Sturla Holm Lægreid

Norwegian biathlete (born 1997) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sturla Holm Lægreid (born 20 February 1997) is a Norwegian biathlete. In the season opener of the 2020–2021 season, he earned his first World Cup win at the 20 km Individual.[1] He is six-time Biathlon World Champion, 2024-2025 Biathlon World Cup winner and 2022 Olympic Champion in the relay.[2]

Born (1997-02-20) 20 February 1997 (age 29)
Bærum, Norway
Height1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight75 kg (165 lb)
SportBiathlon
Quick facts Personal information, Born ...
Sturla Holm Lægreid
Lægreid in 2023
Personal information
Born (1997-02-20) 20 February 1997 (age 29)
Bærum, Norway
Height1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight75 kg (165 lb)
Sport
Professional information
SportBiathlon
ClubBærums SK
World Cup debut6 March 2020
Olympic Games
Teams2 (2022, 2026)
Medals6 (1 gold)
World Championships
Teams4 (2021–2025)
Medals14 (7 gold)
World Cup
Seasons7
Individual races145
All races185
Individual victories21
All victories43
Individual podiums63
All podiums101
Overall titles1 (2024–25)
Discipline titles6:
2 Individual (2020–21, 2024–25)
1 Sprint (2025–26)
2 Pursuit (2020–21, 2024–25)
1 Mass Start (2024–25)
Medal record
Men's biathlon
Representing  Norway
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 1 3 2
World Championships 7 6 1
Total 8 9 3
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place2022 Beijing4 × 7.5 km relay
Silver medal – second place2026 Milano Cortina12.5 km pursuit
Silver medal – second place2026 Milano Cortina15 km mass start
Silver medal – second place2026 Milano Cortina4 × 7.5 km relay
Bronze medal – third place2026 Milano Cortina10 km sprint
Bronze medal – third place2026 Milano Cortina20 km individual
World Championships
Gold medal – first place2021 Pokljuka20 km individual
Gold medal – first place2021 Pokljuka15 km mass start
Gold medal – first place2021 Pokljuka4 × 7.5 km relay
Gold medal – first place2021 PokljukaMixed relay
Gold medal – first place2023 OberhofMixed relay
Gold medal – first place2024 Nové Město10 km sprint
Gold medal – first place2025 Lenzerheide4 × 7.5 km relay
Silver medal – second place2023 Oberhof12.5 km pursuit
Silver medal – second place2023 Oberhof20 km individual
Silver medal – second place2023 Oberhof4 × 7.5 km relay
Silver medal – second place2024 Nové Město12.5 km pursuit
Silver medal – second place2024 Nové Město4 × 7.5 km relay
Silver medal – second place2025 Lenzerheide15 km mass start
Bronze medal – third place2023 Oberhof10 km sprint
Junior World Championships
Silver medal – second place2018 Otepää15 km individual
Silver medal – second place2018 Otepää4 × 7.5 km relay
Updated on 22 March 2026
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Career

Early years and first World Cup appearances (until 2020)

Sturla Holm Lægreid grew up in the municipality of Bærum near Oslo as the second of three children (with an older brother and a younger sister) in a sports-oriented family.[3] He was introduced to various sports early in life: alongside skiing, he trained in sports such as football, taekwondo, and bandy. At the age of 16, he focused on biathlon and attended the WANG Sports Gymnasium in Oslo for three years.[4] During this time, he participated in the 2015 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival in Bürserberg, Vorarlberg, where he won silver in the pursuit behind Sebastian Samuelsson and gold in the mixed relay alongside Mathea Tofte, Karoline Erdal, and Aleksander Fjeld Andersen.[5]

After achieving success in national junior competitions, Holm Lægreid was included in Norway's team for the Biathlon Junior World Championships 2018 in Otepää at the age of 21. There, he won silver in the individual race and gold in the relay alongside Sivert Guttorm Bakken, Johannes Dale-Skjevdal, and Endre Strømsheim. Shortly afterward, he contracted mononucleosis, which restricted his training for eight months and caused him to miss most of the 2018/19 season.[6] During this time, he restructured his shooting position based on video analysis of Martin Fourcade[7] and worked on his rifle. However, upon returning to Norwegian Cup events at the end of 2019, he faced significant difficulties at the shooting range and subsequently began mental training and meditation.[8] In February 2020, he won a mass start event at the IBU Cup in Martell. This performance earned him a nomination for the 2020 Biathlon European Championships in Minsk, where he secured a silver medal in the pursuit behind Sergey Bocharnikov from Belarus. Toward the season's end, Lægreid made his first four World Cup appearances in Nové Město na Moravě and Kontiolahti, hitting 59 of 60 shots[9] and finishing between tenth and fifteenth place in all four races.

Rapid rise to the world elite (since 2020)

Holm Lægreid (left) with Johannes Thingnes Bø and Sebastian Samuelsson after the 2023 Biathlon World Championships pursuit

In summer 2020, the Norwegian Biathlon Association included Holm Lægreid in its six-member elite national team. At the first World Cup of the new season in Kontiolahti, he surprisingly won the season-opening 20 km individual race with clean shooting during just his fifth start in the series, taking the yellow bib as overall leader. Over the season, Holm Lægreid achieved six more individual victories and finished second in the overall standings behind teammate Johannes Thingnes Bø. He won the discipline standings in both the individual and pursuit events, as well as the newly introduced U25 classification. At the 2021 Biathlon World Championships in Pokljuka, he claimed four gold medals: in the individual, mass start, men's relay, and mixed relay, where he was the starting skier in each race. His strength lay particularly at the shooting range, hitting 97% of his targets in the World Championship individual races[7] and more than 92% throughout the season. He was the second-best shooter of the winter after Simon Eder.[10] Holm Lægreid cited his lack of sprinting ability as his main weakness.[11]

In the 2021/22 Olympic season, Holm Lægreid won two individual and four relay World Cup races. He once again placed second in the overall standings, this time behind Quentin Fillon Maillet. At the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, he displayed shooting weaknesses and did not win any individual medals.[12] In the men's relay, he was responsible for Norway's only penalty loop as the starting skier and handed over in seventh place to Tarjei Bø. The relay, which also included Johannes Thingnes Bø and Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen, ultimately won the race, earning Holm Lægreid an Olympic gold medal.[13] In the 2022/23 season, Holm Lægreid placed second in the overall standings for the third consecutive time, again behind Johannes Thingnes Bø, who won 16 of the 21 season races. Holm Lægreid achieved one victory, in the pursuit in Annecy/Le Grand-Bornand under challenging conditions. At the 2023 Biathlon World Championships, Holm Lægreid and Thingnes Bø became World Champions in the mixed relay and won silver in the men's relay. Holm Lægreid also won silver in the pursuit and the 20 km individual race and bronze in the sprint, each time behind Thingnes Bø. Late in the season, Holm Lægreid missed some competitions due to a COVID-19 infection.[14]

At the start of the 2023–24 Biathlon World Cup season, Holm Lægreid struggled for form during the Östersund races and repeatedly missed the top ten.[15] He returned to the podium in subsequent competitions. During the Lenzerheide World Cup in December 2023, Holm Lægreid accidentally fired a shot in the team accommodation during dry-fire practice, having mistakenly loaded a full magazine instead of an empty one. The shot hit a stool. For violating the safety rules of the world governing body, he was disqualified from the mass start race in Lenzerheide.[16]

At the World Championships in Nové Město on 10 February 2024, he became the world champion in the sprint, ahead of Johannes Thingnes Bø. In December 2024, together with Karoline Offigstad Knotten, he won the World Team Challenge in both the mass start and the pursuit, which took place at the Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen.[17]

Biathlon results

All results are sourced from the International Biathlon Union.

Olympic Games

6 medals (1 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze)

More information Event, Individual ...
Event Individual Sprint Pursuit Mass start Relay Mixed relay
China 2022 Beijing 15th 7th 24th 6th Gold —
Italy 2026 Milano Cortina Bronze Bronze Silver Silver Silver —
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World Championships

14 medals (7 gold, 6 silver, 1 bronze)

More information Event, Individual ...
Event Individual Sprint Pursuit Mass start Relay Mixed relay Single mixed relay
Slovenia 2021 Pokljuka Gold 7th 6th Gold Gold Gold −
Germany 2023 Oberhof Silver Bronze Silver 4th Silver Gold −
Czech Republic 2024 Nové Mĕsto 18th Gold Silver 17th Silver – –
Switzerland 2025 Lenzerheide 15th 9th 4th Silver Gold 4th –
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*During Olympic seasons competitions are only held for those events not included in the Olympic program.
**The single mixed relay was added as an event in 2019.

World Cup

More information Season, Overall ...
Season Overall Individual Sprint Pursuit Mass start
Points Position Points Position Points Position Points Position Points Position
2019–20 115 43rd – – 59 37th 30 41st 26 34th
2020–21 1039 2nd 120 1st 319 2nd 306 1st 161 4th
2021–22 736 2nd 100 2nd 284 3rd 199 7th 153 4th
2022–23 1098 2nd 90 8th 375 2nd 425 2nd 208 3rd
2023–24 862 4th 135 4th 302 3rd 294 5th 131 8th
2024–25 1291 1st 165 1st 381 2nd 430 1st 315 1st
2025–26 984 2nd 125 4th 356 1st 329 3rd 174 3rd
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  • Standings through 22 March 2026

† – season in progress

Individual podiums
  • 21 victories (4 In, 5 Sp, 9 Pu, 3 Ms)
  • 63 podiums
More information No., Season ...
No. Season Date Location Discipline Level Place
1 2020–21 28 November 2020Finland Kontiolahti20 km IndividualWorld Cup1st
2 17 December 2020Austria Hochfilzen10 km SprintWorld Cup1st
3 19 December 2020AustriaHochfilzen12.5 km PursuitWorld Cup1st
4 8 January 2021GermanyOberhof10 km SprintWorld Cup3rd
5 9 January 2021GermanyOberhof12.5 km PursuitWorld Cup1st
6 13 January 2021GermanyOberhof10 km SprintWorld Cup2nd
7 22 January 2021ItalyAntholz-Anterselva20 km IndividualWorld Cup2nd
8 17 February 2021SloveniaPokljuka20 km IndividualWorld Championships1st
9 21 February 2021SloveniaPokljuka15 km Mass startWorld Championships1st
10 20 March 2021Sweden Östersund12.5 km PursuitWorld Cup1st
11 2021–22 27 November 2021SwedenÖstersund20 km IndividualWorld Cup1st
12 7 January 2022GermanyOberhof10 km SprintWorld Cup3rd
13 22 January 2022ItalyAntholz-Anterselva15 km Mass startWorld Cup3rd
14 10 March 2022Estonia Otepää10 km SprintWorld Cup2nd
15 18 March 2022Norway Oslo Holmenkollen10 km SprintWorld Cup1st
16 19 March 2022Norway Oslo Holmenkollen12.5 km PursuitWorld Cup3rd
17 20 March 2022Norway Oslo Holmenkollen15 km Mass startWorld Cup2nd
18 2022–233 December 2022Finland Kontiolahti10 km SprintWorld Cup2nd
19 4 December 2022Finland Kontiolahti12.5 km PursuitWorld Cup2nd
20 9 December 2022Austria Hochfilzen10 km SprintWorld Cup3rd
21 11 December 2022Austria Hochfilzen12.5 km PursuitWorld Cup2nd
22 15 December 2022FranceAnnecy-Le Grand-Bornand10 km SprintWorld Cup2nd
23 17 December 2022FranceAnnecy-Le Grand-Bornand12.5 km PursuitWorld Cup1st
24 18 December 2022FranceAnnecy-Le Grand-Bornand15 km Mass startWorld Cup2nd
25 6 January 2023SloveniaPokljuka10 km SprintWorld Cup3rd
26 15 January 2023GermanyRuhpolding15 km Mass startWorld Cup3rd
27 20 January 2023ItalyAntholz-Anterselva10 km SprintWorld Cup3rd
28 21 January 2023ItalyAntholz-Anterselva12.5 km PursuitWorld Cup2nd
29 11 February 2023GermanyOberhof10 km SprintWorld Championships3rd
30 12 February 2023GermanyOberhof12.5 km PursuitWorld Championships2nd
31 14 February 2023GermanyOberhof20 km IndividualWorld Championships2nd
32 18 March 2023Norway Oslo Holmenkollen12.5 km PursuitWorld Cup3rd
33 2023–24 8 December 2023Austria Hochfilzen10 km SprintWorld Cup2nd
34 16 December 2023SwitzerlandLenzerheide12.5 km PursuitWorld Cup3rd
35 5 January 2024GermanyOberhof10 km SprintWorld Cup2nd
36 6 January 2024GermanyOberhof12.5 km PursuitWorld Cup2nd
37 10 February 2024Czech Republic Nové Město10 km SprintWorld Championships1st
38 11 February 2024Czech Republic Nové Město12.5 km PursuitWorld Championships2nd
39 1 March 2024Norway Oslo Holmenkollen20 km IndividualWorld Cup1st
40 2 March 2024Norway Oslo Holmenkollen15 km Mass startWorld Cup1st
41 2024–25 3 December 2024Finland Kontiolahti15 km Short IndividualWorld Cup3rd
42 8 December 2024Finland Kontiolahti15 km Mass startWorld Cup3rd
43 13 December 2024Austria Hochfilzen10 km SprintWorld Cup2nd
44 14 December 2024Austria Hochfilzen12.5 km PursuitWorld Cup3rd
45 11 January 2025GermanyOberhof12.5 km PursuitWorld Cup1st
46 19 January 2025GermanyRuhpolding15 km Mass startWorld Cup2nd
47 24 January 2025ItalyAntholz-Anterselva10 km SprintWorld Cup2nd
48 26 January 2025ItalyAntholz-Anterselva12.5 km PursuitWorld Cup1st
49 23 February 2025SwitzerlandLenzerheide15 km Mass startWorld Championships2nd
50 13 March 2025SloveniaPokljuka15 km Short IndividualWorld Cup2nd
51 15 March 2025SloveniaPokljuka15 km Mass startWorld Cup3rd
52 21 March 2025Norway Oslo Holmenkollen10 km SprintWorld Cup2nd
53 22 March 2025Norway Oslo Holmenkollen12.5 km PursuitWorld Cup1st
54 2025–26 10 February 2026ItalyAntholz-Anterselva20 km IndividualOlympic Games3rd
55 13 February 2026ItalyAntholz-Anterselva10 km SprintOlympic Games3rd
56 15 February 2026ItalyAntholz-Anterselva12.5 km PursuitOlympic Games2nd
57 20 February 2026ItalyAntholz-Anterselva15 km Mass StartOlympic Games2nd
58 6 March 2026Finland Kontiolahti20 km IndividualWorld Cup2nd
59 8 March 2026Finland Kontiolahti15 km Mass StartWorld Cup1st
60 12 March 2026Estonia Otepää10 km SprintWorld Cup1st
61 14 March 2026Estonia Otepää12.5 km PursuitWorld Cup1st
62 20 March 2026Norway Oslo Holmenkollen10 km SprintWorld Cup1st
63 21 March 2026Norway Oslo Holmenkollen12.5 km PursuitWorld Cup1st
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*Results are from IBU races which include the Biathlon World Cup, Biathlon World Championships and the Winter Olympic Games.

Personal life

Moments after earning an Olympic bronze medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics, Holm Lægreid admitted in a live TV interview to cheating on his girlfriend of six months. Calling her the "love of his life", he stated the week leading up to the Olympics had been the worst week of his life after confessing his infidelity to his girlfriend and called the affair "my biggest mistake".[18][19] The remarks received widespread media coverage and generated substantial public commentary on social media and in international press outlets.[20][21]

His ex-girlfriend said that Holm Lægreid's actions were "hard to forgive".[22]

References

External links

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