Johannes Thingens Bø (20) and Tarjei Bø (25) grew up in Stryn in western Norway together with three siblings.

Of five siblings, two are now gold candidates in the world’s most generous enterprise: the Olympics.

– This is a completely unreal thought, says mother Aslaug Thingnes Bø.

– If they both ran the Olympic relay, I don’t know if I would stick around to watch them shoot.

– How is it possible to have two sons who are both at the top of the world in sports?

– They both have strong competitive instincts. They have strong self-discipline and the will to carry out what they have started. Something like that: “If you can dream, you can do it”, says Aslaug Thingnes Bø and adds:

– But there must be something in the genes too, it’s hard to believe that these two could be so good without useful hereditary characteristics.

Benefits with brother

Although both were successful in biathlon, they rarely trained together due to their age difference.

Johannes was still playing football when Tarjei took to the big world to become the best in biathlon.

– Johannes came in from the sidelines, while I had to work hard to get good results that I could use to get good equipment, said Tarjei Bø.

– It’s certainly an advantage to have a brother in this circus, admits Johannes, before adding with a big smile:

– But now I get sponsors because I’m good and not because I’m Tarjei’s brother.

– Tarjei is more structured

Before Christmas, he broke through with two wins in a row at the World Cup in Annecy, France. He described Tarjei as a greater talent than himself.

– At least I’m not the one who inherited his talent. “It must be from father and mother,” said Tarjei.

When NRK.no spoke with mother Aslaug before the season started, she explained the differences between her two biathlon sons as follows:

– Tarjei is more structured than Johannes, and he has had to improve his abilities over the years since he was in the middle of a sibling group. Johannes had more support from within the country, but they both had the instinct to make the best of their situation.

Johannes Thingnes Bø laughed when asked to guess how his mother characterized the differences between him and his brother.

– He might say that Tarjei is more structured than me, he grinned.

– Is it true that everything has become easier for you?

– Yes, in terms of sponsors and access to good skis and the like. This opened up a lot of things for me.

– Keep it in your mouth

Now, both he and Tarjei understand that the 20-year-old player stands alone and does not need help from his older brother at all. Now they help each other.

– We both have that in our mouths and are rude to each other, but we still get along and are good friends. It’s a good match, says Johannes, who claims that in 99 out of 100 cases they don’t talk about biathlon in their free time.

Lastly, the big question for mothers is:

– Who do you support?

– Until now, I have mostly supported the oldest, at least after Tarjei fell ill, but this season I supported Johannes until Christmas because the most important thing is that he does well for Olympic selection.

A week before Christmas, his dream came true when Johannes and Tarjei were selected for the Olympics.