After sparking one of the biggest viral moments of the Winter Olympics so far, Norwegian biathlete Sturla Holm Lægreid appears to have upset another of his team-mates after knocking him out of contention for the sprint race.
The 28-year-old shocked international sports fans when he confessed to cheating on the ‘love of his life’ after winning bronze in the men’s 20km individual race and begged for his ex-girlfriend’s forgiveness.
Lægreid later revealed that doing so had drawn the ire of Norway’s biathletes and coaches at Milano Cortina, after he inadvertently upstaged Johan-Olav Botn’s gold medal win in the same event – which he had intended to dedicate to his late friend and team-mate Sivert Guttorm Bakken, who died just two months before the start of the games.
But Lægreid’s blunders have not ended there, following his late inclusion in the Norwegian squad for Friday’s sprint race at the expense of team-mate Martin Uldal.
Uldal, who finished 13th in the 20km individual, gave an incensed interview to Norwegian outlet VG, pointing the finger at the Norwegian Biathlon Federation’s ‘unfair’ decision.
‘I think it’s just wrong,’ he said, via Bild. ‘I feel unfairly treated and think it was done in a pretty bad way.
Sturla Holm Lægreid has upset yet another team-mate after gaining international attention for confessing he had cheated on his ex-girlfriend after winning biathlon bronze
Now a contender for the sprint race, his inclusion knocks team-mate Martin Uldal out of a spot
‘I feel I deserve a place on the sprint team. I think it’s completely wrong that the individual race should count for so much.
‘I feel cheated. I was very disappointed and lost a little spark. But they’ve made their decision and there’s little I can do. I’m so disappointed. It’s really bad.
‘And it’s also annoying because I’ve been performing so strongly lately.
Uldal has recorded a number of sprint podiums at World Cup events this season, comparative to Lægreid – but in the eyes of his nation’s coach Per-Arne Botnan, that means little after arriving in the Dolomites.
‘It was a choice between Sturla and Martin, and after the medal, the choice fell on Sturla,’ he said. ‘I understand that he is disappointed. All five of us here want to run as many races as possible.’
Lægreid’s stealing of the limelight after his public confession had already ruffled the feathers of his compatriots, with the athlete admitting that he had bought them dinner to apologise.
‘I wanted to speak in front of everyone and apologise to everyone,’ Lægreid said on Thursday. ‘I said it had been a tough week and that I hadn’t been myself.
‘I hadn’t thought through what I did well enough. I apologised to everyone who was dragged in. Especially to Johan-Olav (Botn), who had the moment he deserved to enjoy, without me having to say what I said.
Lægreid previously came under fire for upstaging the gold medal win of compatriot Johan-Olav Botn
‘I ruined the party, you could say. It was a big elephant in the room and important to take.’
Norway’s biathlon coach Siegfried Mazet added: ‘It was a bit surprising what he said after the bronze medal. The world was surprised. I think he understood afterwards that it was not the right place to do it. Yesterday, he apologised to everyone.’
Lægreid is not expected to find emotional solace in his romantic life, after his ex-girlfriend, who wished to remain anonymous, shared in the wake of his confession that she still found his infidelity ‘hard to forgive’.
‘Even after a declaration of love in front of the whole world, it’s hard to forgive,’ she wrote in a statement to VG. ‘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.’
Lægreid’s outburst was met with furious criticism – with the athlete himself saying that he had committed ‘social suicide’ – and prompted Norwegian biathlete legend Ole Einar Bjorndalen to label him ‘selfish’.
‘Should I be honest? Crazy selfish. It’s shocking,’ Bjorndalen said. ‘Norway wins an Olympic gold medal, and he takes his first bronze medal. That he has cheated on his greatest love… that’s kind of his problem.
‘He probably hopes to win her back and will do everything for it, but I don’t need to know anything about it. Only a few people do, and that’s his problem.
‘Today we’re going to pay tribute to Botn. We’re not going to pay tribute to Sturla’s frustrated love life.’
