The Norwegian biathlon team failed to win a medal in the mixed relay at the Olympic Games for the first time in history. The Norwegians finished in fourth place at the 2026 Olympics.
On the second day of the 2026 Olympic Games, biathlon competitions began. The first start for the athletes was the mixed relay, in which 21 teams participated.
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One of the favorites heading into the competition was the Norwegian team, which has won three medals in the event since the mixed relay was added to the Olympic program in 2014: two golds and one silver.
Until the last firing line, the Norwegian team was one of the contenders for at least the “bronze”: Maren Kirkeide, who was the team's finisher and was third, was only 0.6 seconds behind the second-placed Italians, and 19.8 seconds behind the leader of the French team.
Despite this, Kirkeide was only able to hit three targets out of eight available rounds, and as a result, the Norwegian was forced to take two penalty laps. Germany, which took one penalty lap after the last firing line, overtook Norway, but Kirkeide could not make up the gap by the finish line, finishing the race 31.9 seconds behind the “bronze” third place.
“It's terrible to miss a chance that your teammates give you with their great performance. If it was an individual race, everything would be fine because I would be the only one who made a mistake. But when my teammates [Vetle Christiansen, Martin Uldal and Caroline Knotten] have great stages and give me a good starting position, it's a shame for them to ruin it,” said Kirkeide.
Thus, for the first time in the history of its performances at the Olympic Games, the Norwegian team was left without any awards in the mixed relay.
The 2026 Olympic Games for biathletes will continue with the men's individual race, which will be held on Tuesday, February 10, and the women will hold their next race on Wednesday, February 11.