Even without Johannes Thingnes and Tarjei Bö, the Norwegian biathlon men dominate the first individual race of the season. For one of the fastest, the successful start is a very special story.
Sivert Bakken was actually supposed to be somewhere else. Not in Östersund, but in Obertilliach, Austria, at the second-tier IBU Cup. But because his teammate Vebjörn Soerum had to cancel the men’s individual on Wednesday due to health reasons, Bakken was called up to the World Cup team at short notice – and wrote one of the stories of the day.
Over the 20 kilometers, the Norwegian only made one shooting error. At the fourth and final shooting stage, he put a bullet next to the target and received a penalty minute, but kept himself in the top region thanks to his good running form. In the end, it was enough for a strong fourth place.
Sivert Bakken impresses with his comeback
Bakken burned the seventh-best time in the snow on the track and was faster on skis than his often so strong compatriots Sturla Holm Laegreid, Isak Frey and Martin Uldal.
The special thing about it: It was Bakken’s first World Cup start after 1,354 days. The 27-year-old won the mass start in Oslo on March 20, 2022, secured the small crystal globe in this discipline and was considered a future star of the Scandinavians – until everything suddenly changed.
A myocarditis forced him to take a long break. He missed two complete seasons. At times it was not even certain whether he would ever be able to return to competitive sports.
Biathlon: Corona vaccination threw Bakken off track
The disease occurred as a result of his third corona vaccination. “At the beginning it was still good. But after about three to four weeks, my body just didn’t feel normal anymore. It got worse and worse,” Bakken recalled about a year ago in an interview with SPORT1 .
For a while he couldn’t do any sport at all. In everyday life, no more than 30 minutes of exercise per day were possible. He spent many hours on the sofa. The uncertainty grew.
It took all summer, “almost half a year, until I got a diagnosis,” the Norwegian described. “Therefore, I also didn’t know how long I had to break with biathlon and when a return would be possible. I could only listen to my body every day and hope that it gets better. That was the hardest time of my life.”
Bakken finally sees light at the end of the tunnel
What helped him to keep his head up? His many strong results before the long forced break.
“If I had just had a bad season behind me, which would have frustrated me anyway, it would have been much more difficult to get through this long break,” said Bakken.
Only in the course of 2024 did the former World Cup winner finally see light at the end of the tunnel: his state of health improved noticeably.
At the beginning of the same winter, he then ran his first competitions after more than two years of break – and with surprisingly great success: Bakken immediately qualified for the Norwegian IBU Cup team.
Bakken: What’s next in Norway’s biathlon team?
In the winter of 2024/25, the man from Lillehammer finally returned. And that in an impressive way.
In the IBU overall standings he finished second. Behind super talent Frey. But ahead of Johan-Olav Botn, who won the World Cup race in Östersund on Wednesday.
Now Bakken’s return to the highest stage was more than brilliant. His declared long-term goals, the World Championships 2029 in Oslo and the Olympic Winter Games a year later in the French Alps, seem realistic again.
In view of the strong competition in his own camp – despite the absence of the Bö brothers – Bakken emphasized that his good result at the start could be very valuable.
“It’s not the worst time to be fourth. I’m really happy with the race I did,” Bakken told the Italian portal Fondo Italia .
Possibly this will help him to stay in the World Cup team for the time being.