Elvira Öberg: Video games helped me become a better biathlete

Swedish biathlete Elvira Öberg says mental recovery has become a key part of her high‑performance routine. One of her preferred tools is occasionally picking up video games, both as a way to relax and, she jokes, as something that coincided with sharper shooting during a season that began poorly on the range.

Öberg’s major‑event record has swung between extremes. Her Olympic debut at Beijing 2022 was a triumph: two individual silver medals and anchoring Sweden to relay gold. Yet she has also endured difficult World Championships—being ill during Oberhof 2023 while her teammates collected 11 medals, and returning from Nove Mesto 2024 without a medal despite strong form going in.

She says she now manages her ‘competition bubble’ carefully to preserve mental energy: entering it as late as possible and exiting quickly to avoid mental fatigue after multiple races. After adding two medals at the 2025 World Championships in Lenzerheide, she approaches Milano‑Cortina 2026 focusing on positive experiences and the confidence of already being an Olympic medalist.

The segment is part of SVT Sport’s feature series “Road to the Olympics,” which follows Swedish athletes in their preparation for the 2026 Winter Games.