By Philip O’Connor
ZHANGJIAKOU, China (Reuters) – After four years of admiring her big sister’s gold and silver medals from the 2018 Olympics, Sweden’s Elvira Oeberg finally got a medal of her own to put in the family trophy cabinet, taking silver in the biathlon 7.5 km sprint in Beijing.
The 22-year-old has been one of biathlon’s breakout stars this past season, and she put her muted performances in the opening two races behind her to finally blossom at the Olympics and make the podium that she had long dreamed of.
“I’m very happy, it’s so huge for her to win this medal,” big sister Hanna, who won the 15 km individual race in Pyeongchang and also took silver in the relay, told Reuters.
With Elvira wrapped in a blue and gold Swedish flag, the two embraced near the finish line, crying tears of joy as Hanna’s little sister stepped out of her Olympic shadow.
“It’s an amazing feeling, now we’re two Olympic medallists in the family, that’s just crazy,” Elvira told reporters. “I’m just so proud about my own performance here today. Then also to be able to share this with the team and my sister, it’s amazing.
“It was mostly emotions. She said that she was super proud of me and that I really deserved this medal, and those are amazing words to hear. We really worked hard together as a team to get here, and we take this medal as a team also,” Elvira said.
The young Oeberg said that she had taken a lot of inspiration from her big sister.
“I’ve also wanted to take an Olympic medal, I don’t want to be any worse (than her),” she joked. “Now I’ve managed to do it, it’s a dream come true.”
(Reporting by Philip O’Connor; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
