Bjørn Dæhlie
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Bjørn Dæhlie (born June 19, 1967) is a Norwegian former cross-country skier. He has won 8 Olympic titles, and 9 World Championships.
Dæhlie, born in Elverum, was the dominant cross-country skier of the 1990s. His 8 Olympic titles are a record for an athlete at the Winter Olympics, as is his total of 12 Olympic medals (he also won 4 silver medals) which he amassed in three Olympics (Albertville, Lillehammer, and Nagano). In addition to his Olympic record, he had great success at the world championships (17 medals; 9 gold), especially in 1997 when he won medals in all five events. If it had not been for a career-ending roller skiing crash, Dæhlie would have had the opportunity to add to his collection of medals. Despite his unanticipatedly early exit from the sport, Dæhlie is generally considered the greatest Nordic skier of all time.
Dæhlie attributes much of his later success in sport to his upbringing. Hunting, fishing, hiking, kayaking, soccer, and, of course, skiing were all part of his life from a very young age. For much of his childhood Dæhlie wanted to be a soccer player, but after prompting by a coach tried Nordic skiing. Although Dæhlie did not have immediate success as a junior racer, he improved every year, and after years of training qualified for FIS World Cup competition.
In addition to being an athletic figurehead, Dæhlie is a cultural icon in Norway. A shrewd businessman, Dæhlie has been heavily featured in advertising campaigns, started a brand of signature ski apparel, and even co-hosted a television show called Gutta på tur.
He was the person who came up with the idea for the Salomon Nordic System Pilot Bindings.
Despite the fact he never won an event at the Holmenkollen ski festival, Dæhlie was awarded the Holmenkollen medal in 1997 (shared with Bjarte Engen Vik and Stefania Belmondo).
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| Olympic champions in men's 10 km cross country |
|---|
| 1992: Vegard Ulvang | 1994: Bjørn Dæhlie | 1998: Bjørn Dæhlie |
| Olympic champions in men's cross country combined/double pursuit |
| 1992: Bjørn Dæhlie | 1994: Bjørn Dæhlie | 1998: Thomas Alsgaard | 2002: Thomas Alsgaard & Frode Estil | 2006: Yevgeny Dementiev |
| Olympic champions in men's 50 km cross country |
| 1924: Thorleif Haug | 1928: Per Erik Hedlund | 1932: Veli Saarinen | 1936: Elis Wiklund | 1948: Nils Karlsson | 1952: Veikko Hakulinen | 1956: Sixten Jernberg | 1960: Kalevi Hämäläinen | 1964: Sixten Jernberg | 1968: Ole Ellefsæter | 1972: Pål Tyldum | 1976: Ivar Formo | 1980: Nikolay Zimyatov | 1984: Thomas Wassberg | 1988: Gunde Svan | 1992: Bjørn Dæhlie | 1994: Vladimir Smirnov | 1998: Bjørn Dæhlie | 2002: Mikhail Ivanov | 2006: Giorgio Di Centa |
| World champions in men's 10 km cross country |
|---|
| 1991: Terje Langli | 1993: Sture Sivertsen | 1995: Vladimir Smirnov | 1997: Bjørn Dæhlie | 1999: Mika Myllylä |
| World champions in men's 15 km cross country |
| As 18km - 1925: Otakar Nemecky | 1927: John Lindgren | 1929: Veli Saarinen | 1930: Arne Rustadstuen | 1931: Johan Grøttumsbråten | 1933: Nils-Joel Englund | 1934: Sulo Nurmela | 1935: Klaes Karppinen | 1937: Lars Bergendahl | 1938: Pauli Pitkänen | 1939: Jussi Kurikkala | 1950: Karl-Erik Åström |
| As 15km - 1954: Veikko Hakulinen | 1958: Veikko Hakulinen | 1962: Assar Rönnlund | 1966: Gjermund Eggen | 1970: Lars-Göran Åslund | 1974: Magne Myrmo | 1978: Józef Łuszczek | 1982: Oddvar Brå | 1985: Kari Härkönen | 1987: Marco Albarello | 1989 freestyle: Gunde Svan | 1989 classical: Harri Kirvesniemi | 1991: Bjørn Dæhlie | 2001: Per Elofsson | 2003: Axel Teichmann | 2005: Pietro Piller Cottrer |
| World champions in men's cross country combined/double pursuit |
| 1993: Bjørn Dæhlie | 1995: Vladmir Smirnov | 1997: Bjørn Dæhlie | 1999: Thomas Alsgaard | 2001: Per Elofsson | 2003: Per Elofsson | 2005: Vincent Vittoz |
| World champions in men's 30 km cross-country skiing |
| 1926: Matti Raivio | 1954: Vladimir Kuzin | 1958: Kalevi Hämäläinen | 1962: Eero Mäntyranta | 1966: Eero Mäntyranta | 1970: Vyacheslav Vedenin | 1974: Thomas Magnusson | 1978: Sergey Savelyev | 1982: Thomas Eriksson | 1985: Gunde Svan | 1987: Thomas Wassberg | 1989: Vladimir Smirnov | 1991: Gunde Svan | 1993: Bjørn Dæhlie | 1995: Vladimir Smirnov | 1997: Alexey Prokourorov | 1999: Mika Myllylä | 2001: Andrus Veerpalu | 2003: Thomas Alsgaard |
| Preceded by: Manuela Di Centa |
Holmenkollen medal with Bjarte Engen Vik & Stefania Belmondo 1997 |
Succeeded by: Fred Børre Lundberg, Larissa Lazutina, Alexey Prokourorov, & Harri Kirvesniemi |
