In the last 12 years, a lot has changed in biathlon. Now there is no trace of our athletes in the World Cup, but then they were heroes. Yes, and in other show teams on the track there were stars who had already been forgotten.
Why do we decide to remember 2011? Because we were immersed in this nostalgia by the Norwegian biathlete Tarjei Boe, who in the third stage of the World Cup in Lenzerheide starts with the yellow jersey as overall leader.
Live streams of World Cup races are available on Okko.
The last time Boe Sr. wore the yellow jersey was on December 17, 2011, at the 2011/2012 KM stage in Hochfilzen. He was only 23 years old then.
How cool was world biathlon back then!
Zaitseva is among the best in the World Cup
The 2011/2012 season was an update for our biathlon. The wounds had not yet healed after the failure at the World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk, when the new coach of the women’s team, Wolfgang Pichler, was presented to the public. Few people approved of the specialist’s work, but still there were medals in the cup competitions: biathletes from Russia won 11 prizes that winter!
Wolfgang Pichler
Photo: RIA Novosti
Furthermore, at that time there was a tough fight for the Nations Cup championship. And in this fight our shot skiers also won, ahead of Germany, which came second by only four points.
And then Olga Zaitseva took sixth place in the overall World Cup standings, having won two victories: in Hochfilzen (Austria) and in Nove Mesto (Czech Republic).
Zaitseva did not go into politics after sports:
Olympic champion Olga Zaitseva explained why she is not running for deputy
Makoveev defeated Svendsen!
The men were not extras either. Four won personal medals that winter: Anton Shipulin, Dmitry Malyshko, Timofey Lapshin and Andrey Makoveev.
For Makoveev, that season was a real success. At 29 years old, he has been on the World Cup podium more than once. And once he even won. It happened on January 12, 2012 in Nove Mesto. In the individual race he beat Emil Hegle Svendsen, Bjorn Ferry and everyone else.
Anton Shipulin
Photo: RIA Novosti
In the 2011/2012 season, our men also won the Nations Cup, leaving France without a small Globe. The Norwegians occupied only fourth position and 358 points separated them from first place. What a competition it was!
Of the ten strongest examples from 12 years ago, only Tarjei Boe remains in men’s world biathlon. Svendsen no longer races, the Fourcade brothers no longer perform, Shipulin, Bergman and Birnbacher have long since taken off their skis.
Another of our victorious stories from those times:
A nice victory for Russia in the Christmas race. How Shipulin dealt with Fourcade in 2012
Cuatrocade. Begin
12 years ago the Martin Fourcade era began. It was in that season that the legendary French biathlete won the Great Crystal Globe for the first time in his career. And he did not give up this title for seven long years! Johannes Boe himself only dreams of such a series.
As a result, the French champion surpassed in this indicator the great and terrible Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, who took “BHG” six times.
Martin Fourcade
Photo: RIA Novosti
Ole Einar himself was on his last legs: in the 2011/2012 season he only won two medals.
Another biathlon legend was on horseback. Magdalena Neuner won her last title just 12 years ago. During the winter she won 18 world and World Cup medals. 10 gold medals, two silver and six bronze! However, at the same time I almost missed the big Globe. The season finale took place in Khanty-Mansiysk and viewers witnessed the brilliant fight between Neuner and Belarusian Daria Domracheva. The German barely kept her first place.
What are the stars of the past doing now?
Stories
What do biathlon stars do after the sport? Neuner knits, Soukalova is mired in scandals
Tarjei was that prankster too!
And there were also crazy parties at the end of the season. There is no such scope anymore. Yes, and also compete in Russia. And the former president of the IBU, Besseberg, is judged mercilessly for his connections with the leaders of our biathlon.
By the way, did you also, deep down in your heart, put one of the Bo brothers in touch with Svetlana Sleptsova? The love story, unfortunately, never happened. But journalists and fans were only happy about the upcoming news.
Svetlana Sleptsova
Photo: RIA Novosti
How we miss stories like this! Can you imagine young Sturla Laegreid stealing Lou Jeanmonneau’s car now? Yes, this will immediately become a scandal. Hello to the stories of Simone and Breza-Boucher.
And in 2011, at the Khanty World Championships, Tarja Boe, together with Emil Hegle Svendsen, “stole” a car that the biathlete left to warm up. The story is, of course, funny and the athletes understood the humor. And a little later, the biathlete admitted that he would come to Moscow to marry Sleptsova! But it was just another joke, and after 12 years the biathletes had their own families.
Tarjei Boe remains among the most popular Norwegian athletes:
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The 10 most popular athletes in Norway. The Boe brothers defeated Klebo and Haaland!
