Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
OSLO, Norway (AP) — Norwegian biathlete Emil Hegle Svendsen, a four-time Olympic champion, has retired from the sport.
Svendsen won individual and relay gold at the 2010 Olympics, and mass start and mixed relay gold in 2014. At this year's Pyeongchang Olympics, he won two silver medals and a bronze.
In comments reported by Norwegian broadcaster NRK, the 32-year-old Svendsen says it's "actually a huge pleasure" to retire.
He says he "needed a little time after the Olympic Games season because I often felt that the spark could come back. But I wasn't close to (getting it back)."
Svendsen follows Norwegian biathlete Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, an eight-time Olympic champion, into retirement. The 44-year-old Bjoerndalen announced his retirement last week.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
