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🇪🇪 Estonia /Health & Science

Swedish biathlon star undergoes surgery before season

From Postimees · () Estonian

Translated from Estonian and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Outcome reported
  • Swedish biathlete Jesper Nelin underwent successful knee surgery after doctors diagnosed a meniscus injury.
  • Nelin expects to return to training within a few weeks and believes the injury should not threaten the start of the season.
  • The 33-year-old said the forced break has given him more time with his young son and helped him recognize priorities beyond biathlon.

Sweden’s biathlon team received unwelcome news before the season when Olympic medalist Jesper Nelin had to undergo knee surgery. The 33-year-old stayed home while the national team attended a high-altitude camp in Font-Romeu, France.

Examinations showed that Nelin had injured his meniscus. He told Sweden’s Expressen that the problem appeared during a very intense training period and was probably linked to a workload that had become too heavy. He initially tried to continue training despite the pain, but doctors later recommended surgery as the symptoms changed.

It is difficult to say exactly what caused it, but the injury made itself felt during a very intense training period. The training load was probably a little too high.

· Jesper NelinNelin described how his knee injury emerged during training.

The operation was successful, and Nelin hopes to resume training within a few weeks. He said the MRI results had frightened him because the situation looked serious, but the surgeon was able to repair the knee properly. He also acknowledged that the injury could have forced him to miss competition for much longer.

When I saw the MRI results, I became frightened. The situation did not look very good. Fortunately, the doctor fixed everything properly during the operation. Hopefully a break of a few weeks will be enough.

· Jesper NelinNelin discussed his concern after seeing the scans and his hopes for a quick recovery.

Nelin now feels relieved and expects his recovery to keep the start of the season from being affected. The enforced break has also given him more time with his son, following the recent birth of the child. “It is nice that I can spend more time with him. Becoming a father has helped me understand that there are many more important things in life than biathlon,” he said.

Nelin won relay gold with Sweden at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics and took relay bronze at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina. The World Cup season begins on November 24 in Kontiolahti, Finland, while this year’s world championships will be held in Otepää, Estonia.

It is nice that I can spend more time with him. Becoming a father has helped me understand that there are many more important things in life than biathlon.

· Jesper NelinNelin spoke about spending time with his son during rehabilitation.
About this summary

Originally published by Postimees in Estonian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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