Emil Hegle Svendsen

Emil Hegle Svendsen
	Emil Hegle Svendsen in 2009
Personal information
Nickname	Super-Svendsen
Born	12 July 1985 (age 39); Trondheim, Norway
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Professional information
Sport	Biathlon
Club	Trondhjems Skiskyttere
World Cup debut	15 December 2005
Olympic Games
Teams	4 (2006, 2010, 2014, 2018)
Medals	8 (4 gold)
World Championships
Teams	9 (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016)
Medals	21 (12 gold)
World Cup
Seasons	11 (2005/06–2017/18)
Individual victories	37
All victories	58
Individual podiums	79
All podiums	115
Overall titles	1 (2009–10)
Discipline titles	4:; 2 Individual (2010–11, 2013–14);; 1 Sprint (2009–10);; 1 Mass start (2010–11)
Medal record
Olympic Games
World Championships
Junior/Youth World Championships
	Updated on 23 February 2018

Emil Hegle Svendsen (born 12 July 1985) is a retired Norwegian biathlete. He has won eight medals at Winter Olympics (four gold) and five individual gold medals and seven relay gold medals at World Championships.

He skis with Trondhjems Skiskyttere, based in Trondheim.

Career

The 2005–06 season was Svendsen's first season on the World Cup tour, before then he competed as a junior in the European Cup, now known as the IBU cup. During his first season in the World Cup Svendsen finished fifth in three races, two of them in sprints (Brezno-Osrblie and Ruhpolding), and the other in a mass start (Holmenkollen). He also finished races in seventh, ninth, and four more within the top twenty (14th, 15th, 17th, 19th). He finished the overall season in 22nd place. He was 32nd in the pursuit, 21st in the sprint, and 7th in the mass start, only seven points behind Sven Fischer in fourth place.

Svendsen was selected for the Olympics, to compete in the mass start, in which he came sixth, after hitting 18/20 targets and finished 53.8 seconds behind winner Michael Greis of Germany. As a junior Svendsen won four gold medals in junior World Championships, his first and second gold was in the pursuit, and the relay in Haute Maurienne in 2004, and the third and fourth gold in the individual and the sprint in Kontiolahti in 2005. He also has two bronze medals from the individual and the pursuit in Kościelisko in 2003. During his three seasons in the European Cup, Svendsen won two races (individual and pursuit), one second place (sprint), and came third three times (all in the sprint).

For his first season in the World Cup Svendsen had an 82% shooting average, making him the 42nd best shot of the tour, but the same shooting percentage as Halvard Hanevold and Vincent Defrasne. He hit 243 out of 295 targets. He shot both 82% in his prone and standing shoot, he averaged 70% in the individual, 84% in the sprint, 81% in the pursuit, 87% in the mass start, and 76% in the relay.

On 13 December 2007, Svendsen took his first world cup victory, at the 20 km in Pokljuka. However, his big breakthrough came when he won two individual gold medals at the 2008 World Championships, winning both the individual and the mass start ahead of Ole Einar Bjørndalen. He went on winning more victories and podiums for the rest of the season, and eventually finished third overall.

The 2008/2009 season started off well for Svendsen. By placing on the podium in every of the five first races, he took the lead in the overall world cup. After the Christmas holiday however, Svendsen struggled to maintain the early season's results, and when he fell ill during the world championships and did not compete in several races, he lost the overall lead. After a couple of middle placings, he returned with a third place at the mass start event in Trondheim, and a fourth place and a victory in Khanty Mansiysk the consecutive week.

He won a silver medal in the 10 km sprint at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver on the first day of men's biathlon competition and then followed it up with two gold medals in the 20 km individual and the relay event.

He won 2 gold medals in 2014 Winter Olympics: in mass-start and mixed relay (together with Ole Einar Bjørndalen, Tiril Eckhoff and Tora Berger).

Svendsen is 6 ft 1 in (185 cm) tall, and weighs 170 lb (77 kg, 12 st 2 lb)

On 9 April 2018, he announced his retirement from biathlon following the 2017–2018 season.^[1]^[2]

Personal life

He is in a relationship with Samantha Skogrand, and in 2019 the couple became parents to a boy.^[3]

Biathlon results

All results are sourced from the International Biathlon Union.^[4]

Olympic Games

8 medals (4 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze)

Event	Individual	Sprint	Pursuit	Mass start	Relay	Mixed relay
2006 Turin	—	—	—	6th	—	—
2010 Vancouver	Gold	Silver	8th	13th	Gold	—
2014 Sochi	7th	9th	7th	Gold	4th	Gold
2018 Pyeongchang	10th	18th	20th	Bronze	Silver	Silver

*The mixed relay was added as an event in 2014.

World Championships

21 medals (12 gold, 6 silver, 3 bronze)

Event	Individual	Sprint	Pursuit	Mass start	Relay	Mixed relay
2007 Antholz-Anterselva	—	7th	5th	—	—	Bronze
2008 Östersund	Gold	12th	12th	Gold	Silver	—
2009 Pyeongchang	DNS	—	—	12th	Gold	—
2010 Khanty-Mansiysk	—	—	—	—	—	Silver
2011 Khanty-Mansiysk	4th	5th	Silver	Gold	Gold	—
2012 Ruhpolding	8th	Silver	5th	18th	Gold	Gold
2013 Nové Město	—	Gold	Gold	Bronze	Gold	Gold
2015 Kontiolahti	Silver	36th	19th	15th	Silver	—
2016 Oslo Holmenkollen	32nd	17th	Bronze	28th	Gold	—
2017 Hochfilzen	27th	36th	DNS	28th	8th	8th

*During Olympic seasons competitions are only held for those events not included in the Olympic program.

Junior/Youth World Championships

Event	Individual	Sprint	Pursuit	Relay
2002 Ridnaun-Val Ridanna	18th	13th	13th	11th
2003 Kościelisko	Bronze	7th	Bronze	4th
2004 Haute Maurienne	14th	6th	Gold	Gold
2005 Kontiolahti	Gold	Gold	Silver	10th

World Cup

Season	Overall			Individual			Sprint			Pursuit			Mass start
Season	Races	Points	Position	Races	Points	Position	Races	Points	Position	Races	Points	Position	Races	Points	Position
2005–06	17/26	289	22nd	0/3	0	—	7/10	120	21st	5/8	52	32nd	5/5	117	7th
2006–07	19/27	381	17th	0/4	0	—	8/10	158	14th	6/8	154	12th	3/5	69	18th
2007–08	20/26	687	3rd	2/3	100	2nd	8/10	253	3rd	6/8	210	6th	4/5	124	5th
2008–09	19/26	844	3rd	2/4	72	14th	7/10	318	3rd	6/7	308	2nd	4/5	146	7th
2009–10	19/25	828	1st	2/4	120	2nd	8/10	354	1st	4/6	173	8th	5/5	163	2nd
2010–11	24/26	1105	2nd	4/4	188	1st	9/10	369	2nd	6/7	304	3rd	5/5	244	1st
2011–12	26/26	1035	2nd	3/3	108	3rd	10/10	378	2nd	8/8	349	2nd	5/5	218	2nd
2012–13	20/26	827	2nd	1/3	43	25th	8/10	315	2nd	7/8	287	2nd	4/5	182	2nd
2013–14	18/22	642	2nd	2/2	84	1st	7/9	240	6th	6/8	217	7th	3/3	101	4th
2014–15	21/25	613	9th	2/3	114	3rd	8/10	191	17th	6/7	199	6th	5/5	109	15th
2015–16	19/25	595	10th	3/3	64	15th	6/9	183	14th	6/8	229	7th	4/5	119	15th

Individual victories

38 victories (8 In, 11 Sp, 12 Pu, 7 MS)

Season	Date	Location	Discipline	Level
2007–08 6 victories (2 In, 2 Sp, 1 Pu, 1 MS)	13 December 2007	Pokljuka	20 km individual	Biathlon World Cup
	14 February 2008	Östersund	20 km individual	Biathlon World Championships
	17 February 2008	Östersund	15 km mass start	Biathlon World Championships
	27 February 2008	Pyeongchang	10 km sprint	Biathlon World Cup
	8 March 2008	Khanty-Mansiysk	12.5 km pursuit	Biathlon World Cup
	13 March 2008	Oslo Holmenkollen	10 km sprint	Biathlon World Cup
2008–09 5 victories (3 Sp, 2 Pu)	6 December 2008	Östersund	10 km sprint	Biathlon World Cup
	12 December 2008	Hochfilzen	10 km sprint	Biathlon World Cup
	13 December 2008	Hochfilzen	12.5 km pursuit	Biathlon World Cup
	23 January 2009	Antholz-Anterselva	10 km sprint	Biathlon World Cup
	28 March 2009	Khanty-Mansiysk	12.5 km pursuit	Biathlon World Cup
2009–10 5 victories (2 In, 1 Sp, 1 Pu, 1 MS)	3 December 2009	Östersund	20 km individual	Biathlon World Cup
	12 December 2009	Hochfilzen	12.5 km pursuit	Biathlon World Cup
	14 January 2010	Ruhpolding	10 km sprint	Biathlon World Cup
	16 January 2010	Ruhpolding	15 km mass start	Biathlon World Cup
	18 February 2010	Vancouver	20 km individual	Winter Olympic Games
2010–11 8 victories (2 In, 2 Sp, 2 Pu, 2 MS)	2 December 2010	Östersund	20 km individual	Biathlon World Cup
	4 December 2010	Östersund	10 km sprint	Biathlon World Cup
	12 January 2011	Ruhpolding	20 km individual	Biathlon World Cup
	10 February 2011	Fort Kent	10 km sprint	Biathlon World Cup
	12 February 2011	Fort Kent	12.5 km pursuit	Biathlon World Cup
	12 March 2011	Khanty-Mansiysk	15 km mass start	Biathlon World Championships
	19 March 2011	Oslo Holmenkollen	12.5 km pursuit	Biathlon World Cup
	20 March 2011	Oslo Holmenkollen	15 km mass start	Biathlon World Cup
2011–12 4 victories (1 Sp, 1 Pu, 2 MS)	10 December 2011	Hochfilzen	12.5 km pursuit	Biathlon World Cup
	14 January 2012	Nové Město	10 km sprint	Biathlon World Cup
	5 February 2012	Oslo Holmenkollen	15 km mass start	Biathlon World Cup
	18 March 2012	Khanty-Mansiysk	15 km mass start	Biathlon World Cup
2012–13 3 victories (1 Sp, 2 Pu)	15 December 2012	Pokljuka	12.5 km pursuit	Biathlon World Cup
	9 February 2013	Nové Město	10 km sprint	Biathlon World Championships
	10 February 2013	Nové Město	12.5 km pursuit	Biathlon World Championships
2013–14 5 victories (1 In, 1 Sp, 2 Pu, 1 MS)	3 January 2014	Oberhof	10 km sprint	Biathlon World Cup
	4 January 2014	Oberhof	12.5 km pursuit	Biathlon World Cup
	11 January 2014	Ruhpolding	20 km individual	Biathlon World Cup
	12 January 2014	Ruhpolding	12.5 km pursuit	Biathlon World Cup
	18 February 2014	Sochi	15 km mass start	Winter Olympic Games
2014–15 2 victories (1 In, 1 Pu)	3 December 2014	Östersund	20 km individual	Biathlon World Cup
2014–15 2 victories (1 In, 1 Pu)	20 December 2014	Pokljuka	12.5 km pursuit	Biathlon World Cup

*Results are from UIPMB and IBU races which include the Biathlon World Cup, Biathlon World Championships and the Winter Olympic Games.

References

^ "4-time Olympic biathlon gold medalist Svendsen retires". USA Today. 9 April 2018. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
^ Nick Zaccardi (9 April 2018). "Emil Hegle Svendsen joins list of Norway Olympic star retirements". NBC Sports. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
^ Eilertsen, Kaja Hoff Henriette (January 29, 2019). "Nå er de blitt foreldre". Dagbladet.no. Retrieved 31 August 2019
^ "Emil Hegle Svendsen". IBU Datacenter. International Biathlon Union. Archived from the original on 27 June 2015. Retrieved 3 June 2015.

External links

Emil Hegle Svendsen at IBU BiathlonWorld.com
Emil Hegle Svendsen at IBU BiathlonResults.com
Yahoo! Sports profile for the 2006 Winter Olympics at the Wayback Machine (archived April 6, 2012)

Olympic Games
Preceded by Aksel Lund Svindal	Flagbearer for Norway 2018 Pyeongchang	Succeeded by Incumbent

[1] "4-time Olympic biathlon gold medalist Svendsen retires". USA Today. 9 April 2018. Retrieved 12 April 2018.

[2] Nick Zaccardi (9 April 2018). "Emil Hegle Svendsen joins list of Norway Olympic star retirements". NBC Sports. Retrieved 12 April 2018.

[3] Eilertsen, Kaja Hoff Henriette (January 29, 2019). "Nå er de blitt foreldre". Dagbladet.no. Retrieved 31 August 2019

[IBUprofile-4] "Emil Hegle Svendsen". IBU Datacenter. International Biathlon Union. Archived from the original on 27 June 2015. Retrieved 3 June 2015.

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v t e Olympic champions in biathlon – mixed relay
2 × 6 km + 2 × 7.5 km	2014: Tora Berger, Tiril Eckhoff, Ole Einar Bjørndalen, Emil Hegle Svendsen (NOR) 2018: Marie Dorin Habert, Anaïs Bescond, Simon Desthieux, Martin Fourcade (FRA)
4 × 6 km	2022: Marte Olsbu Røiseland, Tiril Eckhoff, Tarjei Bø, Johannes Thingnes Bø (NOR)

v t e World champions in biathlon – 4 × 7.5 km mixed relay
4 × 7.5 km	2005: (Olga Pyleva, Svetlana Ishmouratova, Ivan Tcherezov, Nikolay Kruglov Jr.) 2006: (Anna Bogaliy-Titovets, Sergei Tchepikov, Irina Malgina, Nikolay Kruglov Jr.) 2021: (Sturla Holm Lægreid, Johannes Thingnes Bø, Tiril Eckhoff, Marte Olsbu Røiseland)
2 × 6 km + 2 × 7.5 km	2007: (Helena Jonsson, Anna Carin Olofsson, Björn Ferry, Carl Johan Bergman) 2008: (Sabrina Buchholz, Magdalena Neuner, Andreas Birnbacher, Michael Greis) 2009: (Marie-Laure Brunet, Sylvie Becaert, Vincent Defrasne, Simon Fourcade) 2010: (Simone Hauswald, Magdalena Neuner, Simon Schempp, Arnd Peiffer) 2011: (Tora Berger, Ann Kristin Aafedt Flatland, Ole Einar Bjørndalen, Tarjei Bø) 2012: (Tora Berger, Synnøve Solemdal, Ole Einar Bjørndalen, Emil Hegle Svendsen) 2013: (Tora Berger, Synnøve Solemdal, Tarjei Bø, Emil Hegle Svendsen) 2015: (Veronika Vítková, Gabriela Soukalová, Michal Šlesingr, Ondřej Moravec) 2016: (Anaïs Bescond, Marie Dorin Habert, Quentin Fillon Maillet, Martin Fourcade) 2017: (Vanessa Hinz, Laura Dahlmeier, Arnd Peiffer, Simon Schempp) 2019: (Marte Olsbu Røiseland, Tiril Eckhoff, Johannes Thingnes Bø, Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen)
4 × 6 km	2020: (Marte Olsbu Røiseland, Tiril Eckhoff, Tarjei Bø, Johannes Thingnes Bø) 2023: (Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold, Marte Olsbu Røiseland, Sturla Holm Lægreid, Johannes Thingnes Bø) 2024: (Éric Perrot, Quentin Fillon Maillet, Justine Braisaz-Bouchet, Julia Simon)

v t e Holmenkollen Medal
Until 1900	1895: Viktor Thorn (NOR) 1897: Asbjørn Nilssen (NOR) 1899: Paul Braaten (NOR), Robert Pehrson (NOR)
1900–1950	1901: Aksel Refstad (NOR) 1903: Karl Hovelsen (NOR) 1904: Harald Smith (NOR) 1905: Jonas Holmen (NOR) 1907: Per Bakken 1908: Einar Kristiansen (NOR) 1909: Thorvald Hansen 1910: Lauritz Bergendahl 1911: Otto Tangen (NOR), Knut Holst (NOR) 1912: Olav Bjaaland (NOR) 1914: Johan Kristoffersen (NOR) 1915: Sverre Østbye (NOR) 1916: Lars Høgvold (NOR) 1918: Hassa Horn (NOR), Jørgen Hansen (NOR) 1919: Thorleif Haug (NOR), Otto Aasen (NOR) 1923: Thoralf Strømstad (NOR) 1924: Harald Økern (NOR), Johan Grøttumsbråten (NOR) 1925: Einar Landvik (NOR) 1926: Jacob Tullin Thams 1927: Hagbart Haakonsen (NOR), Einar Lindboe (NOR) 1928: Torjus Hemmestveit (NOR), Mikkjel Hemmestveit (NOR) 1931: Hans Vinjarengen (NOR), Ole Stenen (NOR) 1934: Oddbjørn Hagen (NOR) 1935: Arne Rustadstuen (NOR) 1937: Olaf Hoffsbakken (NOR), Birger Ruud (NOR), Martin P. Vangsli (NOR) 1938: Reidar Andersen (NOR), Johan R. Henriksen (NOR) 1939: Sven Selånger (SWE), Lars Bergendahl (NOR), Trygve Brodahl (NOR) 1940: Oscar Gjøslien (NOR), Annar Ryen (NOR) 1947: Elling Rønes (NOR) 1948: Asbjørn Ruud (NOR) 1949: Sigmund Ruud (NOR) 1950: Olav Økern (NOR)
1951–2000	1951: Simon Slåttvik (NOR) 1952: Stein Eriksen (NOR), Torbjørn Falkanger (NOR), Heikki Hasu (FIN), Nils Karlsson (SWE) 1953: Magnar Estenstad (NOR) 1954: Martin Stokken (NOR) 1955: Haakon VII (NOR), Hallgeir Brenden (NOR), Veikko Hakulinen (FIN), Sverre Stenersen (NOR) 1956: Borghild Niskin (NOR), Arnfinn Bergmann (NOR), Arne Hoel (NOR) 1957: Eero Kolehmainen (FIN) 1958: Inger Bjørnbakken (NOR), Håkon Brusveen (NOR) 1959: Gunder Gundersen (NOR) 1960: Helmut Recknagel (GDR), Sixten Jernberg (SWE), Sverre Stensheim (NOR), Tormod Knutsen (NOR) 1961: Harald Grønningen (NOR) 1962: Toralf Engan (NOR) 1963: Alevtina Kolchina (URS), Pavel Kolchin (URS), Astrid Sandvik (NOR), Torbjørn Yggeseth (NOR) 1964: Veikko Kankkonen (FIN), Eero Mäntyranta (FIN), Georg Thoma (FRG), Halvor Næs (NOR) 1965: Arto Tiainen (FIN), Bengt Eriksson (SWE), Arne Larsen (NOR) 1967: Toini Gustafsson (SWE), Ole Ellefsæter (NOR) 1968: Olav V (NOR), Assar Rönnlund (SWE), Gjermund Eggen (NOR), Bjørn Wirkola (NOR) 1969: Odd Martinsen (NOR) 1970: Pål Tyldum (NOR) 1971: Marjatta Kajosmaa (FIN), Berit Mørdre (NOR), Reidar Hjermstad (NOR) 1972: Rauno Miettinen (FIN), Magne Myrmo (NOR) 1973: Einar Bergsland (NOR), Ingolf Mork (NOR), Franz Keller (FRG) 1974: Juha Mieto (FIN) 1975: Gerhard Grimmer (GDR), Oddvar Brå (NOR), Ivar Formo (NOR) 1976: Ulrich Wehling (GDR) 1977: Helena Takalo (FIN), Hilkka Kuntola (FIN), Walter Steiner (SUI) 1979: Ingemar Stenmark (SWE), Erik Håker (NOR), Raisa Smetanina (URS) 1980: Thomas Wassberg (SWE) 1981: Johan Sætre (NOR) 1983: Berit Aunli (NOR), Tom Sandberg (NOR) 1984: Lars Erik Eriksen (NOR), Jakob Vaage (NOR), Armin Kogler (AUT) 1985: Anette Bøe (NOR), Per Bergerud (NOR), Gunde Svan (SWE) 1986: Brit Pettersen (NOR) 1987: Matti Nykänen (FIN), Hermann Weinbuch (FRG) 1989: Marja-Liisa Kirvesniemi (FIN) 1991: Vegard Ulvang (NOR), Trond Einar Elden (NOR), Ernst Vettori (AUT), Jens Weißflog (GER) 1992: Yelena Välbe (RUS) 1993: Emil Kvanlid (NOR) 1994: Lyubov Yegorova (RUS), Vladimir Smirnov (KAZ), Espen Bredesen (NOR) 1995: Kenji Ogiwara (JPN) 1996: Manuela Di Centa (ITA) 1997: Bjarte Engen Vik (NOR), Stefania Belmondo (ITA), Bjørn Dæhlie (NOR) 1998: Fred Børre Lundberg (NOR), Larisa Lazutina (RUS), Alexey Prokurorov (RUS), Harri Kirvesniemi (FIN) 1999: Kazuyoshi Funaki (JPN)
Since 2001	2001: Adam Małysz (POL), Bente Skari (NOR), Thomas Alsgaard (NOR) 2003: Felix Gottwald (AUT), Ronny Ackermann (GER) 2004: Yuliya Chepalova (RUS) 2005: Andrus Veerpalu (EST) 2007: Frode Estil (NOR), Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset (NOR), Harald V (NOR), Sonja (NOR), Simon Ammann (SUI) 2010: Marit Bjørgen (NOR) 2011: Ole Einar Bjørndalen (NOR), Michael Greis (GER), Andrea Henkel (GER), Janne Ahonen (FIN) 2012: Magdalena Neuner (GER), Emil Hegle Svendsen (NOR) 2013: Tora Berger (NOR), Martin Fourcade (FRA), Therese Johaug (NOR), Gregor Schlierenzauer (AUT) 2014: Magnus Moan (NOR), Eric Frenzel (GER), Thomas Morgenstern (AUT), Darya Domracheva (BLR) 2015: Eldar Rønning (NOR), Anders Bardal (NOR), Anette Sagen (NOR), Kamil Stoch (POL) 2016: Noriaki Kasai (JPN), Tarjei Bø (NOR) 2017: Marie Dorin Habert (FRA), Sara Takanashi (JPN) 2018: Charlotte Kalla (SWE), Princess Astrid (NOR), Hannu Manninen (FIN), Kaisa Mäkäräinen (FIN) 2021: Maren Lundby (NOR), Johannes Thingnes Bø (NOR), Dario Cologna (SWI), Johannes Rydzek (GER) 2022: Tiril Eckhoff (NOR), Marte Olsbu Røiseland (NOR), Johannes Høsflot Klæbo (NOR), Jørgen Graabak (NOR) 2023: Maiken Caspersen Falla (NOR), Stefan Kraft (AUT) 2024: Jessie Diggins (USA), Simen Hegstad Krüger (NOR)