Tommaso Giacomel remembers fraternal friend Sivert Bakken

Italian biathlete Tommaso Giacomel, winner this season of two World Cup races and third in the overall standings, wanted to remember on Instagram Sivert Guttorm Bakken, who died suddenly in his sleep at just 27 years old while he was in Val di Fiemme for a rest with some teammates. It was news that shocked the entire world of biathlon and winter sports, and in particular the 25-year-old from Trentino, who had become close friends with the Norwegian over the years.

“Dear Sivert… honestly I am devastated. But I know this news doesn&#8230t just shock me, it shocks all of us in the biathlon family and beyond. We had planned to go skiing together today, but you didn’t show up. We also planned to celebrate New Year’s Eve together, but you won’t be there. Life has been harder than it could have been for you, stopping for more than two years long ago… and now this. This is not fair! I have always said that the thing I value most about this journey as a biathlete is not the races I would win, but the people I have met and gotten to know along the way.”

“You quickly became one of my best friends, with your smile, your humanity and your mentality. You will always have a special place in my heart. From now on I will carry you with me not only in every race but in every training and every moment of my life. It will be really hard to compete and train without you in the future, but I will do my best to make you proud. We will continue to pursue our dream of being two of the best biathletes in the world together. Fly high as an angel now, because you truly are one!”

In his career, Bakken had won a gold and bronze at the 2017 Youth World Championships, a silver in 2018 and two bronzes in 2019 at the Junior World Championships, and one World Cup race, the 2022 Holmenkollen mass start, with an associated specialty ranking. His best overall finish was ninth place in 2022.

In that same season together with teammates he had won three relays, the men’s in Ostersund and Kontiolahti and the mixed relay in Otepaa. After that year he had had major heart problems, so much so that he skipped the next two seasons entirely and returned to competition in 2024-2025.