A year ago, Johan-Olav Botn practically had to prove that he belonged in the World Cup. Now he is an Olympic champion, a World Cup winner and one of Norway’s biggest medal hopes heading into the World Championships in Otepää.
Expectations have never been higher for the 27-year-old from Stårheim. But he says he feels less pressure than ever.
“Last year, I had to prove quite a lot just to get the chance to race in the World Cup. So being able to perform right from the start when I got that opportunity was an incredible feeling. Everything just clicked. I hope I can feel that again,” Botn says.
From rising prospect to favorite
After three wins and several weeks wearing the yellow leader’s bib before Christmas, Botn emerged as one of the biggest favorites for the Olympics. His rocket start to the World Cup season also changed his main goal for the entire season.
“Going into the season, I was all in on performing as well as possible at the Olympics. That had been my big goal for the past four years. But when the season started so well, with three World Cup wins and after wearing the yellow bib for quite a few races, my focus started shifting toward winning the overall World Cup,” Botn says.
Then everything fell apart
But the momentum from the first part of the season wasn’t going to last.
For Botn, who was the one who found his best friend, Sivert Bakken, dead in their hotel room on December 23, the period that followed was incredibly difficult.
He describes the time afterward as a “state of shock where I just had to take it one day at a time and try to get through each day.”
At the same time, Botn was able to find a powerful source of motivation in the tragedy.
“Afterward, finding motivation came really easy, because I knew how much Sivert loved biathlon. I felt very sure that this was what he would have wanted me to do,” he says.
But when Botn was supposed to return to the World Cup in January, he got sick. He missed the first two World Cup rounds after the New Year, and with that, he also lost the yellow bib.
Once Botn realized that the overall World Cup title was out of reach, he shifted his focus back to preparing as well as possible for the Olympics.
“I had a long way to go to get back into shape, and it didn’t help that I also got norovirus at the pre-Olympic training camp,” he says.
Still, Botn returned home from the Olympics with individual gold in the opening event, the individual race, and a silver medal in the relay.
“Honestly, I really have no clue why or how I got into such good shape,” Botn says.
The road to the Olympics had been tough. With his fitness still shaky, Botn felt that he had gotten everything he could out of himself, both physically and mentally.
“I was pretty much empty for the rest of the championships,” he says, before adding:
“Luckily, we had about a week off afterward. That gave us a chance to let everything sink in a little before the final part of the World Cup season started.”
The recoil
The rest of the season went far better than anyone could have expected given the circumstances.
Botn finished in the top six in every race except two, won the final World Cup race of the season in Holmenkollen, and secured third place in the overall World Cup standings — as well as a permanent spot on Norway’s elite national team.
Then it hit him.
“There was a major recoil afterward. I walked around like a zombie for the entire month of April,” Botn says.
“I’ve never felt less pressure”
The 27-year-old says he needed that time in the offseason to recover and let everything settle.
As he entered the fall training period, Botn felt a new sense of freedom, with more room to relax and focus on getting better.
“When you’re on the Norwegian development team, you’re very close to getting a chance in the World Cup, but at the same time, the competition from the guys below you is so strong that if you make one mistake, you can end up right back racing the Norwegian Cup,” Botn says.
“Right now, I feel like I have a little more margin before I end up there. That also gives me more freedom to relax and just focus on becoming as good as I can be, without thinking that every mistake I make could send me straight back to the Norwegian Cup.”
“The best of both worlds”
The Norwegian federation’s major changes to its coaching staff, however, have not caused any major changes in Botn’s day-to-day routine.
He has brought Anders Øverby up to the elite team with him, while Patrick Oberegger is the new addition.
“I feel like I’ve gotten the best of both worlds,” Botn says.
At the same time, he believes the new coaching philosophy could lead to a more aggressive style of biathlon.
“A slightly less ‘safe’ approach. I hope it can lead to more entertaining biathlon this coming season!”
Aiming for the World Championships
For the 27-year-old from Stårheim, the World Championships in Otepää in February are the main focus of his first season with Norway’s elite national team.
This time, he wants to arrive with a completely different foundation than he had going into the Olympics.
“This season, I hope I can have a good build-up to a championship without getting sick, so I can feel that I’m arriving fully prepared and can execute the way I’ve planned.”