Norwegian biathlete breaks down during TV interview, begs ex-girlfriend to take him back after cheating

Olympians are often overcome with emotion after winning a medal at the Games, but it's typically tears of joy, not sadness, that accompany the highlight of their athletic lives. 

However, after winning bronze in the men's 20km biathlon, Norwegian skiier Sturla Holm Lægreid broke down for a much different reason. In an interview with the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, he confessed to cheating on his now ex-girlfriend and pleaded with her to take him back. 

"I told her a week ago. And it's been the worst week of my life," Lægreid said, via NBC. "I had a gold medal in life, and there's probably a lot of people out there who look at me differently now, but I only have eyes for her. Sports has taken a bit of a back seat these past couple of days. Yeah, I wish I could share this with her."

Lægreid's partner broke up with him after he informed her he'd been unfaithful, but hoped his public confession and act of contrition would convince her to take him back. 

"I'm not ready to give up. I hope that committing social suicide might show her how much I love her," Lægreid said. "I accept the consequences of what I've done. I regret it with all my heart. Maybe I'm dumb as a rock. I'm a member of Mensa, but I still do stupid stuff."

He added that he wanted to "put it all on the table" in hopes she might take him back, although this plan could backfire spectacularly as not everyone would take kindly to this kind of admission and airing of laundry on a national (and now international, after the interview went viral) scale.