Johannes Thingnes Bø
Johannes Thingnes Bø is a Norwegian biathlete. He represents and is the younger brother of biathlete Tarjei Bø. Thingnes Bø has won the Biathlon World Cup in 2018/19 and 2019/20. He is the third most successful male biathlete of all time in the World Cup with 48 individual World Cup victories including victories at the Winter Olympic Games.
Thingnes Bø is famous for his fast skiing, which was his biggest strength in the early part of his career. However, in recent years Thingnes Bø has improved his shooting accuracy and elevated his ski speed to new heights. This development has made him the dominant biathlete in the men's World Cup for the last two seasons.
Early life
Thingnes Bø is the son of Klemet Bø and Aslaug Hildegunn Thingnes Bø. He was born and raised in Stryn, and is the second-youngest of five siblings.Career
2009
At Hovedlandsrennet in Beitostølen he won the silver medal in relay with Jarle Midtfjell Gørven, Runar Netland, and Johan Eirik Meland.In September he won two gold medals in the Norwegian championships in roller-ski biathlon held in Vik, Sogn in the 17-year-old men's class. First he won the sprint, then the pursuit.
2010–2012
Thingnes Bø won several international medals in 2010 and 2011. In 2012 he became a junior world champion for the third time. In April 2012 he was drafted for the Norwegian senior National Team. 18 years old at the time, he is one of the youngest Norwegians ever to be drafted for the national biathlon team. In the 2012/13 season he had his world cup debut, competing alongside his older brother Tarjei Bø, Emil Hegle Svendsen, Ole Einar Bjørndalen, Rune Brattsveen, and others.2013
In January/February 2013 during the Junior World Championship in Obertilliach, Austria, Thingnes Bø won the silver medal in sprint, gold in the 12.5 km pursuit, and gold in the 7.5 km relay.2013/14 season: Breakthrough on the World Cup
His big breakthrough came during the 2013–14 season where he won his first World Cup race and was third in the overall standings. Thingnes Bø won four more World Cup races for a total of five.Thingnes Bø got his first World Cup win on 14 December 2013 in the sprint and his second the day after with a win in the pursuit. He won three more World Cup races in Kontiolahti, two sprints and one pursuit.
2014 to 2017: First world championship titles
In the 2014/15 season Johannes became a world champion for the first time as he won the sprint race in Kontiolahti. Johannes failed to defend his lead from the sprint race in the following pursuit race and ended the pursuit in 31st position after eight missed shots. Johannes won two other races this season and continued his consistency from the previous season to finish fifth in the overall World Cup.Coming into the 2015/16 season, Thingnes Bø was again considered a potential challenger to the stranglehold rival Martin Fourcade held on the World Cup. However, a disappointing start to the season ruined Thingnes Bø's aspirations in the overall World Cup, and he subsequently changed his focus to the 2016 Biathlon World Championships at home grounds in Holmenkollen, Oslo. The first success came when Thingnes Bø won the World Cup sprint race in Ruhpolding ahead of fellow countrymen Emil Hegle Svendsen and his older brother, Tarjei Bø. In the World Championships in March 2016, Thingnes Bø won the Mass Start race when he outsprinted Martin Fourcade and Ole Einar Bjørndalen on the final lap.
Thingnes Bø only won two world cup races in the 2016/17 season. After another difficult start to the season, Thingnes Bø had nine consecutive top-ten results in individual races from January to March. In this period, Thingnes Bø won three individual silver medals at the World Championships in Hochfilzen.
2017/18 season: Battle with Fourcade and Olympic title
A large part of Thingnes Bø's career will be defined by his rivalry with French biathlon legend Martin Fourcade, and in the 2017/18 season this rivalry reached new heights. Of the first 14 World Cup races, Thingnes Bø won eight and looked to be a serious challenger to Fourcade in the Overall World Cup. Thingnes Bø even wore the yellow bib as the leader of the Overall World Cup after he won the opening 20km Individual in Östersund, becoming the first Norwegian to wear the yellow bib for two years and breaking Fourcade's stranglehold on the jersey, before losing it to the Frenchman again in the next race.After the World Cup events in Antholz-Anterselva in late January, Thingnes Bø was a close second to Fourcade in the overall World Cup. Having dominated the preceding World Cup events, expectations were high for Thingnes Bø in the upcoming Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. However, Thingnes Bø had a disappointing start to the games with a season-worst 31st place finish in the sprint race. The following pursuit race ended little better for Thingnes Bø, who finished 21st with six missed shots. In the individual 20km race, which is usually considered his weakest race discipline, Thingnes Bø finally managed to find his best level. Despite two misses, he won the competition with a small time gap to Slovenian Jakov Fak and Austrian Dominik Landertinger in third place. Rival Fourcade finished fifth with equal shooting, but trailed Thingnes Bø by a substantial amount of time. Thingnes Bø finished the Winter Olympics with a disappointing 16th place finish in the mass start race, but managed to take two additional silver medals in the mixed relay and men's relay.
For the remainder of the season, Thingnes Bø continued to produce consistent results, despite not recording another win. He finished the World Cup season as runner-up to overall winner Martin Fourcade.
2018/19 season: Setting new records for World Cup dominance
The new king of biathlon
Having come very close to beating Fourcade in the previous World Cup season, Thingnes Bø was widely considered the prime contender to Fourcade for the overall World Cup in 2018/19. But an injury-marred autumn with a back injury left severe question marks about Thingnes Bøs shape for the beginning of the new season. These questions were made to shame, when Thingnes Bø found himself as the winner of the opening sprint race in Sjusjøen. In the initial World Cup events Thingnes Bø confirmed his great shape by winning six of eight individual races before Christmas. Having scored 428 points in eight races, Thingnes Bø lead the world cup by 116 points over Russian and former doping offender Alexander Loginov. Meanwhile, the expected rival Martin Fourcade was in fifth place and trailing Thingnes Bø with 165 points. Thingnes Bø was now the hot favourite for winning the overall World Cup despite having only raced 8 out of a season-total of 26 individual races.Podium streak in January
After Christmas break, Thingnes Bø continued to dominate the World Cup events. From and including the first world cup events in Oberhof until the world cup events in Soldier Hollow, Thingnes Bø did not once leave the podium in an individual race. At this point, Thingnes Bø had won 12 out 16 individual races, while there were still 9 more individual races to go. However, Thingnes Bø did not manage to extend his streak of podium finishes in Soldier Hollow, where a sub-par standing shooting with four missed shots cost him the victory in the initial sprint race. The following pursuit race saw Thingnes Bø deliver another mediocre performance on the shooting range as he finished fourth. Thingnes Bø later showed great sportsmanship and admitted that he had not fired all of his five shots at the last standing shooting. As a penalty for his offence, he agreed with the IBU to receive 0 instead of the 43 world cup points that his fourth-place finish would otherwise have netted him. The poor standing shooting in Soldier Hollow quickly fuelled considerations among experts and fans about whether Thingnes Bø would run into the same shooting problems in the upcoming World Championships in Östersund, where wind conditions are generally very difficult.World Championships in Östersund
Thingnes Bø started the 2019 World Championships in strong fashion as he outskied everyone to take home the title as World Champion in the sprint race - despite one missed shot, Thingnes Bø comfortably won the sprint race ahead of new rival Alexander Loginov, who was, at the time, still in second position in the overall world cup. The next race was the pursuit race, where Thingnes Bø was, by virtue of a large time advantage from the sprint race, the overwhelming favourite to take a second consecutive gold medal. Thingnes Bø lived up to his favourite status in the initial part of the race and lead the race with almost one minute coming into the last standing shooting. However, another breakdown on the shooting range meant that Ukrainian underdog Dmytro Pidruchnyi left the shooting range in first place with Thingnes Bø following in second place 15 seconds behind. Thingnes Bø, surprisingly, did not catch Pidruchnyi on the final loop and had to settle for a silver medal after a dramatic last loop chase. Thingnes Bø then delivered two disappointing performances in the Individual 20k and the mass start. In the team events, however, Thingnes Bø won three additional gold medals.New record-holder
Having now won 13 races throughout the season and effectively securing himself the crystal globe as winner of the Overall World Cup, Thingnes Bø had only three more races left on home soil, in Holmenkollen, before the season ended. The last world cup event in Holmenkollen turned out great for Thingnes Bø, who took the victory in all three races. With 16 individual victories, he thus became the record holder of the most individual world cup races won in a single season as he smashed the previous record of 14 victories set by Martin Fourcade two years earlier in the 2016/17 season.2019/20 season: Parental leave and another world cup title
Pre-season speculations
Arguably the main talking point coming into the new season was whether Thingnes Bø could retain his dominance from the previous season. Most bookmakers, experts and fans predicted another Thingnes Bø-victory in the world cup, although his favourite status had diminished with the knowledge that Thingnes Bø would have to leave for multiple world cup events in January because he had to go on parental leave. Thingnes Bø dismissed the idea that he would even fight for the overall world cup title because of his January-absence, and he instead insisted that his goals were instead the World Championships, which were held in one of Biathlon's most iconic places, Antholz-Anterselva.Season-opening
The non-official season-opening in Sjusjøen was not a success for Thingnes Bø, who felt heavy on the tracks and only managed fourth in the sprint race, beaten by rival Fourcade who finished third with similar shooting. In the first world cup competitions in Östersund, Thingnes Bø turned things around in his own favour, and he convincingly took the yellow bib with an emphatic victory in the sprint race ahead of his elder brother, Tarjei. Just as Thingnes Bø looked like he was back to his best, disaster struck in the Individual 20k, where relatively poor Norwegian skis ruined Thingnes Bøs competition. The French waxing team had found the perfect formula for the tricky snow conditions, and as a result, Thingnes Bø was passed by Fourcade who went on to take the yellow jersey from Thingnes Bø in an all-french-podium.Dominance before Christmas
Casting aside the equipment failure in Östersund, Thingnes Bø found himself back on the top in the next World Cup stage in Hochfilzen, where he won both individual competitions. In the following world cup stage, Thingnes Bø once again spoiled the French party in Le Grand-Bornand, Annecy. The outstanding ski speed of the previous season was starting to manifest itself again with Thingnes Bø taking an impressive fourth place finish in the sprint race despite shooting two misses. The pursuit race saw Thingnes Bø take another world cup victory, and the following mass start, where Thingnes Bø won by over 40 seconds to Emilien Jacquelin, cemented his status as the best biathlete in the world. Going into the Christmas break, Thingnes Bø had won five of seven individual competitions and secured an advantage of 61 points to his brother Tarjei who was second in the overall world cup.Return of the king
Thingnes Bø did not compete in the two World Cup stages held in Oberhof and Ruhpolding, and first returned to the World Cup in Pokljuka in late January, where he showed his class by taking a victory and a second place in the two individual events. While not as dominant as before Christmas, Thingnes Bøs return signalled that he was on the right tracks for the World Championships. Thingnes Bø's return also ruined Fourcade's run of victories in early January - a run that had netted Fourcade the yellow bib as leader of the world cup. After Pokljuka, Thingnes Bø was trailing Fourcade by 119 points in the World Cup, and another crystal globe looked like a difficult achievement for Thingnes Bø.World championships
Thingnes Bø was the most successful male athlete at the World Championships with six medals in total, including three medals in individual competitions. The success did not come immediately for Thingnes Bø, however. Still not in top shape after his absence in January, Thingnes Bø delivered a sub-par sprint race to only finish fifth. The pursuit race indicated an increase in form, as Thingnes Bø managed to take the silver medal. Despite his status as the best skier in biathlon, Thingnes Bø lost the fight with Frenchman Emilien Jacquelin on the last loop, where a tactical blunder in the finale left Thingnes Bø vulnerable to Jacquelin's explosive sprint. Thingnes Bø took another silver medal in the Individual 20k, where he was beaten by rival Fourcade. A missed shot at the last standing shooting likely cost Thingnes Bø the gold medal, since a clean shooting would have sent him out on the last loop ahead of Fourcade. With no individual gold medals to his name, pressure was high on Thingnes Bø in the last individual race of the championships, the men's mass start. Thingnes Bø duly delivered, and secured the gold medal with clean 20/20 shooting and fast skiing. Having also won medals in all team events, he entered, Thingnes Bø managed to win six out of seven possible medals in the championships.Nove Mesto and wax gate
In early March, Thingnes Bø was in even better ski shape in the next World Cup events in Nové Město na Moravě, Czech Republic. Thingnes Bø skied incredibly fast and shot clean in the opening sprint race, which automatically catapulted him to another World Cup victory. The following mass start race saw Thingnes Bø deliver another masterclass performance, winning the race with three missed shots, and out-skiing French nemesis Emilien Jacquelin on the final loop. The race, much like the Individual 20k in Östersund the same season, was unusual, as the Norwegian and German waxing teams were unusually successful in their ski-waxing strategy. However, poor shooting from Thingnes Bø throughout the race meant that Thingnes Bø had to catch up after each shooting, and so he eventually managed to catch and pass Emilien Jacquelin on the final loop.Corona-cancellations and securing the world cup
The competitions in Kontiolahti, the penultimate World Cup stage on the calendar, were also held with no spectators because of the fear for Covid-19 spread, and the mixed events were eventually cancelled. For similar reasons, the competitions in Holmenkollen were also cancelled leaving only two races in Kontiolahti left in the season. Before these races, Thingnes Bø had already managed to overtake Fourcade in the overall World Cup, courtesy of the points system that subtracts the two worst scores of the season. However, Thingnes Bø only lead the World Cup with a slim advantage and he had to deliver two top results to keep the lead. Thingnes Bø did as expected and won the sprint race with Fourcade in second place. It was then made public that Fourcade planned to retire after the following pursuit race, and suddenly the pursuit race was looking to set the stage for a last battle between the two rivals. Thingnes Bø secured his second overall world cup title with a fourth place in the pursuit, while Fourcade won the race and missed out on the overall world cup by three points.Biathlon results
All results are sourced from the International Biathlon Union.Olympic Games
3 medals| Event | Individual | Sprint | Pursuit | Relay | ||
 2014 Sochi | 11th | 54th | 32nd | 8th | 4th | — |
 2018 Pyeongchang | Gold | 31st | 21st | 16th | Silver | Silver |
World Championships
20 medals| Event | Individual | Sprint | Pursuit | Relay | |||
 2015 Kontiolahti | 7th | Gold | 31st | 6th | Silver | Bronze | rowspan="3" |
 2016 Oslo Holmenkollen | 4th | 4th | 4th | Gold | Gold | Bronze | - |
 2017 Hochfilzen | 8th | Silver | Silver | Silver | 8th | 8th | - |
 2019 Östersund | 9th | Gold | Silver | 13th | Gold | Gold | Gold |
 2020 Antholz-Anterselva | Silver | 5th | Silver | Gold | Silver | Gold | Gold |
World Cup
Season standings
- Standings through 14 March 2020
Individual victories
| Season | Date | Location | Discipline | Level |
| 2013–14 5 victories | 14 December 2013 |  Annecy-Le Grand Bornand | 10 km sprint | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2013–14 5 victories | 15 December 2013 | Annecy-Le Grand Bornand | 12.5 km pursuit | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2013–14 5 victories | 13 March 2014 | Kontiolahti | 10 km sprint | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2013–14 5 victories | 15 March 2014 | Kontiolahti | 10 km sprint | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2013–14 5 victories | 16 March 2014 | Kontiolahti | 12.5 km pursuit | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2014–15 3 victories | 12 December 2014 | Hochfilzen | 10 km sprint | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2014–15 3 victories | 17 January 2015 |  Ruhpolding | 10 km sprint | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2014–15 3 victories | 7 March 2015 | Kontiolahti | 10 km sprint | Biathlon World Championships |
| 2015–16 3 victories | 8 January 2016 | Ruhpolding | 10 km sprint | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2015–16 3 victories | 12 February 2016 |  Presque Isle | 10 km sprint | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2015–16 3 victories | 13 March 2016 | Oslo | 15 km mass start | Biathlon World Championships |
| 2016–17 2 victories | 22 January 2017 | Antholz-Anterselva | 15 km mass start | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2016–17 2 victories | 17 March 2017 | Oslo | 10 km sprint | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2017–18 9 victories | 30 November 2017 | Östersund | 20 km Individual | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2017–18 9 victories | 8 December 2017 | Hochfilzen | 10 km sprint | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2017–18 9 victories | 9 December 2017 | Hochfilzen | 12.5 km Pursuit | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2017–18 9 victories | 15 December 2017 | Annecy-Le Grand Bornand | 10 km sprint | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2017–18 9 victories | 16 December 2017 | Annecy-Le Grand Bornand | 12.5 km Pursuit | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2017–18 9 victories | 14 January 2018 | Ruhpolding | 15 km mass start | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2017–18 9 victories | 19 January 2018 | Antholz-Anterselva | 10 km sprint | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2017–18 9 victories | 20 January 2018 | Antholz-Anterselva | 12.5 km pursuit | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2017–18 9 victories | 15 February 2018 |  Pyeongchang | 20 km Individual | Winter Olympic Games |
| 2018–19 16 victories | 7 December 2018 |  Pokljuka | 10 km Sprint | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2018–19 16 victories | 9 December 2018 | Pokljuka | 12.5 km Pursuit | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2018–19 16 victories | 14 December 2018 | Hochfilzen | 10 km Sprint | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2018–19 16 victories | 20 December 2018 |  Nové Město | 10 km Sprint | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2018–19 16 victories | 22 December 2018 | Nové Město | 12.5 km Pursuit | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2018–19 16 victories | 23 December 2018 | Nové Město | 15 km mass start | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2018–19 16 victories | 12 January 2019 | Oberhof | 12.5 km Pursuit | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2018–19 16 victories | 17 January 2019 | Ruhpolding | 10 km Sprint | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2018–19 16 victories | 20 January 2019 | Ruhpolding | 15 km mass start | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2018–19 16 victories | 25 January 2019 | Antholz-Anterselva | 10 km Sprint | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2018–19 16 victories | 26 January 2019 | Antholz-Anterselva | 12.5 km Pursuit | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2018–19 16 victories | 7 February 2019 |  Canmore | 15 km Short individual | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2018–19 16 victories | 9 March 2019 | Östersund | 10 km Sprint | Biathlon World Championships |
| 2018–19 16 victories | 22 March 2019 | Oslo | 10 km Sprint | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2018–19 16 victories | 23 March 2019 | Oslo | 12.5 km Pursuit | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2018–19 16 victories | 24 March 2019 | Oslo | 15 km Mass Start | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2019–20 10 victories | 1 December 2019 | Östersund | 10 km Sprint | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2019–20 10 victories | 13 December 2019 | Hochfilzen | 10 km Sprint | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2019–20 10 victories | 14 December 2019 | Hochfilzen | 12.5 km Pursuit | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2019–20 10 victories | 21 December 2019 | Annecy-Le Grand Bornand | 12.5 km Pursuit | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2019–20 10 victories | 22 December 2019 | Annecy-Le Grand Bornand | 15 km Mass Start | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2019–20 10 victories | 23 January 2020 | Pokljuka | 20 km Individual | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2019–20 10 victories | 23 February 2020 | Antholz-Anterselva | 15 km Mass Start | Biathlon World Championships |
| 2019–20 10 victories | 6 March 2020 | Nové Město | 10 km Sprint | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2019–20 10 victories | 8 March 2020 | Nové Město | 15 km Mass Start | Biathlon World Cup |
| 2019–20 10 victories | 12 March 2020 | Kontiolahti | 10 km Sprint | Biathlon World Cup |
Distinctions
National distinctions
- 2012 – Karolineprisen – awarded national talents within culture and sports.
Personal life