The 42-year-old has been a World Champion and won the overall Biathlon World Cup three times. Now, she’s making a sporting choice that surprises almost everyone.

Kaisa Mäkäräinen won a total of six World Championship medals in biathlon during her active career. In 2011, she became the first Finnish biathlete to win the overall World Cup.

But now, she’s making a sporting move that no one saw coming.

In a press release, former rally World Champion Marcus Grönholm (57) announced that he will drive a stage at Rally Finland — and with Kaisa Mäkäräinen as his co-driver!

They will compete in the WRC2 class, the second-highest category. Grönholm and Mäkäräinen will be in a Škoda Fabia WRC2 car. The stage will take place at the Harju Stadium in Jyväskylä this Friday. It covers 2.58 kilometers in a mix of gravel and asphalt.

Marcus Grönholm has special memories from this particular stretch. This is where he set a new record when he got his first taste of World Rally Championship action — in a factory Toyota car during Rally Finland in 1992.

He went on to become one of the World’s top rally drivers, winning the World Championship in the top class in both 2000 and 2002. Grönholm has won Rally Finland seven times.

The big question is how Kaisa Mäkäräinen will handle being a co-driver. It’s quite a leap from biathlon. Since retiring, the biathlon queen has worked as an expert commentator for Finnish TV.

Are you interested in biathlon? Click HERE and read more about it.

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