Jon Istad

Jon Istad had his breakthrough as a sports shooter in 1957 when he was the best shooter under the age of 20 at the Norwegian Championships in rifle shooting. Two years later, still not 22, he won the Norwegian Championships. At that time biathlon developed as a competitive sport, and Istad combined those two sports in an excellent way. He was Norwegian Champion in biathlon five times – 1963 and 1966-69. In 1966 Istad became Norway’s second individual World Champion in biathlon when he won the 20 km event in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, and won another gold medal as a member of the Norwegian relay team. His third World Championships gold medal came in 1967 in the relay, when he also finished third in the 20 km event. At the 1968 Grenoble Olympics Istad won a silver medal in the relay, and then finished his biathlon career after the 1969 season. He died in his birthplace of Voss in 2012, aged 74. Jon Istad’s son, Sverre Istad, competed in biathlon at the 1988 Winter Games, and his niece Gro Marit Istad Kristiansen was on the Norwegian biathlon team in the Olympics 2002, 2006 and 2002.