Oddvar Brå

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Medal record
Oddvar Brå
Oddvar Brå
Men's Cross country skiing
Competitor for Flag of Norway Norway
Olympic Games
Silver 1972 Sapporo 4 x 10 km
Silver 1980 Lake Placid 4 x 10 km
World Championships
Gold 1982 Oslo 15 km
Gold 1982 Oslo 4 x 10 km
Bronze 1974 Falun 4 x 10 km
Bronze 1978 Lahti 4 x 10 km

Oddvar Brå (born March 16, 1951) is a Norwegian former cross-country skier. He was among the best skiers in Norway, winning 16 national championships, but his success in the major international championships was more modest. He participated internationally from the 1972 Winter Olympics to the 1989 Holmenkollen ski festival, but his first individual major international win was at the 1982 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Oslo, where he won the 15 km event. In the same championship, he won a shared gold medal (Soviet Union) in the relay after a dramatic finish where his ski pole broke, something which forever became a memory for every man in Norway, leading to the popular all-Norwegian expression "Hvor var du da Brå brakk staven?" ("Where were you when Brå broke his pole?"). Brå also won three relay medals at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships with a gold in 1982 and bronzes in 1974 and 1978. Brå additionally won two silver medals in the 4 x 10 km at the 1972 Winter Olympics and the 1980 Winter Olympics.

He also won the 50 km at the Holmenkollen ski festival in 1980 and 1982, and the 15 km in 1975, 1979, and 1981. In 1975, Brå was awarded the Holmenkollen medal (shared with Gerhard Grimmer and Ivar Formo).

Brå's best individual achievement in the Olympics was a 4th position in the 15 km event in the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. He received the Egebergs Ærespris in 1987 for his accomplishments in cross-country skiing and athletics (track and field).

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v • d • e
World champions in men's 18 km/ 15 km cross country
As 18 km
As 15 km
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 * 2007: Lars Berger
v • d • e
World champions in men's 4 x 10 km cross country relay
1933 Sweden - Per Erik Hedlund, Sven Utterström, Nils-Joel Englund, & Hjalmar Bergström * 1934 Finland - Sulo Nurmela, Klaes Karppinen, Martti Lappalainen, & Veli Saarinen * 1935 Finland - Mikko Husu, Klaes Karppinen, Väinö Liikkanen, & Sulo Nurmela * 1937 Norway - Annar Ryen, Oskar Fredriksen, Sigurd Røen, & Lars Bergendahl * 1938 Finland - Juho 'Jussi' Kurikkala, Martti Lauronen, Pauli Pitkänen, & Klaes Karppinen * 1939 Finland - Pauli Pitkänen, Olavi Alakulppi, Eino Olkinuora, & Klaes Karppinen * 1950 Sweden - Nils Täpp, Karl-Erik Åström, Martin Lundström, & Enar Josefsson * 1954 Finland - August Kiuru, Tapio Mäkelä, Arvo Viitanen, & Veikko Hakulinen * 1958 Sweden - Sixten Jernberg, Lennart Larsson, Sture Grahn, & Per-Erik Larsson * 1962 Sweden - Lars Olsson, Sture Grahn, Sixten Jernberg, & Assar Rönnlund * 1966 Norway - Odd Martinsen, Harald Grønningen, Ole Ellefsæter, & Gjermund Eggen * 1970 Soviet Union - Vladimir Voronkov, Valery Tarakanov, Fyodor Simashev & Vyacheslav Vedenin * 1974 East Germany - Gerd Hessler, Dieter Meinel, Gerhard Grimmer & Gert-Dietmar Klause * 1978 Sweden - Sven-Åke Lundbäck, Christer Johansson, Tommy Limby & Thomas Magnusson * 1982 Norway - Lars-Erik Eriksen, Ove Aunli, Pål Gunnar Mikkelsplass, & Oddvar Brå and 1982 Soviet Union - Vladimir Nikitin, Alexander Batyuk, Yuriy Burlakov, & Alexander Zavyalov * 1985 Norway - Arild Monsen, Pål Gunnar Mikkelsplass, Tor Håkon Holte, & Ove Aunli * 1987 Sweden - Erik Östlund, Gunde Svan, Thomas Wassberg, & Torgny Mogren * 1989 Sweden - Christer Majbäck, Gunde Svan, Lars Håland, & Torgny Mogren * 1991 Norway - Øyvind Skaanes, Terje Langli, Vegard Ulvang, & Bjørn Dæhlie * 1993 Norway - Sture Sivertsen, Vegard Ulvang, Terje Langli, & Bjørn Dæhlie * 1995 Norway - Sture Sivertsen, Erling Jevne, Bjørn Dæhlie, & Thomas Alsgaard * 1997 Norway - Sture Sivertsen, Erling Jevne, Bjørn Dæhlie, & Thomas Alsgaard * 1999 Austria - Markus Gandler, Alois Stadlober, Mikhail Botvinov, & Christian Hoffmann * 2001 Norway - Frode Estil, Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset, Thomas Alsgaard, & Tor Arne Hetland * 2003 Norway - Anders Aukland, Frode Estil, Tore Ruud Hofstad, & Thomas Alsgaard * 2005 Norway - Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset, Frode Estil, Lars Berger, & Tore Ruud Hofstad * 2007 Norway - Eldar Rønning, Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset, Lars Berger, & Petter Northug
Preceded by
Juha Mieto		 Holmenkollen medal with Gerhard Grimmer & Ivar Formo
1975		 Succeeded by
Ulrich Wehling
Preceded by
Cato Zahl Pedersen		 Egebergs Ærespris
1987		 Succeeded by
Ragnhild Bratberg