ENOUGH GOLD, YOUR THIEF: Tarjei Bø and Johannes Thingnes Bø at a cake party after the WC sprint in Oberhof last year. This is one of ten (!) races where little brother Johannes has won with big brother Tarjei in second place. Photo: Javad Parsa / NTB
Big brother Tarjei has a slightly sadistic plan for the end of his career – at the expense of his victory-hungry little brother.
Nove Mesto, Czech Republic Wednesday 7 February at 06:15
The short version
- The WC in biathlon could be the last championship together for the Bø brothers.
- Tarjei Bø has not yet decided whether he will continue for another season.
- Johannes Thingnes Bø will continue until the Olympics in 2026.
- Together, the brothers have been on the podium 21 times individually.
- Both participate in the mixed relay during the WC in Nove Mesto.
Sea view
– It has meant everything, that. I wouldn’t have become a biathlete if it weren’t for him, says my little brother Johannes Thingnes Bø about big brother.
– You have created a monster, Tarjei, shoot VG in.
– I have created a monster. He should have the master’s share of the credit, but give me five percent, then, big brother jokes.
Tarjei Bø has not yet decided whether he will let loose for another season. Thingnes Bø has decided to hold on until the Olympics in 2026 – and that’s it.
Thus, there are not many seasons left before one of the greatest pairs of brothers in Norwegian sports history enters retirement.
The story of the Bø brothers is well told through a series on TV 2, the book “Brødrekraften” and countless races on live TV.
They are now in their eleventh season together in the World Cup.
– We have been very privileged to have been two out of six (Norwegians) who have competed in the World Cup year after year. I have probably never really reflected on that. Then I now think that we have actually been very good, says little brother.
And good they have been. Individually, the two have stood together on the podium a total of 21 times at the highest level, in 2022 they became the first pair of brothers to do so in an Olympics.
In addition, they have won a lot of relays together.
Nevertheless, there is no doubt that one of the brothers has been particularly greedy.
– You can calculate how many second places I have behind him, and see how many victories I could have had, suggests Tarjei – who has 13 individual victories at the top level.
The bottom line: Ten of Thingnes Bø’s victories have come with his older brother in second place. One of these was during the WC sprint last year.
The opposite case – Tarjei first with Johannes second – has happened once, precisely here in Nove Mesto in 2021.
COME HERE: Tarjei Bø in a perhaps a bit too familiar position: In second place while little brother Johannes Thingnes Bø is getting ready to jump to the top. This photo is from the last time they took the “double”, the short-normal in Anterselva in January. Photo: MARCO BERTORELLO / AFP / NTB
Tarjei was the first out of the two, he showed that it was possible for a rower to assert himself at the very top of the world in biathlon. It is the little brother means it when he says Tarjei has meant “everything”.
Johannes was a little more on the edge between football and biathlon at the entrance to upper secondary school.
After a month he wanted to switch to football, but was persuaded to give it another month.
Then he won the summer NM on roller skiing. And he had an older brother who had shown the way. At this time, Tarjei was in the midst of his international breakthrough as a biathlete.
– He saw that I could do it, and then he probably thought, as a little brother, that he could do it. I showed that it was possible, says Tarjei.
Sometime in the not-too-distant future, the active adventure will therefore come to an end.
– I have thought about that, we don’t know if it is Tarjei’s last season or not. It will be very strange when he pulls into the veins. Then I might get a small reaction when it happens, not just him, says Thingnes Bø.
Big brother has a slightly … different perspective on exactly that.
– It will probably be the worst for him. I almost hope I give up at least a year before him, so I can get that feeling of being on summer and Christmas holidays with him, eating candy for breakfast and sleeping for a long time, while he has to work himself out, says Tarjei Bø.
He laughs well – and a little mischievously.
BIG BROTHER SHOWS THE WAY: This picture could have been a funny metaphor for big brother Tarjei having done all the work, but it would not have been fair to little brother Johannes. Therefore, it is best described as a picture of two brothers on a kick. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB