In what may be an Olympic first, biathlete Sturla Holm Laegreid of Norway admitted in a televised interview that he cheated on his girlfriend.

Laegreid made the revelation to Norwegian TV after taking bronze in the men’s 20km individual event.

“Six months ago I met the love of my life. The world’s most beautiful, sweetest person. And three months ago I made the biggest mistake of my life and cheated on her,” Laegreid said, fighting back tears, as quoted by the Associated Press.

He said he told his partner a week ago about what had happened.

“I’m sure many people now see me in a different light, but I only have eyes for her,” he said. “I’m not quite sure what I’m trying to say by saying this now, but sport has taken a back seat in recent days. I wish I could share this with her.”

It was Laegreid’s first individual Olympic medal. He was part of the relay team that took gold at the Beijing Olympics in 2022.

But instead of celebrating, he was distraught, crying and hugging friends, after the race.

“We make different choices during our life and that’s how you make life, basically. So, today I made the choice to tell the world what I did,” he said.

He added: “I haven’t had any reactions from the girl that I mentioned. I’m happy because then maybe she hasn’t seen it; maybe she will see it at the right time.

“I hope I don’t make anything worse for her, but maybe it can help. I don’t know. I hope there’s a happy ending in the end. So, we will see what time will do.” (CNN)