Biathlon star sorted out - he walked through the "darkest valley"
Created: 12/29/2022, 2:10 p.m
By: Melanie Gottschalk
Johannes Dale was eliminated from the Norwegian team last season, this year he's back on top of the podium.
© Christian Manzoni/imago
Last season, biathlon star Johannes Dale missed the 2022 Olympics due to poor performance.
Now he's back at the top.
Bohinj - Last season was a disaster for Norwegian biathlon star Johannes Dale.
After the first race weekend in Östersund, Sweden, he was sorted out of the team due to poor performance.
That had far-reaching consequences for him, he missed the 2022 Olympics in Beijing.
“Of course I thought that could happen.
It's not coming out of the blue," Dale told Norwegian broadcaster TV2 at the time. "I was hoping I'd get another weekend to show what I could do, but I'm not shocked or incredibly angry."
Biathlon: Johannes Dale reached the top again
A year later, the Norwegian Johannes Dale is back at the top of the biathlon world cup.
In the last World Cup race of the year in France, a mass start, he ended up on top of the podium.
A triumphant moment for the 25-year-old in this World Cup winter, it was already his second individual win of the season.
"In normal life you can experience worse things, but from a sporting point of view I have experienced some of the toughest things that you can experience," Dale looked
back on the past biathlon season in the Norwegian daily
Verdens Gang .
He went through the "darkest valley".
Biathlon: Mental coach helps Johannes Dale out of the "darkest valley"
"It makes me proud to have made this turnaround out of the darkest valley.
I couldn't ask for much more," said Dale.
Contact with mental coach Öyvind Hammer, who worked with Norwegian biathlon legend Ole Einar Björndalen and accompanied him throughout his career, also helped him.
Hammer helped Dale get an outside perspective on the biathlon circuit.
From mid-February 2023, the Biathlon World Championships will take place in Oberhof.
Then Johannes Dale will certainly attack again, who has already won two silver and one bronze medal at the World Championships in 2020 and 2021.
(msb)