Holmenkollen Ski Center on the outskirts of Oslo has iconic status for most Norwegians. So does biathlete Johannes Thingnes Boe, who on next Sunday ends an impressive career with the season’s last World Cup race at “Kollen”. The 31-year-old, likeable biathlete has been the world’s absolute best for the past decade and everyone who follows the fascinating sport will send good thoughts to Thingnes Boe, who will now prioritize his immediate family consisting of his wife Hedda Kløvstad Daehli and their two children Gustav and Sofia.
Big brother as an inspiration and competitor
Johannes Thingnes Boe was born on May 16, 1993 in Stryn in Western Norway as the second youngest of five siblings. Especially the five-year-old older brother Tarjei, who is also one of the world’s best biathletes, was a great inspiration for Johannes while growing up and together the two brothers trained and competed more and harder than most at Ullsheim Ski Center in Markana. Johannes was a student at Stryn Secondary School, which has a special biathlete course and at the age of 15 Johannes won his first national championship. The following year he made his international breakthrough with 3 gold medals at the Junior World Championships. It was therefore not surprising that Johannes Thingnes Boe, as the youngest biathlete ever, was selected for the Norwegian senior national team in the spring of 2012.
Winter Olympics 2022 in Beijing – 4 gold and a bronze medal
Johannes Thingnes Boe made his Olympic debut in 2014 at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, where he achieved modest individual rakings of No. 8 in the mass start and No. 11 in the sprint. The 20-year-old Boe, together with the legend Ole Einar Bjørndalen, Emil Hege Svendsen and older brother Tarjei, was No. 4 in the team relay after Russia, Germany and Austria. Several years later, Russia was stripped of Olympic gold due to doping, but Norway has never officially been attributed the bronze medal, just as Germany and Austria’s medal status from the 2014 Winter Olympics has not changed either.
After the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, where Johannes Thingnes Boe won Olympic gold in the 20 km individual and 2 silver medals in the team relay and mixed relay, the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing was the biggest triuph for Thingnes Boe. 4 gold medals in sprint, mass start, relay and pair relay, as well as one bronze medal, is an Olympic record – a record that will probably never be broken.
23 World Championships – also a historical record
Johannes Thingnes Boe has won a total of 43 World Championship medals in the period 2015-2025, of which 23 are victories. The number of World Championship victories is thus greater than the two legends – Ole Einar Bjørndalen (21) and the Frenchman Martin Fourcarde (13). It is these three – Bjørndalen, Fourcarde and Thingnes Boe – who have dominated international biathlon over the past three decades. In addition to Olympic and World Championship medals, there is also great prestige and enormous prize money in the overall World Cup, which typically consists of 10 competitions spread over the entire winter. It was a special achievement that Martin Fourcarde won the overall World Cup for 7 seasons in a row (from 2011-12 to 2017-18), while Ole Einar Bjørndalen won the overall World Cup a total of 6 times over 12 seasons (from 1997-1998 to 2008-2009). Currently, Johannes Thingnes Boe has won the overall World Cup 5 times and in the last World Cup at Holmenkollen he has a good chance of matching Bjørndalen’s 6 victories. Going into next week’s World Cup, which includes three individual races – 10 km sprint (21.3.), 12.5 km mass start (22.3.) and 15 km mass start (23.3.) – Sture Holm Legreid (1.071 points) leads with 104 points ahead of Thingnes Bø, who has 967 points in 2nd place. It will be very difficult for Thingnes Boe to win the overall World Cup for the 6th time.
A new chapter awaits ahead
It was a big surprise for many that Johannes Thingnes Boe a few weeks ago chose to announce his retirement less than a year before the 2026 Winter Olympics, where the biathlon competitions will be held in Altholz-Anterselva in Northern Italy. Shortly after, his older brother Tarjei, who won the overall World Cup in the 2010-11 season, announced that he would also end his career after this season. A logical choice for big brother – the Boe-era ends on the same day. It is far from unrealistic that Johannes Thingnes Boe could win more Olympic medals at the 2026 Winter Olympics and thereby surpass Ole Einar Bjørndalen as the most winning athlete ever at the Winter Olympics with a total of 13 medals, including 8 gold medals. However, this will not be the case, as Johannes Thingnes Boe will now prioritize other things in life than biathlon.
Sources:
Lasse Lønnebotn: Brothers in Arms – Tarjei Boe and Johannes Thingnes Boe. Rivals and best friends (Kagge forlag a, 2021).
International Biathlon Union – https://www.biathlonworld.com/
