Biathlon: Marit Oeygard talks to Nordic Magazine
“Maybe it’s a little Christmas miracle”. When Nordic Magazine contacted Norwegian biathlete Marit Oeygard following her (surprise) selection for the Biathlon World Cup in Hochfilzen (Austria), that’s how she described her slightly crazy last few weeks.
It has to be said that after finishing ninth in the sprint and eleventh in the mass-start of the Norwegian selections in Sjusjøen (Norway), she was not selected for any international circuit. So it was via the Norwegian Cup in Geilo (Norway), held at the turn of November and December, that Marit Oeygard moved up to the IBU Cup.
“I had one good race, but the other wasn’t very good and I thought that a lot of other athletes had better results than me. So I thought my chances of taking part in the IBU Cup in Geilo were minimal”, she says. Except that Marthe Kraakstad Johansen, favourite for the ticket to the B circuit, wasn’t going and it was the 25-year-old Norwegian who took advantage.
“Shocked” after learning of her World Cup selection
“So I stayed at home for 24 hours before heading back to Geilo. I was tired after my two races, but I did my best to rest, sleep and eat to be ready for the three IBU Cup races,” she says.
Second in the individual behind Camille Bened and then fifth in the sprint and pursuit, Marit Oeygard – who grew up near Beitostølen (Norway) on a small farm surrounded by cows and cats, her favourite animal – first learned that she was continuing her IBU Cup adventure in Obertilliach (Austria).
“So I was looking forward to spending a week at home, slowing down and recovering from everything that had happened, she says. But late on Sunday evening, I got a call from the World Cup team saying that Ingrid [Landmark Tandrevold] wasn’t able to compete in Hochfilzen, and that if I wanted to, I could join them for those competitions.”
“Shocked”, Marit Oeygard logically accepted the offer. “I was hoping to go to the IBU Cup, but I never thought I’d be taking part in the World Cup this winter. I could only sleep for three hours that night, I was so shocked, she recalls with a smile. I woke up early, started packing and was on my way. I’m looking forward to the competitions and I hope I can keep my thoughts positive and stay cool [when shooting].”
Gold medallist at the Lillehammer 2016 Youth Olympic Games
To look back at the Norwegian’s career, it is rather chaotic. After discovering biathlon at the age of 11 , following in the footsteps of her older brother Harald Oeygard (2016 Youth Individual Champion), she says that it very quickly became a “hobby where I could develop and succeed”.
At the age of 16, Marit Oeygard entered a specialised high school, becoming the Youth Olympic champion in the mixed relay in Lillehammer (Norway) in 2016.
“When I was 19, I joined the Norwegian junior national team, but the season didn’t go too well and I only stayed for a year,” she says. After five years with Team 1.5, the team of a certain Ukaleq Slettemark, last spring she decided to train on her own, under the guidance of Roger Grubben. And that seems to have worked out well for her.
“An old soul trapped in a young body”
Marit Oeygard also has an idol: Italy’s Dorothea Wierer. “I can’t wait to measure myself against her and all the other athletes,” says the native of Tromsø (Norway). To describe herself, she explains that she is used to saying that she has “an old soul in a young body”.
Her hobbies, she reveals, are cooking, knitting and reading: “When I have days off, I can spend the whole day in the kitchen, preparing lots of food, especially sweets, and my brothers eat them before the sun goes down. If there’s any left over, I like to end my day with a cup of tea, a snack and a good romantic or dramatic book.”
At midday on Friday, Marit Oeygard will discover the World Cup, as her compatriot Gro Randby did a few weeks ago. With the hope and ambition of shining there to continue her way to the furia of Grand-Bornand (Haute-Savoie). “It would be a big bonus,” she concludes.
- Geilo: Marit Oeygard and Mats Oeverby win IBU Cup
- Martin Uldal and Marit Oeygard promoted, Johannes Dale-Skjevdal downgraded: Norway’s selection for Hochfilzen
