MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th September, 2019) Legendary Norwegian biathlete Halvard Hanevold, who won three Olympic golden medals, died on Tuesday at the age of 49, President of the Norwegian Biathlon Federation Arne Horten said.
According to the TV2.no media outlet, Hanevold died in his house in the town of Asker near Oslo. Hanevold had a wife and two children.
"It is highly regrettable that we have lost one of the most prominent figures in our sports. That is a sad day for the Norwegian biathlon," Horten said.
Hanevold won three Olympic golden medals: in an individual race in Japan's Nagano in 1998 as well as in relay races in the US city of Salt Lake City in 2002 and in Canada's Vancouver in 2010. He also won two Olympic silver medals in a relay race in Nagano and in a sprint race in Italy's Turin in 2006. One more medal - the bronze one - was won by Hanevold in an individual race in Turin.
The biathlete also won 16 medals of world championships, including five golden ones: in Italy's Antholz-Anterselva in 1995 (team race), Slovenia's Pokljuka in 1998 (team race), Russia's Khanty-Mansiysk in 2003 (individual race), Austria's Hochfilzen in 2005 (relay race) and South Korea's Pyeongchang in 2009 (relay race).
