Tarjei Bø


Tarjei is a Norwegian professional biathlete. Bø debuted in the Biathlon World Cup on 26 March 2009 in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, and won his first World Cup victory on 10 December 2010. In the 2010 Winter Olympics he earned his first gold medal in the 4 × 7.5 km biathlon relay. On 10 December 2010 he won the sprint race in Hochfilzen, earning his first world cup victory. He also won the following pursuit race and anchored the winning relay team.
Bø is the older brother of biathlete Johannes Thingnes Bø.
He won the overall 2010/11 biathlon World Cup. He finished five points ahead of his teammate Emil Hegle Svendsen.

Career

Early career

At his first Junior World Championships in 2006 in Presque Isle, Maine, United States, Bø claimed the gold medal in the individual discipline, and the silver medal in the pursuit discipline. A year later in Martell-Val Martello, Italy, Bø again claimed the silver medal in the pursuit discipline, and was part of the Norwegian relay team that won the silver medal. The 2009 Junior World Championships in Canmore, Canada began in disappointment: Bø finished as number 23 in the individual discipline with a total of five shooting errors. However, Bø would eventually claim the bronze medal in both the pursuit and sprint disciplines. During the 2009 European Championships in Ufa, Russia, Bø was the most successful biathlete, and claimed the gold medal in all four races he entered. At the World Cup finals in Khanty Mansiysk, Russia, Bø made his debut in the Biathlon World Cup on 26 March 2009, finishing 61st.

2009–10 season: Olympic champion

In the 2009–10 season, Bø continued his positive development in the IBU Cup, coming in sixth in the individual discipline and second in the sprint. This led to his appointment to the World Cup races in Pokljuka, Oberhof and Ruhpolding. In Pokljuka, Bø made an impressive performance and finished fourth; in Oberhof, he was part of the Norwegian winning relay team; and in Ruhpolding he was part of the Norwegian relay team that finished second. On 29 January, Bø was named as one of the 99 athletes that would travel to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada. On 18 February, Bø finished 21st in his first Olympics event. Bø was chosen for the Norwegian relay team, that claimed the gold medal before runners-up Austria and bronze-medalists Russia. At the World Cup stop in Kontiolahti, Finland, Bø ran the last leg for the Norwegian mixed team, securing the win for Norway.

2010–11 season: Overall World Cup winner

Bø became a regular fixture in the Norwegian team in the 2010–11 season. He started the season with a fourth place in the individual discipline in Östersund, Sweden, followed by a fifth and fourth place in the sprint and pursuit disciplines, respectively. On 5 January 2007, Bø won his first World Cup event, the sprint race in Hochfilzen, Austria, beating runner-up Serguei Sednev by 27.5 seconds. One day later, he won his second World Cup victory in the pursuit discipline. On 12 December, he was part of the winning Norwegian relay team. After his highly successful races in Hochfilzen, Bø took the yellow bib of the Overall World Cup leader. In the races in Pokljuka, Bø finished 12th in the individual discipline and second in the sprint. In Oberhof, Bø claimed his third and fourth World Cup victories. At the World Cup stops in February in the United States, Bø continued his good form; his worst result was a sixth place. In Presque Isle, Maine, he came in fourth in the sprint discipline. One week later in Fort Kent, Maine, Bø finished all three races in third place.
On 3 March, Bø won his first World Championship title as part of the Norwegian mixed team. Running the last lap, Bø secured Norway the victory; this was the first time Norway had won this event. Two days later, Bø came in third in the sprint discipline, behind runner-up Martin Fourcade and Arnd Peiffer. By finishing third, Bø won the Overall Sprint Cup. In the pursuit discipline Bø again claimed the bronze medal. On 8 March, Bø won his first individual gold medal in the individual, beating runner-up Maxim Maksimov by 40 seconds despite having one shooting error compared to Maksimov's clean shooting. Two days later, Bø claimed his second title alongside Ole Einar Bjørndalen, Alexander Os and Emil Hegle Svendsen in the relay, becoming the most successful biathlete at the championships with a total of five medals.
At the season finals in Oslo, Norway Bø, with five shooting errors, came in 44th in the sprint; his second-worst result this season. In the pursuit two days later, Bø started 2 minutes and 15 seconds behind; however, he pulled back the entire time and eventually finished second, 0.6 seconds behind teammate Emil Hegle Svendsen, thus winning the Overall Pursuit Cup. Bø had a narrow lead of 31 points to Svendsen in the Overall World Cup before the last race of the season, mass start. Svendsen won the event, but as Bø finished eight, he beat Svendsen in the Overall Cup by five points, winning the Overall Cup for the first time in his career.

2011–12 season

Bø started the season in poor fashion and finished 25th in the individual in Östersund. He was back on the podium in two of the three next events, however; he finished second in the sprint in Östersund, and came in second in the pursuit in Hochfilzen. He was also part of the winning Norwegian relay team in Hochfilzen, running the last lap.

Biathlon results

All results are sourced from the International Biathlon Union.

Olympic Games

2 medals –
EventIndividualSprintPursuitRelay
2010 Vancouver21stGold
2014 Sochi26th39th27th4th
2018 Pyeongchang13th13th4th8thSilver

World Championships

20 medals –
EventIndividualSprintPursuitRelay
2011 Khanty-MansiyskGoldBronzeBronze4thGoldGoldrowspan="6"
2012 Ruhpolding18th17th7th17thGold-
2013 Nové Město12th18th17thGoldGoldGold-
2015 Kontiolahti25thBronzeBronzeBronzeSilverBronze-
2016 Oslo22nd54th31st6thGoldBronze-
2017 Hochfilzen14th9th14th8th-
2019 ÖstersundBronze13th4th9thGold
2020 Antholz-Anterselva6th4th6th4thSilverGold

Junior/Youth World Championships

EventIndividualSprintPursuitRelay
2006 Presque IsleGold4thSilver4th
2007 Martell-Val Martello4th5thSilverSilver
2009 Canmore23rdBronzeBronze6th

World Cup standings

Individual victories

No.SeasonDateLocationDisciplineLevel
1 2010/11 10 December 2010 Hochfilzen, Austria10 km SprintWorld Cup
2 2010/11 11 December 2010 Hochfilzen, Austria12.5 km PursuitWorld Cup
3 2010/11 7 January 2011 Oberhof, Germany10 km SprintWorld Cup
4 2010/11 9 January 2011 Oberhof, Germany15 km Mass StartWorld Cup
5 2010/11 8 March 2011 Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia20 km IndividualWorld Championships
62011/1215 December 2011 Hochfilzen, Austria10 km SprintWorld Cup
72012/1317 February 2013 Nové Město, Czech Republic15 km Mass StartWorld Championships
82012/1328 February 2013 Holmenkollen, Norway10 km SprintWorld Cup
9 2017/18 2 December 2017 Östersund, Sweden10 km SprintWorld Cup

Relay victories

No.SeasonDateLocationDisciplineLevelSquad
1 2009/10 7 January 2010 Oberhof, Germany4x7.5 km RelayWorld Cup
2 2009/10 26 February 2010 Vancouver, Canada4x7.5 km RelayOlympic Games
3 2009/10 12 March 2010 Kontiolahti, FinlandMixed 2x6+2x7.5 km RelayWorld Cup
4 2010/11 12 December 2010 Hochfilzen, Austria4x7.5 km RelayWorld Cup
5 2010/11 3 March 2011 Khanty-Mansiysk, RussiaMixed 2x6+2x7.5 km RelayWorld Championships
6 2010/11 11 March 2011 Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia4x7.5 km RelayWorld Championships
72011/1211 December 2011 Hochfilzen, Austria4x7.5 km RelayWorld Cup
82011/129 March 2012 Ruhpolding, Germany4x7.5 km RelayWorld Championships
92012/137 February 2013 Nové Město, Czech RepublicMixed 2x6+2x7.5 km RelayWorld Championships
102012/1316 February 2013 Nové Město, Czech Republic4x7.5 km RelayWorld Championships
112013/147 December 2013 Hochfilzen, Austria4x7.5 km RelayWorld Cup
122014/1522 January 2015 Antholz-Anterselva, Italy4x7.5 km RelayWorld Cup
132014/156 February 2015 Nové Město, Czech RepublicMixed 2x6+2x7.5 km RelayWorld Cup
142015/1629 November 2015 Östersund, SwedenMixed 2x6+2x7.5 km RelayWorld Cup
152015/1615 January 2016 Ruhpolding, Germany4x7.5 km RelayWorld Cup
162015/1613 February 2016 Presque Isle, USA4x7.5 km RelayWorld Cup
172015/1612 March 2016 Oslo Holmenkollen, Norway4x7.5 km RelayWorld Championships
182017/1812 January 2018 Ruhpolding, Germany4x7.5 km RelayWorld Cup
192017/1818 March 2018 Oslo Holmenkollen, Norway4x7.5 km RelayWorld Cup
202018/1918 January 2019 Ruhpolding, Germany4x7.5 km RelayWorld Cup
212018/1916 March 2019 Östersund, Sweden4x7.5 km RelayWorld Championships
222019/207 December 2019 Östersund, Sweden4x7.5 km RelayWorld Cup
232019/2015 December 2019 Hochfilzen, Austria4x7.5 km RelayWorld Cup

Overall record

Shooting