That was nothing: Olympic champion ends biathlon career

Four years ago, former Olympic cross-country skiing champion Stina Nilsson switched to biathlon. Now the Swede has had enough of it.

23 April 2024

From: dl

In cross-country skiing, Stina Nilsson had won almost everything there was to win. At the age of 26 she took the plunge into biathlon. But there the Swede was never able to build on her previous successes. Nilsson only landed on the podium once during her biathlon time in the World Cup - third in the sprint in Kontiolahti, Finland. In cross-country skiing, however, the sprint specialist won a whopping 23 times.

Now Nilsson is returning to her roots and will start cross-country skiing again in the future - but not in the World Cup. The 30-year-old will take part in the Ski Classics in the future. These include, among others, the Marcialonga, the La Venosta and the 3 Zinnen Ski Marathon. “The gun will be put on the shelf,” the Swedish broadcaster quoted SVT Nilsson.

Stina Nilsson (here against Therese Johaug) was world class in cross-country skiing, but never in biathlon. © APA/afp / JOE KLAMAR

The decision to turn his back on biathlon again was a “very easy one”. Now it feels like “I was closing a book and opening a new one,” said the Olympic sprint champion from Pyeongchang. Most recently, Nilsson was no longer in the World Cup in biathlon, but in the second-class IBU Cup. What is striking is that, as a former top cross-country skier, she was never one of the fastest among ski hunters, even on the cross-country ski trail.