The 23-year-old from Norway has turned down Northug, but his career choice is far from decided. Now the super talent is facing a luxury problem that few others could dream of.

After winning gold at the Norwegian Biathlon Championships in March – the first major triumph of his career in the sport he has loved and pursued since childhood – the super talent from Inderøy, Norway, announced live on air that he was done with cross-country skiing. This, despite having reached the podium in a World Cup cross-country race just two weeks earlier.

But now, with the season a bit behind him, Einar Hedegart is once again sitting on the fence. Because the fact is: he competed in two cross-country World Cup rounds this winter, and none in biathlon.

In cross-country, Hedegart boasts an impressive résumé: in addition to a second and eighth place in the World Cup, the 23-year-old from Petter Northug’s neighboring village has three Norwegian Cup victories, a ninth place in the national sprint championship, and a third place in Petter Northug’s star-studded exhibition race, Janteloppet – all from the past season.

He also beat the entire world elite in the roller ski sprint at the Blink Festival last summer. After that feat, Hedegart joked that the 2025 World Championships in Trondheim were his plan B. And in the 10km race at Holmenkollen the week after Worlds, he beat the reigning World Champion Klæbo and finished second, just behind Harald Østberg Amundsen.

Also Read: Østberg Amundsen wins 10km interval start at the Holmenkollen World Cup

The national title changed everything, for a while

In the final race weekend of the season, Hedegart won the mass start at the Norwegian Championships. He claimed the King’s Cup and the first major victory of his career in the sport he’s loved since childhood.

Then, live on NRK, he announced that he was done with cross-country skiing – despite having landed on the World Cup podium just two weeks earlier.

“I probably would’ve leaned more toward cross-country skiing if the Bø brothers hadn’t retired. Now I’ve got a few years to develop, and then there’s a World Championship in Oslo in 2029, which I think many already have their eyes on – and it will be an incredibly exciting goal,” Hedegart said after his NM victory.

Tempted by the Olympics

In April, Hedegart signed a two-year contract with the private elite cross-country team, Team Anlegg Øst Entreprenør. But after a few months into the contract and training, the doubts have returned.

“On paper, I’m closer to the Olympics in cross-country. But I now have a different approach to biathlon: I shoot much less, and dry-train more at home. It’s not a bulletproof plan, but it’s worth a try. The most important thing is that I believe in it,” he told TV2.

Hedegart says he has increased his VO₂ max by ten percent in three months after changing his training.

Now the 23-year-old has one foot in each camp and is facing a luxury dilemma: a fresh King’s Cup title and a dedicated biathlete partner at home on one side, and a freshly signed two-year contract with a top-level cross-country team on the other. Both sides are pushing for him to commit.

“I generally think both cross-country and biathlon are fun, but there’s something about the shooting tension in biathlon. And there’s something about the international competition, which is currently lacking in cross-country. Watching TV coverage from Europe with packed grandstands – that’s so cool. That’s probably what I think is the most exciting about biathlon.”

Also Read: Breaks with ski giant after dream season

Turned down Northug

One thing is certain – Hedegart won’t be racing long-distance events. This, despite ski star Petter Northug actively trying to recruit him to his Pro Team, Team Burger King Northug.

“I think we both agreed that Burger King wasn’t really for me,” says Hedegart.

“Now he has an opportunity on a smaller team, and we’ll reconnect after next season. He knows what the standards are,” Northug told TV 2.

Northug has, meanwhile, strengthened his Pro Team significantly ahead of the Ski Classics Season XVII.

Also Read: Northug recruits Norwegian skier after standout season

Northug himself plans to increase his focus on long-distance racing this coming winter.

But the former Olympic and World Champion still can’t quite let go of traditional cross-country skiing. Recently, the 39-year-old revealed he has concrete plans to compete at the World Championships in Falun in 2027.

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