ANTERSELVA, Italy — A postrace interview with the bronze medalist at the men’s Olympic biathlon competition took an unexpected turn Tuesday when he revealed live on air that he had been unfaithful to his girlfriend.
Sturla Holm Lagrid, one of Norway’s top biathletes, finished third in the 20 kilometer individual race, but was full of remorse when she spoke to Norwegian broadcaster NRK at the Milan Cortina Games.
“Six months ago I met the love of my life. The most beautiful, sweetest person in the world. And three months ago I made the biggest mistake of my life and betrayed him,” Lagrid said, choking back tears.
He said he had told his partner a week earlier what had happened.
“I’m sure a lot of people look at me in a different light now, but I only have eyes on her,” he said. “I’m not sure what I’m trying to say right now, but the game has taken a back seat lately. I wish I could share that with him.”
Lagrid’s teammate Johan-Olav Botn produced a spectacular shot in his Olympic debut to take gold, while France’s Eric Perrot, the World Cup leader, missed a shot and finished 14.8 seconds behind Botn for silver. Lagreide also missed the mark by one mark and finished 48.3 seconds behind, taking the bronze medal.
It was Lagreide’s first individual Olympic medal. He was part of the gold medal winning relay team at the Beijing Olympics.
But instead of celebrating after the race, he became distraught, crying and hugging friends. During a press conference he explained why he decided to tell the world about his personal situation on a TV broadcast.
“This was the choice I made. We make different choices throughout our lives and that’s how we make lives,” he told the room full of reporters. “So today I chose to tell the world what I did, so maybe, just maybe there’s a chance she’ll understand what she really means to me. Maybe not.”
He said he felt bad about upsetting his teammates with his very personal news.
“Now I hope I didn’t ruin Johan’s day,” he said. “Maybe it was really selfish of me to do that interview. I’m really not here mentally.”
