Olympian Sturla Holm Lægreid may have won the bronze, but his post-win interview was pure gold.
The Norwegian biathlon athlete is going viral for tearfully admitting to cheating on his girlfriend and asking her to give him another shot (as it were).
After finishing the men’s 20 km biathlon at the 2026 Milan Cortina Games, Lægreid told the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation that he had been unfaithful to his girlfriend of six months, “the love of my life, the most beautiful and kindest person.”
In a translation provided by NBC News, Lægreid explained in the video below, “I told her a week ago. And it’s been the worst week of my life. I had a gold medal in life, and there are probably a lot of people out there who look at me differently now, but I only have eyes for her. Sports have taken a bit of a back seat these past couple of days. Yeah, I wish I could share this with her.”
“I’m not ready to give up,” the six-time Biathlon World Champion continued. “I hope that committing social suicide [like this] might show her how much I love her. I accept the consequences of what I’ve done. I regret it with all my heart. Maybe I’m dumb as a rock. I’m a member of Mensa, but I still do stupid stuff.
He added that he’s “realized that this is the woman of my life, and I can’t live my whole life keeping that from her. My only path to the finish line is to tell her everything and put it all on the table, and hope that she’ll still love me. I’ve done that for her, and now for the entire world. I’ve nothing to lose.”
One journalist called the interview “the strangest medal interview I’ve seen,” while a Norwegian podcaster called it “the most absurd medal interview of all time.” Here are a couple other comments from viewers: “If my ex, who just cheated on me, did this on a worldwide broadcast i would order a drone strike on him,” and “This feels like a desperate public play for forgiveness that probably makes things worse. Taking accountability is important but doing it on live TV feels more like manipulation than genuine remorse.”
According to NBC, in a follow-up press conference, the athlete added that he didn’t know “if it’s the right choice or not … So today I made the choice to tell the world what I did, so maybe there is a chance that she will see what she really means to me. And maybe not. But I don’t want to think I didn’t try everything to get her back.”
He most assuredly did.
