Biathlon : “A mental collapse”, says legend Ole Einar Bjoerndalen
Norway suffered a huge disappointment in the mixed relay at the Milan/Cortina Olympic Games on Sunday , taking fourth place in a race dominated by the French team. Last relay runner Maren Kirkeeide, in contention for the silver medal, cracked on the final shot, taking two penalty turns despite having three picks at her disposal.
” I’m doing well, but it’s a real shame that I’m wasting other people’s opportunities when they’ve had such great performances,” she told NRK.
” If it had been an individual race, it would have been fine, because then I would have been the only one to have made a mistake. But when Martin [Uldal], Vetle [Sjaastad Christiansen] and Karoline [Knotten] do such great stages and give me such a good start, it’s a real shame to spoil it for them,” continued the 22-year-old biathlete.
Everything started perfectly for the Scandinavians. Martin Uldal and Vetle Sjastad Christiansen got the race off to an ideal start, handing over the lead at the halfway stage. Karoline Knotten then kept Norway in the match, passing the baton to Maren Kirkeeide in second place, before the latter had a nightmare with the final shot.
A sequence that surprised even the Norwegian camp. ” A mental collapse in Kirkeeide. It was surprising,” analysed legend Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, consultant for TV2.
The same was true of the staff. ” During the last shot, I was very worried about Maren. She was a little too quick to shoot the first bullet and she missed. After that, it was panic. It’s hard, but that’s how it is,” explained Siegfried Mazet, coach of the Norwegian men’s team, speaking to NRK.
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