Olympian's Public Plea to His Ex Doesn't Land (With Her)

UPDATE Feb 11, 2026 10:36 AM CST

Looks like an Olympian's plea to his ex isn't landing the way he'd hoped. After winning the bronze on Tuesday in the men's 20km biathlon, Norway's Sturla Holm Laegreid confessed to cheating on his former girlfriend, so "she will see what she really means to me." The woman, who's so far anonymous, is now speaking out, and it doesn't appear she's buying Laegreid's mea culpa, per the New York Post. "It's hard to forgive," she told Norwegian tabloid VG. "Even after a declaration of love in front of the whole world." She added: "I did not choose to be put in this position, and it hurts to have to be in it. We have had contact, and he is aware of my opinions on this." Post-confession, Laegreid said he "deeply" regretted bringing up his personal stuff at the Games, per Deadline. "I am not quite myself these days," he said, offering more apologies to his ex, "who unwillingly ended up in the media spotlight."

Feb 10, 2026 5:10 PM CST

An Olympic bronze wasn't the only thing a Norwegian biathlete decided to put on display in Milan. After finishing third in the men's 20km biathlon at the 2026 Winter Games on Tuesday, Sturla Holm Laegreid used his post-race TV interview to publicly confess he'd cheated on the woman he called "the love of my life," NBC News reports. The 28-year-old told Norway's NRK moments after winning the bronze that the infidelity happened three months ago, that he admitted it to her a week ago, and that she ended the relationship. "It's been the worst week of my life," he said.

"I had a gold medal in life, and there's probably a lot of people out there who look at me differently now, but I only have eyes for her," he said. "Sports has taken a bit of a back seat these past couple of days." Laegreid, a six-time world champion and 2022 Olympic relay gold medalist, described his on-air confession as "social suicide" but said he hoped it would show his former partner how serious he is. He didn't name the woman, saying he met her around six months ago and she's "the most beautiful and kindest person." He apologized to fellow Norwegian Johan-Olav Botn, who won gold in the event, saying, "Sorry if I ruined your day."

"I made the choice to tell the world what I did so maybe there's a chance she will see what she really means to me—maybe not, but I don't want to think I didn't try everything to get her back," Laegreid said in a later interview. Some teammates said they'd known about the situation; others were surprised and described him as having seemed off recently, NBC reports. NRK biathlon expert Johannes Thingnes Boe said the confession "came as a complete surprise," Reuters reports. "His action was wrong—we saw a repentant lad standing there," Boe said. "Unfortunately, the time, place, and timing are all wrong,"

• The BBC reports that Botn shouted the name of late teammate Sivert Guttorm Bakken as he crossed the finish line. Bakken, who had the heart condition myocarditis, was found dead in a hotel room in northern Italy just before Christmas. "I was racing with him the entire last loop," Botn said. "And, yeah, it was more like a feeling of crossing the finish line together, and seeing the number one beside my name was really special."