Björn Ferry

Björn Ferry (born 1 August 1978) is a Swedish former biathlete and Olympic champion. He began competing internationally in World Cup competitions in 2001, but did not win his first international race until the 2007–2008 season. In 2007, he won gold in the mixed relay event at the Biathlon World Championships. In 2010, at his third Winter Olympics appearance, he won the gold medal in the pursuit event. He started the event in 8th place as determined by the previous sprint event, but managed to overtake the race leader on the final lap.

Career Ferry debuted in the World Cup in Hochfilzen in 2001, and earned his first World Cup points after only skiing three races. He finished his first season ranked 36th in World Cup standings. In World Cup competition, he slowly improved his ranking, and by the 2006–2007 season, was ranked in the top ten worldwide. His first Olympic appearance, at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, was disappointing, but four years later at the 2006 Games in Turin, Italy he was a member of a Swedish relay team that placed fourth, just off the medal stand.

In March 2014, Ferry confirmed that he would be retiring from the sport at the end of the 2013–14 season.

Opposition to doping Ferry has been outspoken in his opposition to the use of banned substances by athletes who participate in international competition, a practice known as doping. In 2009, he was quoted referring to Russian athletes who had used such substances as 'idiots' and received a number of death threats. During the 2010 winter Olympics, he was quoted saying he would not mind if athletes who use banned substances would get the death penalty or, "at least lots of kicks in the balls." Further comments referred to dopers as people with low moral standards and suggested that the problem of use of banned substances in sport would not go away until more severe penalties were imposed.

Personal life Ferry is married to an arm wrestler Heidi Andersson, who has won multiple world championships in arm wrestling. In November 2017, he announced he'd given up flying because of the environment.

In March and April 2018, SVT aired the programme series Storuman Forever, depicting the Heidi Andersson and Björn Ferry couple's climate engagement.

Flygskam, translating as ‘Flight Shame’, or ‘Flight Conscience’, a social pressure not to fly because of the rising greenhouse gas emissions of the airline industry, was originally championed by Björn Ferry but has since gained considerable momentum after Greta Thunberg’s refusal to fly on environmental grounds. Sweden has reported a 4% drop in domestic travel for 2019 and a 9% increase in rail use. The BBC claims that the movement could halve the growth of global air travel, but Airbus and Boeing claim that it will continue to grow at around 4% until 2035.

Biathlon results All results are sourced from the International Biathlon Union.

Olympic Games 1 medal (1 gold) EventIndividualSprintPursuitRelay 2002 Salt Lake City 38th 17th 24th 14th 2006 Turin 28th 13th 25th 18th 4th 2010 Vancouver 42nd 8th Gold 12th Bronze 2014 Sochi 12th 25th 30th 12th 10th — Mass start was added as an event in 2006, with the mixed relay being added in 2014.

World Championships 4 medals (1 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronze) EventIndividualSprintPursuitRelay 2002 Oslo Holmenkollen 28th 2003 Khanty-Mansiysk 32nd 43rd 36th — 7th 2004 Oberhof 31st DNF — — 6th 2005 Hochfilzen 52nd 17th 16th 18th 7th 13th 2007 Antholz-Anterselva 14th 4th 22nd 15th 7th Gold 2008 Östersund 27th 15th 18th 9th 6th 4th 2009 Pyeongchang — 40th 31st — 9th — 2010 Khanty-Mansiysk Bronze 2011 Khanty-Mansiysk 5th 23rd 10th 27th Bronze 4th 2012 Ruhpolding 48th 7th 11th Silver 16th 4th 2013 Nové Město 5th 13th 9th 8th 11th 14th During Olympic seasons, competitions are only held for those events not included in the Olympic program. The mixed relay was added as an event in 2005.

Individual victories 7 victories (2 Sp, 4 Pu, 1 MS) Results are from UIPMB and IBU races which include the Biathlon World Cup, Biathlon World Championships and the Winter Olympic Games.

Cross-country skiing results All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).

World Cup Season standings Season Age Season standingsOverallLong DistanceMiddle DistanceSprint 2000 22 — 2001 23 —