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WORLD’S BEST: Mars Olsbu Røiseland has five proofs that she is the best biathlete in the world after the medal party in Anterselva. The two medals on the left are bronze. Photo: Matthias Schrader / AP
The major French newspaper L’Equipe has named Mars Olsbu Røiseland the best female athlete of the year. She is the first biathlete to receive that award.
– It was completely wild, just. Sigfried Mazet (male coach) told me that. He told me how big this was and explained how much it means to biathlon that I win this award. It shows how well known biathlon is in Europe and the world in general, says a buttery Olsbu Røiseland to VG by phone since the Christmas celebration in Lillehammer.
She has relaxed in quarantine with her husband Sverre, and is conservative in the selection of Christmas films with “Three Nuts for Cinderella” and “Trip to the Poinsettia.”
Two to three weeks ago, she learned that the leading French newspaper L’Equipe named her the best female athlete in the world, the first time a biathlete has received the award and only the second time it has been awarded to a winter athlete.
– It was difficult to keep it a secret. It is an award that I am very proud of. I received the award at Hochfilzen and had a somewhat informal ceremony there, says Røiseland, who explains that she had to hide the award from others in the hotel room.
On the VG list, he came in third place, behind Erling Braut Haaland (soccer) and Viktor Hovland (golf).
The queen of the World Cup – with seven medals and five golds (two of them individual) – of the Anterselva championship says at the same time that she now aspires to the Beijing Olympics in just over a year, where she aspires to crown her Pyeongchang’s only silver medal (sprint).
– It is difficult to have more motivation than I have just for this award, but it is incredible that I appreciate it. Especially when it comes to this award, which is an international award, says Røiseland, adding that she is proud and humbled.
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Biathletes were among the few athletes who could actually experience a championship in these crown times, as the vast majority of events were canceled due to the pandemic. She thinks yes may have affected the award ceremony.
– I can probably do it quickly. It’s been a strange year, and some have been so unlucky that they haven’t completed the championships they hoped for, the 30-year-old reflects.
Italy’s Dorothea Wierer won the World Cup overall, and Røiseland makes no secret of the fact that “a good position in the World Cup” is one of the big goals of the season. Earlier this season, he wore the yellow leader jersey for the first time.
Already on January 5 he will travel again, when the World Cup circus is resumed at the German Oberhof. From there, it is just over a month before the great climax of the season, the world championship in Pokljuka in Slovakia.
P.S! Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton won on the men’s side.
