Norwegian biathlete Marte Olsbu Roeiseland was the first name of last year’s IBU World Championships Biathlon 2020 in Anterselva. As the first biathlete in history, she won seven medals at the same World Championships and with the achievement impressed the professional public as well as the fans.
The overview of the favourites before the start of the IBU World Championships Biathlon 2021 Pokljuka must have the name of Marte Olsbu Roeiseland included. The 30-year-old Norwegian wrote a special chapter in biathlon history last year, as she took the podium positions seven times at the World Championships in the Italian Dolomites, five times the highest, and pushed the brightest stars of world biathlon Frenchman Martin Fourcade and her compatriot Johannes Thingnes Boe to the background. With her achievement, she became the first to win a medal in every race she competed at the World Championships.
Last year, Olsbu Roeiseland tactically missed a few appearances at the IBU World Cups and focused on the World Championships, as she set a goal of winning the first individual medal at the championships – until then she only had medals from World Championships relay races in her collection. Already after the first races, it became clear that she would go far beyond the goal she set.
The competitor, who was not at the top in the youth categories, partially because she joined biathlon only at the age of 15 and reached the top level a little later, opened the Championships with the title of sprint World Champion. She continued with bronze medals in pursuit and individual race, and to conclude the championships with style she won three gold medals in relays – women’s, mixed and single mixed, and to wave goodbye to Italy she won another World Champion title in mass start race.
Competitor from Froland also won two silver Olympic medals at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympic Games in sprint and mixed relay, in addition to her eight World Cup wins. She also reached the podium in Pokljuka where she finished third in sprint in the season 2016/17. Her inaugural World Cup season was 2012/13.
Norwegian is at the top this season too. She leads in the World Cup series after a number of excellent results. She won in the pursuit and the mass start race in Hochfilzen, Austria, and stood on the winner’s podium six times. She is a valuable member of Norwegian relays.