No cause of death has been revealed yet. Bakken had been taking part in a training camp in Italy with teammates at the time of his death.

The winner of one world cup race and the 2021-22 Mass Start World Cup, Bakken struggled with Myocarditis for two years and only returned to World Cup competition 3 weeks ago.

With two Top 5 and four Top 10 results in six races this season, he was amongst the favorites for Olympic medals in February.

As a 24 y/o, hearing about a 27 year-old professional athlete dying out of nowhere makes me sick. Biathlon is one of the most popular sports in my country so I followed pretty much this guy's entire career.

R.I.P.

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  • There are video interviews after the race as well. He looked perfectly fine, and I was eager to follow his race form in the months to come.

  • Has to be natural, albeit premature, causes.

    Such a shame

  • It’s so awfully sad. Bakken overcame so much to get to where he was last week in Annecy. Never could have predicted this… I know there is speculation about his wearing an altitude mask which is possibly why, but the Italian authorities will likely take a week to announce the results of the autopsy.