Tiril Eckhoff has survived the entire season after a year of several challenges.
It is now clear that Eckhoff will not return as a biathlete. This is confirmed by the Norwegian Biathlon Union in a press release on Wednesday.
– Biathlon has been my life for almost as long as I can remember, and it’s strange to imagine a life without it. For the past year I have been on the sidelines for a bit, so it basically feels like a natural transition to the step I have now taken, and the decision to quit. It’s strange and a little sad, but also quite delicious, says Tiril Eckhoff in the press release.
The 32-year-old will meet the press on Thursday morning.
– After a lot of illness and a tough year, I feel the motivation, and that it is simply lacking. I have experienced so much, and feel that I cannot find the spark needed to set myself new goals. Then it becomes difficult to live the life of top sports. It is also very nice to be able to say that I am leaving here in Holmenkollen, it will be a nice ending, she says.
Eckhoff is uncertain about what the future holds.
Breaks when she hears what she herself says
– Now the new life starts. I would like to spend some time figuring out what I want to be when I grow up, and I want to study. Exactly what, I don’t know yet. It will be good to spend some time and lower your shoulders properly and just enjoy life a little, says Eckhoff.
Eckhoff: – A demanding year
In September 2022, Eckhoff opened up about the problems in an interview with TV 2.
The 32-year-old talked about the brutal months after she was infected by the coronavirus in March 2022. She struggled with sleep and described the situation as a life crisis.
– I crashed and got a taste of life, quite simply. As a top athlete, you are so used to pushing, training and managing everything as long as you train the most. But I found that I am very human. And gave me a real crack, said Eckhoff about the sleep problems in the interview in September.
Rørt Eckhoff burst into tears when she entered the hotel room
– It has been a demanding year and it is quite strange for me not to take part in trips, competitions and gatherings. At the same time, it has also been completely natural, given that I have been in the situation I have been in where I have needed to relax. I have received good follow-up from both coaches and support staff and kept in touch with teammates, so it has been a very nice thing, says Tiril Eckhoff in Wednesday’s press release.
In the months that followed, there were reports that Eckhoff was attending meetings with the national team.
– I can’t go into details about Tiril’s situation, but as long as she doesn’t participate in community gatherings, it goes without saying that she is not well, national team manager Per Arne Botnan told TV 2 in November last year.
Fantastic career
The last time Eckhoff skied was in the World Cup final in Holmenkollen last season.
This was Eckhoff’s punishment after the potato cannon duel with Bjørndalen
Among other things, there was victory in both the sprint and the pursuit start, which made Eckhoff the all-time winningest Norwegian biathlete on the women’s side of all time with 29 World Cup victories. Tora Berger had the record of 28 victories before Eckhoff.
Eckhoff made his World Cup debut in the 2010/2011 season. In 2020/21 she won the World Cup overall, and in the same season she became WC queen in Pokljuka with a total of four golds.
She has a total of eight Olympic medals, two gold, three silver and three bronze. She won three of the Olympic medals most recently in Beijing in 2022.
In the context of the WC, Eckhoff has 15 medals.
– There are three things in particular that I would like to highlight from my career. The first is the WC in Holmenkollen 2016 – the whole experience was fantastic, and that team feeling was enormous. To be able to participate in a championship on home ground is something I would wish for anyone who does biathlon! Getting to experience three different Olympic championships is also something I value very much, in addition to winning the medals of course, says Tiril Eckhoff.
