Biathlete experienced real horror.

“I was scared to death”: biathlete attacked by bear

“Experiencing the fear of certain death is something you cannot prepare for”: these are the words of Finnish biathlete Erika Jänkä, who recently experienced a real nightmare.

29 May 2023

From: det

Actually, she just wanted to do a short run in the local forest. But this project turned into absolute horror for the Finnish biathlete Erika Jänkä. A bear was after her, but miraculously she escaped with only a fright.

What happened? Jänkä, who is active in the World Cup but is still waiting for her big breakthrough, wanted to go jogging in a forest in the Finnish town of Kuhmo on the border with Russia. However, in the middle of training, she encountered a wild bear. “I was running with headphones on when I suddenly saw a bear ten meters away from me in the forest to the right,” she told the Finnish newspaper Kuholainen. The biathlete apparently didn't notice the animal, but suddenly a second bear appeared. And he was after Jänkä.

Jänkä played dead – that saved her life

The biathlete was scared to death in those moments – and yet she acted with lightning speed. The 27-year-old lay down on the floor and pretended to be dead. “I could feel him sniffing my ankles and feet. I thought the end had come.”

As if by a miracle, the bear stopped sniffing and ran away. The biathlete remained unharmed. “This moment will remain in my memory forever. I'm pretty speechless, but also grateful for what I've learned in my life about nature and encounters with animals." These lessons probably saved the Olympic participant's life.