Norway biathlete collapses at finish line

Senior writer

Sun, 13 Feb 2022, 6:51 am·2-min read

ZHANGJIAKOU, China — With one kilometer remaining in the women’s 10km pursuit biathlon, Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold of Norway was pushing her way toward the finish in third place. But she didn’t end up finishing in third, or fourth or fifth. Tandrevold, laboring the final meters of the race, finished in 14th place, collapsing as she crossed the finish line.

It was a grim ending to an incredibly difficult biathlon run in blinding snow. Medical officials attended to Tandrevold, who was reportedly conscious in the minutes following the race.

“I don't know anything more than that she is awake and being taken care of by the doctor inside the heating booth. That’s all I know,” team manager Per Arne Botnan said, according to Norwegian media. “It puts a damper on a gold and a bronze that we can't celebrate much yet until we know what it’s like with Ingrid.”

Norway’s Marte Olsbu Roiseland won the race, her third gold medal and fourth overall of the Beijing Olympics with one event remaining.

Norway's Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold (R) receives medical attention after the Biathlon Women's 7.5km Sprint event on February 11, 2022 at the Zhangjiakou National Biathlon Centre during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games. (Photo by Jewel SAMAD / AFP) (Photo by JEWEL SAMAD/AFP via Getty Images) — Norway's Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold (R) receives medical attention after the Biathlon Women's 7.5km Sprint event on February 11, 2022 at the Zhangjiakou National Biathlon Centre during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games. (Jewel Samad/AFP via Getty Images)

The race was one of the few events in the Zhangjiakou Mountain Venue that went off as scheduled Sunday. Many other events were postponed because of heavy snowfall that impeded visibility and, in the case of biathletes and cross-country racers, laid a thick layer of snow onto the course.

"The conditions were very heavy,” bronze medalist Tiril Eckhoff, also of Norway, said afterward. “There was a lot of snow, and a lot of slow snow. It was a tough race and I had to work my ass off to get a medal."

Tandrevold "tried to follow Elvira (Oeberg, silver medalist) and she hardly came to the finish,” Norway’s team doctor said, according to biathlon-affiliated media. “She was exhausted, so disappointed but not unconscious. She has stressed herself, she is eating and drinking now. I guess it's the cold and the altitude."

"It's probably one of the hardest pursuits I've ever raced,” silver medalist Elvira Oeberg of Sweden said. “The conditions were extremely slow and the snow was a lot softer today, so it was so tough.”