Ole Einar Bjoerndalen
(IOC)
Updated: 2007-07-25 18:04
Ole Einar BJOERNDALEN of Norway celebrates winning the men's 10km biathlon sprint during the Salt Lake City Olympic Winter Games at Soldier's Hollow. Credit : Getty Images/Zoom
Other names: BJ?RNDALEN, Ole Einar
Born: 27 January 1974
Birthplace: Drammen
Nationality: Norway
Sport: Biathlon/Skiing
ATTENDANCE AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES
Lillehammer 1994
Nagano 1998
Salt Lake City 2002
Turin 2006
AWARDS
Olympic medals:
Gold: 5
Silver: 3
Bronze: 1
Other results:
World Championships
Gold: 3 (98, 03)
Silver: 5 (97, 98, 00, 01, 04)
Bronze: 8 (97, 99, 00, 01, 04)
Quadruple Biathlon Gold
Competing in his second Olympics in Nagano in 1998, biathlete Ole Einar Bjoerndalen appeared to be headed to victory in the 10km event when the race was halted due to bad weather. Undaunted, Bjoerndalen returned the next day to win the rescheduled contest by more than a minute.
He also anchored the Norwegian relay team to a silver-medal finish despite taking over in only fourth place. At the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, Bjoerndalen tuned up for the biathlon competitions by entering the 30km cross-country race and placing sixth. Two days later, he won the 20km biathlon event by 36.1 seconds.
He followed this up with victories of 28.9 seconds in the 10km sprint and 43 seconds in the 12.5km pursuit. Finally, he anchored the Norwegian relay team to victory. In the end, Bjoerndalen won gold medals in every biathlon race.
Prior to 2002, no biathlete had earned more than two gold medals at a single Olympics. Bjoerndalen didn't stop there. In 2006 in Turin, he won three other medals: silver in the 20km and 12.5km pursuit, and bronze in the 15km mass start - a new event introduced in the biathlon in Turin.
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