17:02. On Friday, Finnish biathlete Venla Lehtonen, who finished seventh in the pursuit at Le Grand-Bornand (Haute-Savoie) this winter, announced her withdrawal from the World Championships in Lenzerheide (Switzerland).
“I had a lot of bad luck in January when I fell ill, first with [gastroenteritis] and shortly after with flu. I’ve recovered from those two illnesses and, after all that, we did detailed tests to make sure everything was fine before resuming training, she wrote on Instagram. I feel fine physically, but the illness unfortunately triggered a slight inflammatory reaction in my heart.”
As a result, the 29-year-old biathlete with 88 World Cup starts will have to take a rest period and withdraw from the World Championships.“It’s hard to accept and understand, it’s heartbreaking and unfair, but health always comes first,” she says. Reservist Erika Jänkä should take her place in the women’s squad.
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