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Marco Bonarrigo
The Norwegian biathlete was found dead on Monday in Trentino: he was wearing a mask that simulates altitude by reducing oxygen, but also raises his heart rate (and he had suffered from pericarditis). From 2023 it is no longer considered doping
The sudden death of a top-level athlete, in theory super-controlled on a medical level, is a dramatic and relatively rare event: there are heart pathologies that not even sophisticated tests can detect, there are nations where health checks are not as thorough as in Italy for example.
However, what makes the tragic death of the Norwegian biathlete Sivert Bakken, who died on 22 December while in retreat at the Dolomiti Hotel in Passo di Lavazè, in Trentino, practically unique, is unprecedented circumstance: the 27-year-old was found dead wearing an oxygen mask that simulates altitude (Elevation Training Mask, Etm), an increasingly widespread device intended for athletes which allows the passage of oxygen to the mouth to be reduced by up to 6-10 times to – according to the indications of those who produce them and also market them on the web – “improve breathing capacity, increase lung capacity and resistance in hypoxia”, a sort of adjustable “suffocation”..
It should be noted that Bakken and other Norwegian colleagues spent long periods of training in Lavazè, at an altitude of 1,800 meters above sea level and therefore where there is already a reduced presence of oxygen compared to sea level.
Researchers have many doubts about the effectiveness of the very widespread tool. Certainly “the use of a mask during physical exercise significantly increases discomfort, moderately increases dyspnea and perceived effort” (Biomechanics Laboratory, Federal University of Santa Maria, Brazil) while “wearing masks during physical exercise has a modest effect on physiological and psychological parameters, including gas exchange, lung function and subjective discomfort in healthy individuals – they clarify at the Department of Sports Science and Physical Education of the University of Hong Kong – and the overall effect on physical performance seems minimum”. On the other hand, the mask “raises the heart rate level in the recovery phase” as explained by researchers at the Resistance Exercise, Physiology and Sport Laboratory in Collegeville in the USA.
In short, a controversial tool and not without risks. On the death of Bakken, who had recently abandoned his activity for a few months following pericarditis, The Norwegian Biathlon Federation has announced that it is “currently not aware of the circumstances surrounding the acquisition and use of this mask”. Bakken will undergo an autopsy in Italy in the next few days.
Emilie Nordskar, general secretary of the federation, states in the statement that this is “a tragic situation with many unanswered questions”. The fact remains that Norwegian sports authorities have always been avid supporters of “simulated altitude” and invite cross-country athletes to stay in for a long time hypoxic preparation centers during training camps.
It is impossible at the moment to make connections between the death of the Scandinavian athlete, the pathologies from which he suffered and the use of the mask, but the tragedy must lead to reflection considering the diffusion of the instrument among amateurs, as is very easy to verify on any online commerce site. For two years, in compliance with the Wada legislation, the Italian criminal legislation no longer considers the use of hypoxic instruments to be doping.
December 25, 2025
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