His latest confirmation seemingly ends a remarkable career which has seen him win eight Olympic gold medals, four silver and one bronze.

Bjørndalen was the most decorated Winter Olympian of all time until he was surpassed by his compatriot Marit Bjørgen, a cross-country skier who won two titles at Pyeongchang 2018 in February.

He did not have the chance to add to his haul as he was not selected in his country's team for the South Korean Games.

His first Olympics came on home snow in Lillehammer in 1994 and he won his first gold in the 10 kilometres sprint at Nagano 1998.

He then won four golds at Salt Lake City 2002, one at Vancouver 2010 and two at Sochi 2014 to cement his place into the history books.

The 20-time world champion has also won the overall International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup title on six occasions.

However, his bid to reach Pyeongchang 2018 ultimately ended in disappointment after he failed to make an impact on the IBU World Cup circuit this term.

He had targeted this year's Games after coming out of retirement in 2016 and resigning his role as a member of the International Olympic Committee's Athletes' Commission. 

The Norwegian repeatedly missed important meetings as he instead concentrated on his sport.

He had initially planned to retire after Sochi 2014 but continued to his home World Championships in Oslo in 2016 before extending his career again.

The IBU World Cup in Ruhpolding in Germany in January was seen as his last chance to earn a Pyeongchang spot but he came 42nd in the individual competition.

Swimmer Michael Phelps is one of only three Summer Olympians to boast more medals than Bjørndalen, with his record haul of 28.

The other two are Russian gymnasts Larisa Latynia and Nikolai Andrianov, who have 18 and 15 respectively.

"My motivation is unstoppable, you know that, and I feel that it is just as much fun today - I would have liked to have had another year, but this is my last season," Bjoerndalen said today at a press conference.

"I responded well to treatment and I got very good help from my medical team, but I was always trying to catch up."