Emotional farewell! Biathlon star ends career and tears flow without end

Goms (Switzerland) - In January she announced the end of her career shortly after dominator Johannes Thingnes Bø (31), now the big moment had come for biathlon star Elisa Gasparin (33). She competed in her last race on Sunday.

The Swiss elite gathered in Goms one weekend after the official end of the World Cup season for the national championships.

Saturday couldn't have gone better for the 33-year-old, as she took the top spot in the sprint one last time and was celebrated by everyone. On Sunday, she fell just short of a medal in the mass start. She missed out on bronze by just 0.3 seconds.

Just like a week ago in Oslo, Gasparin was given a proper send-off afterwards, with plenty of tears flowing. They toasted her great career with champagne before she retired from biathlon.

"What a journey. I can hardly put into words how grateful I am for all these years! What will stay with me forever are the emotions, friendships and experiences as a top athlete," she explained on Instagram before the final race .

Being an athlete has been an incredible "school of life" and she is very grateful to her family, friends, teammates, coaches and fans.

In Oslo, the local and other colleagues had already given her a fitting farewell, putting a pink wig on her head and toasting to many great years together.

Her greatest successes include the bronze medal at the 2022 European Championships and 8th place at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

Gasparin is one of three sisters who all share a love of the biathlon. However, Selina (40) ended her career in 2022, while Aita (30) is still competing.

At least her older sister will have already told her what the end of her career feels like. With Elisa, the Swiss biathlon has lost a figurehead for many years.