About
Norwegian biathlete (Stårheim IL) from the village of Stårheim in Stad Municipality, and one of the sport's most explosive breakthrough stories: after a slow start (excluded from the IBU Cup squad in 2022 following two early appearances), he made his World Cup debut only in January 2024 and became an Olympic champion in his very first Olympic race - winning gold in the 20km individual at the 2026 Milano-Cortina Games, becoming only the second man in history to do so on his Olympic debut. Added relay silver a week later alongside Martin Uldal, Sturla Holm Lægreid, and Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen. Sits 3rd overall in the 2025-26 World Cup standings with 5 individual wins in his rookie full season, and also won gold and two silvers at the 2024 European Championships.
Madshus's blog spells his name 'Johan Olav Smørgrav Botn' while Wikipedia gives his full name as 'Johan-Olav Smørdal Botn' - same birth year, hometown, and sport, so treated as the same athlete, though the middle-name spelling ('Smørgrav' vs 'Smørdal') could not be independently reconciled.