Biathlon-Tearful Norwegian confesses to cheating on girlfriend after bronze medal win

ANTERSELVA, Italy, Feb 10 : Norway's Sturla Holm Laegreid followed up his bronze medal in the biathlon at the Winter Olympics on Tuesday with an extraordinary confession over cheating on his girlfriend.

"There's someone I wanted to share it with who might not be watching today. Six months ago I met the love of my life - the most beautiful and kindest person in the world," he told Norwegian state broadcaster NRK in a live interview after his bronze win. 

"Three months ago I made my biggest mistake and cheated on her," he added tearfully. "I told her about it a week ago. It's been the worst week of my life."

Without naming the woman, 28-year-old Laegreid compared her to the Games' most prestigious prize.

"I had a gold medal in my life, and there are probably many who look at me with different eyes, but I only have eyes for her," he said. "Sport has taken a slightly different place (in my life) the last few days. Yes, I wish I could share it with her." 

EMOTIONAL OCCASION

Laegreid came third in the men's Olympic 20km individual biathlon race, which combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting, behind winner Johan-Olav Botn and Eric Perrot of France to claim the bronze, hitting 19 of his shots.

Later, Laegreid explained he had been feeling very emotional after the race, which came in the wake of the death of teammate Sivert Guttorm Bakken in December. 

"Of course, now I hope I didn't ruin Johan's day," he said of the gold medal winner, adding that he had not been in the right state of mind.

"Maybe it was really selfish of me to give that interview. So yeah, I don't know. I was, I'm a bit, I don't know ... I'm not really here mentally. So yeah, we will see what happens," he told reporters about an hour after the interview.