Halvard Hanevold

Halvard Hanevold won 22 international medals in biathlon, only Ole Einar Bjørndalen having won more among Norwegian biathletes. Hanevold, born in Asker west of Oslo, started with cross-country skiing and orienteering, but was attracted to biathlon at the age of 15. He was a member of the Norwegian national team from 1992-2010, and crowned his excellent career at the age of 40 with an Olympic gold medal in the Vancouver Games. He had another Olympic relay gold from Salt Lake City in 2002, but his greatest individual Olympic moment came at Nagano in 1998 when he won the 20 km distance. He won five world championships gold medals: two in relay, two in the team event, and one individual gold medal in the 20 km event in 2003. In addition he had nine World Cup victories in the period 1998-2006, and eight national championship wins. After his retirement Hanevold worked as an expert commentator for Norwegian TV. He studied at the Norwegian Technical University in Trondheim, and became an engineer, specializing in industrial economics.