Norway biathlete Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, the most decorated Winter Olympian of all time with 13 medals, plans to continue competing through the Pyeongchang 2018 Olympics.
That wasn’t the only news the 42-year-old Bjoerndalen broke on Tuesday.
He also said that he and Belarusian biathlete Darya Domracheva, who won three golds at the Sochi Olympics, are expecting a baby in October. Domracheva plans to “get back on track” in January, according to her website.
Bjoerndalen previously announced after he earned two golds at the Sochi Olympics that he would not retire until after the 2016 World Championships at home in Oslo.
At the Oslo Worlds last month, Bjoerndalen captured medals in three of four individual races in a stunning success and then said he would take the offseason to decide his future.
Bjoerndalen had a resurgent 2015-16 season overall.
He won the first individual World Cup race of the season Dec. 2, his first World Cup victory since Feb. 12, 2012. At Worlds, he finished second to Martin Fourcade in the first two individual races and earned bronze in the mass-start finale.
If Bjoerndalen makes a seventh Olympics, he could try in Pyeongchang to break his tie with retired Norwegian cross-country legend Bjorn Daehlie for the Winter Olympic gold medals record of eight.
He could also keep countrywoman Marit Bjoergen from approaching his total Winter Olympic medals record. The cross-country skier at 10 Olympic medals took this season off due to pregnancy but, at 35 years old, plans to return.
The most decorated athletes in Sochi — speed skaters Ireen Wuest and Viktor Ahn — are at eight Olympic medals each.
Domracheva, 29, became the first female biathlete to earn three golds at a single Olympics in Sochi. She took last season off due to mononucleosis.
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