplicable dry spell followed.
After the races in Annecy, France, at the end of December, the time had come: Öberg wanted to pull the ripcord and not only end the season early, but also her career. She now explained this in an “SVT” documentary that followed the Scandinavians’ biathlon team up close last year.
Biathlon star speaks of a “new feeling”
“I was pretty frustrated,” explained the two-time Olympic champion. She asked herself whether it was still worth all the effort if she no longer enjoyed it: “And I didn’t have the feeling that it was that much fun.”
“I think it was the first time that I thought that there was something more than just traveling to competitions and training camps. That was a new feeling,” said the 27-year-old, describing her thoughts during this phase.
In the end, Öberg decided against ending his career early. And this decision would pay off later that season. Until the World Cup in Oberhof, the Swede got back into shape little by little. She then became the most successful athlete in the competitions.
Öberg won both the individual and the mass start in Oberhof. She also took silver in the sprint and bronze in the relay and celebrated the best World Cup performance of her career, which had been in jeopardy just a few weeks before.