UBT: Olympian Admits to Cheating on His Girlfriend
A Norwegian Olympian admits to cheating on his girlfriend after his bronze medal win. What to make of this bizarre display? The Universal Bullshit Translator has thoughts.
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Put this in the post-race interview hall of fame.
— Marley Dickinson (@marleydickinson) February 10, 2026
Norwegian biathlete Sturla Holm Laegreid throws a Hail Mary and asks for his girlfriend, whom he was unfaithful to, to take him back after winning Olympic bronze in the men's 20km interval start. https://t.co/XjsJtVDplF
In Holy Manipulation! cheater news, Norwegian biathlete Sturla Holm Laegreif, 28, chose the moment of his Olympian acceptance speech to pressure his chumped girlfriend to take him back.
Oh swoon! How romantic!
I’m sure that was the expected response. Hunky Norwegian skier emotionally vomits on the world stage, we all have a collective awww.
As Chump Lady, I find Laegreif’s remorse rather suss.
Well, you would, you cynical old harridan.
Don’t you? Doesn’t it seem like hoovering? I detect whiffs of sad sausage mindfuckery.
I asked the Universal Bullshit Translator to weigh in.
The New York Times reports (gift link):
Sturla Holm Laegreid’s Winter Olympics celebration took a shocking turn on Tuesday. The Norwegian, fresh off winning bronze in the 20km individual biathlon race at Milan Cortina, stunned fans by confessing on live TV that he had cheated on his girlfriend.
Nothing says romance like live television. Just ask the Cold Play couple caught on a Jumbotron or anyone mortified into a wedding proposal at a sports arena.
Try rejecting me now, Ingrid! I HAVE BARED MY SOUL ON LIVE TELEVISION!
This has been hard on Sturla. No, harder really.
“It’s been the worst week of my life,” he admitted, speaking to NRK, a Norwegian broadcaster. “There’s someone I wanted to share it with who might not be watching. Six months ago, I met the love of my life — the most beautiful and kindest person in the world. Three months ago, I made my biggest mistake and cheated on her.
Discovering your Olympian boyfriend has been cheating on you is not nearly as distressing as being that Olympian boyfriend. What with all the adoring groupies wanting to touch your medals.
Yes, Sturla knew 6 months ago that he had met the love chump of his life, which is why he had to express his good fortune with his wandering dick.
Surely the most beautiful and kind person in the world will forgive? Can’t you see our future together? Don’t you wish to spend your life with a man who has the discernment and good judgment to ignore his blessings and issue apologies on live television instead? Imagine the stupid children we could have together!
The UBT thinks Sturla may have taken too many ski poles to the head.
Sports come second…
“I had the gold medal in life, and I am sure there are many people who will see things differently, but I only have eyes for her. Sport has come second these last few days. Yes, I wish I could share this with her,” he said. Laegreid did not reveal the identity of his girlfriend.
I only have eyes for her, but my dick belongs to many.
I got a gold medal in life. Sports got the silver. And my audacity takes the bronze.
I wish I could share this moment with you, Ingrid. As if this isn’t in the entire world’s news feed.
Oops, did I upstage you?
“Of course, now I hope I didn’t ruin Johan’s day,” he said. “I don’t know if it was the right choice or not, but it was the choice I made.”
Johan, did you take a gold medal in this event? MY GIRLFRIEND DUMPED ME!
I don’t know if upstaging you because I haz a sadz was the right choice, but it’s my choice.
Let me make it up to you via apology on a Jumbotron. Johan, you are the most beautiful and kind biathlete…
I will try anything.
He said he didn’t want to steal the show, adding, “I made the choice to tell the world what I did so maybe there’s a chance she will see what she really means to me — maybe not, but I don’t want to think I didn’t try everything to get her back.”
You mean everything to me in that I-got-bored-three-months in kind of way. I would do anything to get you back. If there were Olympian events to win back your girlfriend, I would compete! I would slalom through a thorny forest. I would eat a hundred lingonberry pies with my hands tied behind my back! For you, I would wear the itchiest Nordic sweater while tobogganing down a mine shaft! ANYTHING!
My fragile ego means everything to me.
According to Reuters, Laegreid later spoke to Norwegian newspaper VG, saying, “My only way to solve it is to tell everything and put everything on the table, and hope that she can still love me.”
The only way to solve this is to respect women and not cheat on them. Failing that, please accept this live television announcement.
I don’t speak Norwegian, but I missed the apology. He said he made a mistake and wants her back and this has been the “worst week” of his life.
He is shocked! Shocked by boundaries, it is clearly so baffling to him that as soon as a world camera is on him he had to asked the world in his sad sausage voice – why WHY??!! these unfair consequences? I love the ex’s response, “i didnt ask for any of this”
Tracy, I know he’s Norwegian, not Swedish, but when I try to conjure up what this guy might look like (without ever seeing a picture of him. I haven’t watched the video yet), for some reason I envision John Candy’s character from Splash (I know I’m dating myself) reciting words from Swedish sex movies, saying effectively,”Hey babe! I have a twelve inch penis.” That’s what pops into my head, and the maturity level I think of for Sturla. Granted, John Candy is funny as hell, but this guy falls way, way flat.
Bless his heart
I can understand you wanting to tell the world you love a certain woman. But telling the world that you cheated on her, but you hope she’ll take you back? Low class to no class. And selfish all the way. Sigh.🙄🫤
He’s so self-centered, he doesn’t even seem to realize what a bad look this is. Pure cringe, as the kids say.
He cheated on her three months into the relationship…no, just no.
First 3 months are the hardest 🙄🙄🙄🙄
It sure does scream “I found the love of my life.” 🙄
But he only has eyes for her!
How high will she jump? How prettily will she dance? If they are doing it so early on (and in such a blatant way), it is all about testing boundaries, I believe.
For many FW, triangulation is everything, I believe. And as a professional athlete, he probably only cares about winning. Maybe he hopes that his (ex) girlfriend is the same.
I spied this story yesterday while reading the news.
Here’s his Instagram if you care to rebut those celebrating him for manning up and being honest! Because this is a sure sign that he is actually a winner! A gold medal life partner!
https://www.instagram.com/sturlal?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
He’s been with the Love of his Life for SIX MONTHS and cheating on her for THREE of them?!
OMFG I hope she gets on the steepest downhill course she can find and skis away from him, and far away from him.
He’s getting ripped apart in both traditional and social media. Love that for him.
The selfish b*stard can’t even let his Ex deal with the consequences of his unilateral decisions about their relationship in private and in her own time …. oh no, he just had to put it out there and put her “on the spot” in public.
I hope that she shuts that sh*t down really quickly.
LFTT
PS. If there is an upside to this, it’s that every time that anyone Googles his name at any time in the future, it won’t be his bronze medal that’s at the top of the list.
So I don’t know if this is true, but I did hear at work yesterday that apparently she demanded that he do this.
The live-TV confession is just another example of violating her consent. He has no respect for her.
Somebody on instagram said: “Makes us all wonder how you would’ve responded if you’d actually won the gold.” So savage, I love it.
I like this switch to listening to a liar confess. He’ll grow out of it.
Agreed. We should repeatedly Google his name and “cheater” so it will be impossible to untie the two. May any future girlfriends never say they weren’t warned!
Honestly, I’m thrilled he outed himself and made it so easy for future potential girlfriends to find out. Few of us ever get such a clear early warning.
Point.
This 👆⚠️
Also, here is a brand new relationship, high on sex and beautiful bodies of ONLY A FEW MONTHS..and the love of his 28 years????and still he cheats?? So us plain chumps who just find out that 10-20-30 40 years of service was not enough to keep a cheater, should take heart. The moving goal posts would never stop..
EPIC ACTOR– must be a newbie– not sure how to hide his cheating yet. Sad sausage and centrality already in place. I can’t be rejected because I am a handsome hunk Prize Olympiad…don’t say No to me!! I am too adorable and yes HUMBLE BEFORE THE ENTIRE WORLD. I see his life unfolding as just another cheater…but woman will flock to help him out. *Sigh *
Yep yep this is how DDay #1 went down decades ago complete with hot bods and youth and beauty. FW narcopath acted so remorseful the epic crying! Later exactly as you said learned to hide it all better
This dude is pretending to be a hot mess and he said this to humiliate the woman. He’s not sorry or sad at all. He just won a frickin’ medal. He’s feeling empowered to harass her publicly.
When you have a vicious ex who hides behind the “crazy with grief” excuse, you recognize this abusive sh*t. Take his medal away. That’s a serious abuser there.
Amen! That is exactly who he is.
The crying is a red flag. My ex used it to great effect. Mr. Crying knows this is not going to get his girlfriend back. The important part of his statement is the first part, then he plays the sympathy card and says he wants to reconcile. No he doesn’t. He is telling her in front of the world, “eff you, b*tch, I rejected you” because private discard was not enough. He is disrespectful of Olympic protocols and honor, all he cares about is exploiting the Olympic reputation for his image management. No boundaries, outsize hostility, and complete self-absorption and self righteousness. Take away his guns, too.
If he lives in Norway, I doubt he has guns. I bet they have serious restrictions on gun ownership.
https://www.theskisaga.com/biathlon/biathlon-star-haunted-by-shooting-incident/ – he does. Norway and Sweden have a very large gun ownership stat – they just have strong gun laws that are also enforced and a larger non-idiot per cap.
This.
Years ago, I went out with a guy for a month, and I guess he figured he had me trapped because one day out of the blue he says he “doesn’t consider strip clubs to be cheating.”
I thought it was hilarious he thought that was his decision to make, and when he called the next day to plan our next date, I declined and say I wasn’t interested in continuing. His response was to break down crying, as if that would move me and not reinforce my decision.
Guy was a huge manipulator and ended up stalking me for a while, too.
A few months ago, my oldest and I were leaving a big event and ran into a friend of the FW’s outsde. I stopped to say hello. (The FW has no deep connections, so while this guy is definitely HIS friend vs mine, he’s a nice enough guy and I wasn’t going to snub him in the street, he was worthy of a hello)
He was a little tipsy and said he had conincidentally just been talking to the FW a few nights ago. (they don’t talk frequently) And he felt he just had to say “He loves you guys so much”. The friend said something along the lines of “I know, I know” in a vague attempt at acknowledging he knows the FW did something to deservce to be in the position he is. But the friend really believed that the FW is just so sad and so sorry.
To be clear, he, despite being a tad tipsy, managed to impart this message without mnaking me feel like he was judging me. It was more like he knew that the FW is a FW, but still felt bad for him and yet understood why I was not on good terms. What it painted for me was a picture of the FW sobbing about how awful he feels about being in this position.
A lot to impart in a quick drunken hello..but that was how it went.
It did make me wonder what the friend knows. He def wasn’t bamboozled into thinking FW is an innocent forest creature that did nothing wrong. He didn’t think I was a bitter harpy that won’t forgive ” A “(singular) mistake. But I also doubt he had any idea how long things went on nor how cruel and frightening FW can be.
I got those comments too! My FW also spent a lot of time calling people he was never particularly close to, including my childhood friends, to convince them how good and sad he was, all the time being completely deranged to me. I could tell how convincing he was by how utterly committed these people *who barely knew him* were to championing him. Why these mere acquaintances were susceptible is a phenomenon I would like to understand better. I think it has something to do with it being much more comfortable for people to believe the man, it’s society’s default.
Three months in? Ten bucks says he’s already given the reascuse to someone that they hadn’t discussed if they were exclusive quite yet. So was it really cheating?
From most trusted news source, People— “In an interview with Norwegian outlet VG on Wednesday, Feb. 11, Lægreid’s ex said his infidelity was “hard to forgive, even after a declaration of love in front of the whole world.”
“I did not choose to be put in this position, and it hurts to have to be in it. We have had contact and he is aware of my opinions on this,” said the woman, who asked to remain anonymous. “[I am grateful] to my family and friends who have embraced me and supported me during this time. Also to everyone else who has thought of me and sympathized, without knowing who I am.”
First time he skied face first into a wall of boundaries and consequences and is hurt and baffled! He is screaming to the world -hey! who put that wall there!
Sounds like she’s a classy person. And mighty.
Good for her, not falling for the manipulation.
Good. Keep your distance, indeed!
I am so confused.
He met her 6 months ago, he cheated on her 3 months into the relationship which was 3 months ago.
Did she dump him right away, and he is still pining 3 months later? Or did she maybe stick around and dump him more recently?
As previously stated, nothing says “one true love” like cheating 3 months in.
I watched the video. There was sniffling and cry-face, not so sure there were any actual tears though.
And how much do you want to bet that he has been chasing her for 3 months, and making grand gestures like this post-win televised on the world stage speech, all while banging an array of groupies? Oh so sad, let me drown my sorrows in strange.
Hopefully she doesn’t fall for it.
oh – he is crying because he feels sorry for himself. very classic narcissist. Years ago I was so confused by my covert narcissists tears because of the supposed no empathy thing – but feeling sorry for themselves they have endless reserves
Sounds like she left him. I’m so happy for her and hope she stays gone.
EDIT: I saw another article. He hasn’t been pining for 3 months. He only told her about the cheating “recently” and so the dumping is more recent.
My guess? He was afraid the Olympics would make him newswotrthery (medal or not) and the side piece would sign like a canary asd they often do in these scenarios.
GF seems uninterested in getting back together. Good for her! But also, how awful to be thrust into the spotlight like that.
Nailed it.
Tiger Woods and Lindsey Vonn, anyone? Cardio B just maybe broke up with Stefon Diggs after being his SIXTH baby mama yes you read that right. All different mothers.
Pro athletes play by different rules and constant cheating seems to be part of the package or lifestyle.
Maybe this guy is looking for lucrative endorsement deals and needs a “story” to stand out because he didn’t win the gold?
See, sometimes justice is poetic. The Traitor here went on international television to say “Hey, I can’t be trusted!” The guy, no joke, said “I met the love of my life and cheated after 90 days!” Nobody needed to go to a Facebook group to see if other people were dating him, no trips to the prothonotary’s office, no free Google background check. It’s probably on his Wikipedia page, too.
He’s going to have to change his name. Tis a shame-he won a medal and has been immortalized.
I needed this today.
I was talking to an old friend a while back about current dating. She made the most amazing point about polyamory-“Why should I have to take Silver in my own relationship?” That rang in my ears the whole time reading this. If he worked half as hard at “not cheating”(hereinafter, saying the and meaning the word “no”) that he did training as an Olympian we’d be reading about some other idiot this morning.
Let’s just hope that his impassioned plea does not peer pressure her into an international Pick-Me Dance.
Stay Mighty!
Great comment!!
Is his name actually pronounced “Lay-greed”? If so, not since John Wayne Bobbitt has an idiot been so aptly named.
What an embarrassment though his ex appears to be a class act. She put out an anonymous statement asking for privacy and also calling for the attention to be put back on the team and the late team member who died just before Christmas.
“Lay-greed”. Damnnnnnnn that’s good.
Narcissists are gonna narc. I just can’t imagine a world where you win an Olympic medal and it’s “the worst week of your life.”
If he couldn’t win gold he was definitely going to steal the spotlight from the actual winner. And if he had to out himself as an a$$hole that was fine with him. So all of this was designed to put pressure on his ex-girlfriend and draw the eyes of the world. I guess he got what he wanted.
I saw a spiritual life coach in addition to my therapist after my ex and I separated the second time. She had been what was then called a “lay counsellor” in her church for several decades and is truly a wise individual who has seen a lot in her life and the lives of the people she aimed to help. So not a “now I’m coaching” person at all.
Anyway, she wanted me to make and own my own decisions (GOOD!), but once, while navigating my mess, she commented that I should journal a list of everything I would have to forgive if we reconciled, and how he was prepared to truly make that right on his end. Well, of course, that was overwhelming. There was a lot, and he wanted to get together with very minimal effort on his part. He wasn’t sorry for much at all but focused on how I had broken the marriage (not).
But she also said something that really applies here. She said to be very, very wary of splashy public announcements if we reconciled because they tend to be very unhealthy. Yes, I could see that. Saying “all better” publicly doesn’t make it true. Prove it, dude.
Well, I ended all talk of reconcilation, and we divorced in a wild mess. And thankfully, no public pronouncements were made.
“I don’t want to think I didn’t try everything to get her back”…except make the right decision to NOT cheat on her in the first place and keep your dick in your pants.
Loser with a capital L!
I hope this woman ran away from him and keeps on running. Don’t look back! He has shown you who he is, believe him!
no way could he not cheat and face an actual boundary to keep “the love of his life”. IF he got her back it would just be a ha ha now I know I can always get away with shit
100% agree!
What a manipulative sh*t.
On the plus side, sounds like his ex already left him, and he just torpedoed whatever reputation he had. He sounds like a loser. If anything, this pity party probably only reinforces his ex’s decision to leave when she did.
I’m happy to see that every comment section I’ve run into in the wild that’s discussing this is talking about how he’s a loser and manipulating her. We’re slowly but surely getting wiser to cheater BS.
Sounds like he has a history of bad behavior.
https://www.theskisaga.com/biathlon/biathlon-star-haunted-by-shooting-incident/
Nice catch! Discharged live ammunition in his hotel room and tries to spin it as a PSA about safety protocols, when the truth is if he’d been adhering to the safety protocol he wouldn’t have had live ammunition in his weapon in the first place.
Also it sounds like his ex is not falling for it. Thanks for being a great example to chumps everywhere!
https://people.com/sturla-holm-laegreid-ex-girlfriend-breaks-her-silence-after-affair-confession-2026-winter-olympics-11904252
Pardon my Italian but cazzzzzo this guy.
Oh Chump Lady thanks for always making me belly laugh! It got me through some bad days. I hope someone is knitting this FW a pair of undercrackers and sweater out of nettles and sticky buds RIGHT NOW!
Classic FW moves:
1. Third place athlete makes the whole result about him.
2. SIX MONTHS ago he met THE LOVE OF HIS LIFE and THREE MONTHS later he cheated on her. Nothing says connected soul mate like giving it a full six months and just checking by sleeping with someone else just to make sure!
3. Knowing everyone else will see it differently but assuring everyone that you are in fact correct about it.
4. Being SO sure everyone will agree will agree with you that you decide to announce it on international television.
Someone get this prince a velvet cushion to cry into. 😂
It’s worse. He sort of plays guitar…
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUOZuBgDNDc/?igsh=Y3o2a2VlYzRhNXl5
Of course he does…
There is something about this story that is all about the “I want something until I have it, but then don’t want it anymore, until it’s taken away and then I want it again”. Some FWs don’t have this process going on, but a lot do. Yes, she is the love of his life, if he has the lifespan of a housefly.
My FW, who worked in the sports industry, once told me that these kind of sports events are like giant org**s. Everyone celebrates and has lots of s*x with each other. I was so naive and thought he would always be faithful to me. Makes me cringe at other things he’d say. I somehow doubt he was just laying on the beach and listening to podcasts when alone on vacation in Southeast Asia. He has also pulling the giant sad sausage once I moved out without warning and went NC. Thanks CL for giving us the tools to see through the 3 channels of rage, pity and charm.
“Performing ‘Apologies’ Are A Power Play—Biathlon Medalist’s Stunt Was Pure Manipulation” by Melanie Hamlett (YouTube)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=153kYTVJQP4
When I hear about these stories I’m always stunned that they cannot see how self-centered they are and what a non-apology looks like. Looking past the cheater aspect, I actually feel sorry for both of the women involved. For girlfriend #1, he “loves” her but he f’d someone else. For woman #2, he wanted to f her but didn’t love or care about her? So he’s basically shouting out to the world that he doesn’t respect either of them and it’s all just about what he thinks he wants and deserves. Wow. Just wow. I truly hope girlfriend #1 can see that he’s just revealed what kind of person he really is.
Gee, what a loving act it is to humiliate your GF in front of the whole world and violate her privacy. This guy is an absolute turd and I hope she goes NC immediately.
I’m in Australia. This was on our morning tv news. The commentators (women) took a poll. They all agreed. Nope wouldn’t take him back. Guess this sad sausage will have to learn from the error of his ways.
He should, but he won’t. He’ll find another chump.
The latest reporting I’ve seen says the former cheated-on girlfriend is not likely to reunite with him. She thanks the friends who saw her through the cheating, and expresses her displeasure at being singled out publicly–and had told him of her feelings about a public statement. But of course in his mind his feelings top hers.
My guess: he’s a narcissist and sees the rest of us as NPCs (non player characters) in his life. And NPCs don’t have feelings, of course, or none he’s bound to respect. (/s)
To continue the RPG analogy, he really rolled a one on that apology
I’m really curious to know if this was a one-time drunken “mistake” or if this was a long sneaky lying two-timing affair “mistake”…or what? Anyone have the deets on this?! And I’m in no way implying that the former would be “forgivable”. I’m sure that she has plenty of reason to kick his cheater azz to the curb.
Tracy, I love how your vintage trophy cartoon is perfect for this story!
Words fail me. I hope she tells him where to put his medal and what to do with it. Without l*be.
I don’t know about that other Johan, but as a Johan I feel confident answering for Johan’s everywhere that having to see this shit did indeed ruin our day.