Record Olympic champion Ole Einar Björndalen has advised German veteran Benedikt Doll to postpone the end of his career. The Norwegian believes that Doll should still take part in the 2026 Olympics.
Norway’s biathlon legend Ole Einar Björndalen hopes that German veteran Benedikt Doll will postpone the end of his career until after the 2026 Olympic Games.
“He is still the best German. He is still at the highest level and if you want to beat the best biathletes, then you need his potential,” said the eight-time Olympic champion and record world champion of the German Press Agency.
At the World Cup in Antholz, Björndalen went for a half-hour walk with Doll and tried to influence the 2017 sprint world champion. “I did everything I could,” said the 49-year-old. “I explained to him that he is only 33 years old. That’s not an age. When I was around that age, I won a World Cup in cross-country skiing and my best running performance back then, that was in 2006,” recalled Björndalen of his success in free technique in Gällivare, Sweden. “I was at my highest level then. And I think it would be a shame if Doll stopped now that he is in his prime.”
In eighth place, the Black Forester is currently the German Ski Association’s best-placed athlete in the overall World Cup, although things didn’t go according to plan for him at the World Cup dress rehearsal in Antholz. Björndalen’s words didn’t seem to have had any effect. “I think it’s pretty certain that the Olympics won’t happen anymore,” said Doll after the mass start race, but didn’t want to commit further: “I’ll decide that after the World Cup.”
Source: Stern
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