Olympic medalist voluntarily admits to cheating on 'gold medal' girlfriend of 6 months in emotional interview

"There's someone I wanted to share it with who might not be watching today. Six months ago, I met the love of my life - the most beautiful and kindest person in the world. Three months ago, I made my biggest mistake and cheated on her," Laegreid said to NRK in Norway.

"I told her about it a week ago. It's been the worst week of my life."

But instead of celebrating Tuesday, he was distraught, crying and hugging friends after the race. During a news conference, he explained why he decided to tell the world about his personal situation on the broadcast.

"It was the choice I made. We make different choices during our life and that's how we make life," he told a room full of journalists. "So today I made a choice to tell the world what I did, so maybe, maybe there is a chance she will see what she really means to me. Maybe not."

"There are probably many who look at me with different eyes, but I only have eyes for her," he added. "Sport has taken a slightly different place in my life the last few days. Yes, I wish I could share it with her."

In a separate media availability, Laegreid seemed to regret giving the interview, as he felt he may have upstaged gold medal winner Johan-Olav Botn, his Norwegian teammate.

"Now I hope I didn't ruin Johan's day. Maybe it was really selfish of me to give that interview. So yeah, I don't know. I was, I'm a bit, I don't know ... I'm not really here mentally. So yeah, we will see what happens."

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.