Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: Olympics
Luke Davies
Sturla Holm Laegreid, who admitted to having an affair after winning a bronze medal at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympic Games, had previously been slapped with a competition ban for an incident involving a rifle.
On Tuesday (February 10), after winning bronze in the 20km biathlon event, Norwegian biathlete Laegreid confessed to having an affair three months before the competition during a live TV interview.
The Norwegian athlete explained how the past week had been the “worst” of his life after he came clean about having an affair to his girlfriend.
Speaking to Norway’s NRK, he described his now-ex-girlfriend as the “most beautiful” person in the world before admitting that the affair was his “biggest mistake”.
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The 28-year-old, who finished behind France’s Eric Perrot and fellow Norwegian Johan-Olav Botn, went on to say that despite being at the Games, “sport has come second” over the last week, before admitting that he wished he “could share the moment” with his ex-girlfriend.
The athlete did not name the woman, but she later commented on the matter during an interview with Norwegian newspaper VG.
"Even after a declaration of love in front of the whole world, it's hard to forgive," she wrote.
"I did not choose to be put in this position, and it hurts to have to be in it. We have had contact, and he is aware of my opinions on this."
The biathlete has since admitted that it was “really selfish” of him to overshadow the moment with issues in his personal life.
"Of course, now I hope I didn't ruin Johan's day,” the seven-time world champion said at a press conference.
"I don't know if it was the right choice or not, but it was the choice I made.
"I made the choice to tell the world what I did, so maybe there's a chance she will see what she really means to me - maybe not, but I don't want to think I didn't try everything to get her back.
"I don't want to steal the show. I hope this is just like a day-or-two thing. Then you are an Olympic gold medallist forever."
But yesterday’s event was not the first time that Laegried has made headlines for the wrong reasons.
Back in December 2023, he was prohibited from competing at the BMW IBU World Cup Biathlon by the International Biathlon Union after he was involved in an incident involving a rifle at a team accommodation in Lenzerheide, Switzerland. No people were harmed during the incident.
As reported by the Sun, the athlete accidentally discharged his rifle in the team hotel before making authorities aware of what happened.
In a statement posted to Biathlon World’s website, Laegreid said: "I am deeply sorry for this incident, and strongly apologise to the whole biathlon family, my teammates, and the hotel owner for what happened. This is a brutal reminder for me and for all biathlon athletes - how important safety routines truly are.”