Last three biathlon finishers stop mid-race for wholesome Olympic moment
Three biathlon athletes at the 2026 Winter Olympics gave a good reminder on Friday that sports are meant to be fun.
Competing in the men’s 15km mass start on Friday, USA’s Campbell Wright, France’s Fabien Claude, and Italy’s Nicola Romanin continued to push hard as several others from the competition had already crossed the finishing line.
Realizing that they weren’t going to medal, the three surprised everybody watching when they came to a complete stop ahead of the grandstand. Then, after taking a few seconds to make sure they were all evenly lined up with one another, they sprinted toward the finish line while those in the crowd applauded their sportsmanship.
What an awesome moment š
The final three finishers stop to have their own mini race in the men's biathlon 15km mass start pic.twitter.com/l0F6s2jHGo
— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) February 20, 2026
“What are they going to do? Are they going to have a sprint finish?” asked the commentator, who was loving it as much as everybody else. “You love to see it. What a heroic finish.”
Claude wound up finishing in 27th place, while Wright came in right behind at 28th. Romanin came in just after the other two for a 29th-place finish.
Winning the event was Johannes Dale-Skjevdal of Norway, who produced the only perfect shooting display of the race. Fellow Norwegian Sturla Holm Laegreid, who caused plenty of headlines at these Olympics, finished second, while France’s Quentin Fillon-Maillet won bronze.