Norwegian biathlete Sturla Holm Lægreid has turned his Olympic bronze moment into a full-blown “please take me back” monologue, and honestly, it feels like something I would’ve read on Wattpad at 15 and absolutely believed was peak romance.
Lægreid, who’s one of Norway’s top biathletes, picked up bronze in the men’s 20km individual at the Milano Cortina Winter Games, finishing behind teammate Johan-Olav Botn and France’s Eric Perrot. Instead of just doing the standard ‘so happy with my race’ spiel, he used his post-event interviews with Norwegian media to confess that he’d cheated on his girlfriend.
“Six months ago I met the love of my life. The world’s most beautiful, sweetest person. And three months ago I made the biggest mistake of my life and cheated on her,” he said, visibly emotional. He explained that he only told her about the affair a week before the race, calling it “the worst week of my life”.
While everyone else was focusing on split times and shooting stats, Lægreid was out here talking about feelings. He said he’d already had something better than anything he could win on the snow, describing his ex as the “love of my life” and essentially his personal gold. “I’m sure many people now see me in a different light, but I only have eyes for her,” he said.
He also said that in the middle of all the chaos, sport had slipped down the priority list: “Sport has taken a back seat in recent days. I wish I could share this with her.” He made it clear he wouldn’t be naming her publicly, saying she’d already “had enough to deal with” after he told her what happened.
The relationship ended after his confession, but he’s clearly not ready to just cop that and move on. “I’m not ready to give up,” he said in one interview, making it pretty obvious that this entire teary TV moment was, at least partly, a last-ditch attempt to show how serious he is.
“I hope that committing social suicide might show how much I love her,” he said. “I’m taking the consequences for what I’ve done. I regret it with all my heart. My only path forward is to tell everything and put all my cards on the table, and hope that she can still love me.” He added that he’s “done that for her, and now the whole world. I have nothing to lose”.
Afterwards, Lægreid admitted he wasn’t sure if turning his medal moment into a global confessional was fair on anyone, including gold medallist Botn. “Now I hope I didn’t ruin Johan’s day. Maybe it was really selfish of me to give that interview. I’m not really here, mentally,” he said.
He also tried to frame it as a reminder that even elite athletes who look like they have it together are still capable of properly stuffing things up. “I try to be a good role model. I did something stupid. I wanted to be a good role model. But I have to admit that I make mistakes,” he said. “It’s painful to admit when you do something you shouldn’t do. And hurt someone you love. But that’s life.”
So on paper, this goes down as a bronze medal in biathlon. Off the snow, it’s a very public, very messy attempt at a redemption arc that most of us only ever see in fanfiction drafts and Notes app apologies. Whether it actually turns into the “happy ending” he’s hoping for is completely up to his ex, and I’m just gonna leave this comment here:
Watch the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 live and free on Channel 9 and 9Now, or catch every second on Stan Sport.
Lead image: Getty / X
