The most successful Winter Olympian in history, Norwegian biathlete Ole Einar Bjorndalen, will not be competing at Pyeongchang 2018.

The 43-year-old, who has 13 Olympic medals, was not chosen by the Norwegian Biathlon Association for the Games.

Bjorndalen failed to meet the qualification standard, according to the head of the Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee, Tore Ovrebo.

He was aiming to compete in his seventh Winter Olympics next month.

But his last chance to reach the 2018 Games came at this month's Biathlon World Cup in Ruhpolding, Germany, where he finished 42nd.

Bjorndalen's first Games were on home snow at Lillehammer 1994.

Apart from at his debut Games, he won at least two medals at every Olympics, surpassing cross-country skier and compatriot Bjorn Daehlie's record of 12 with two golds at Sochi 2014.

His medal tally is only bettered by three Summer Olympians: US swimmer Michael Phelps and Soviet gymnasts Larissa Latynina and Nikolai Andrianov.

Ole Einar Bjorndalen's Olympic medals (eight golds, four silvers, one bronze):
•Nagano 1998 - one gold (sprint), one silver (relay)

•Salt Lake City 2002 - four golds (individual, sprint, pursuit, relay)

•Turin 2006 - two silvers (individual and pursuit), one bronze (mass start)

•Vancouver 2010 - one gold (relay), one silver (individual)

•Sochi 2014 - two golds (sprint and mixed relay)