“I’m really glad I’m not going to retire,” Ole Einar Bjoerndalen said after the last World Cup race of the 2014 season.
The 40-year-old King of Biathlon has entertained the idea, but after becoming the most winning winter Olympian to date, with a couple of gold medals from the 2014 Olympics in Sotchi just a few weeks ago, he definitely is not ready to give up his passion.
“I think that if I were to quit now, I would severely regret it,” Bjoerndalen said Sunday, after finishing the last World Cup race of the season.
On home turf. In perfect weather. Bjoerndalen signed off for the season with a fifth place, but was in contention for a podium position to the very end.
It is the passion for training and biathlon that drives the veteran. Over the course of his amazing career and more than two decades on the international circuit, he has perfected the art of peaking just at the right time, when it matters most.
“I had three goals for the season: First, I wanted to peak for the World Cup in Oberhof. And I was. Then I wanted to peak for the Olympics in Sotchi. And I was. And finally, I was hoping to peak for the World Cup final here in Holmenkollen. I didn’t quite nail that, but I’m pretty satisfied overall,” Bjoerndalen said to Aftenposten after the last race.
And while others contemplate the end of the season party, the seasoned perfectionist is already busy planning for the 2014-15 season.
“I’m going to take two weeks off in May,” Bjoerndalen says, noting that 14 days might be a record for him.