Bjorn Daehlie
Norway
Cross Country Skiing
Overall Ranks
1992
30 km - Silver
50 km - Gold
Skiathlon - Gold
Relay - Gold
1994
10 km - Gold
30 km - Silver
Skiathlon - Gold
Relay - Silver
1998
10 km - Gold
50 km - Gold
Skiathlon - Silver
Relay - Gold
Total
Events - 15
Gold - 8
Silver - 4
Bjorn Erlend Daehlie was born on June 19, 1967 in Elverum, Norway, and was very active in outdoor sports as a child, and wanted to pursue a career in soccer before he was convinced by a coach to give skiing a try, and he became great quickly. By the time he was 20, he was added to the Norwegian Olympic team as an alternate for the 1988 games, but did not participate.
He won his first World Championship gold medals in 1991, in the 15 km and the relay, which helped him make the Olympic team in 1992 as a full participant. His first event was the 30 km classical, and he started well, taking the lead early and holding it all the way through 23.6 km, but at that point he was passed by teammate Vegard Ulvang, who didn't let up, winning the race by 46.2 seconds over Daehlie, who would take the silver.
Next was the 10 km race, which was being contested for the first time at the Olympics, in place of the usual 15 km. Daehlie was one of the favorites, and the race was complicated by heavy snow, but it didn't seem to affect Ulvang, who took another gold medal, while finished in 4th place, just 5.2 seconds short of winning a medal.
The next event was the skiathlon, where each athlete's start time and order was determined by their time in the previous day's 10 km race, so Daehlie started out 25 seconds after Ulvang. The race was 15 km, and by 4km, Daehlie had passed Ulvang to take the lead, then sped away, finishing the race 53.4 seconds ahead of his teammate, who remained in second. It was the first of many Olympic gold medals in Daehlie's career.
Next was the 4x10 km relay, where Norway was favored, thanks to having Ulvang and Daehlie on the team. Sweden actually led after the first leg, by 0.7 seconds over Norway, but then Ulvang took off, and it was never close again. He gave them a lead of over 26 seconds after his leg, and the lead was the same when Daehlie took off on the anchor leg. He skied the fastest leg of the competition by far, and Norway ended up beating Italy by nearly a minute and a half, earning him a second gold medal, and Ulvang a third.
The Olympics wrapped up with the longest race, the 50 km. In that one, Daehlie dominated the field, leading from start to finish, with the lead at 1:23 at the 45 km mark, at which point he slowed the pace slightly since he knew he had already won. He ended up finishing 57.6 seconds ahead of the nearest competitor, and finished his Olympic debut with 3 straight gold medals.
After winning 3 golds and a bronze at the 1993 World Championships, Daehlie was ready for the 1994 Olympics, which were held in Lillehammer in his home country. He started out again with the 30 km, where he was the favorite. He was the 60th skier to go, and he had the lead at every single checkpoint during his run, but later, his younger teammate Thomas Alsgaard, who was competing in his first Olympics, took a surprising lead at 7 km, then increased it the rest of the way, beating Daehlie by 47.2 seconds, leaving him with the silver again.
Next was the 10 km, where Daehlie had missed out on a medal in the previous Olympics. He didn't let that happen again. He led throughout the short race, and ended up winning by 18.2 seconds, which is a pretty solid victory for such a short race. That was his 4th career gold medal.
Because of that win, he got to start first in the Skiathlon the next day, with a good head start, which he didn't really need anyway, as he had the fastest race time in the event as well, 11 seconds faster than Vladimir Smirnov of Kazakhstan, who had started second, which gave him another gold medal by a margin of 29.2 seconds.
Next was the relay, where Norway was the defending champ and the home team, and thus expected to win. Daehlie was again assigned to the anchor leg, and Norway started out with a tiny lead over Finland after the first leg, but after Ulvang skied the second leg, Italy had taken a small lead. After the third leg, Finland was back on top, and Norway was back in third, but only 1.1 seconds behind when Daehlie started. Daehlie and the Italian quickly pulled away from Finland, but Daehlie leading, and Italy drafting off of him, refusing to take the lead until the final stretch, when they pulled ahead as both sprinted for the finish, which was won by Italy by 0.4 seconds in the closest relay finish in history.
Once again, the 50 km race was last, but this time it was raced in classical style, while Daehlie was best at the freestyle. He was in second place through most of the race, behind Smirnov, but slowed down considerably in the final third of the race, and ended up finishing in 4th place, leaving him off the podium for the first time in Lillehammer.
He remained one of the best in the world over the next few years, winning 5 medals at the 1997 World Championships, including 3 golds, so he was again a top contender for medals at the 1998 Olympics in Nagano. His first race, the 30 km, did not go well, as there was heavy, damp snow falling throughout, and he was never able to get a good pace going, and finished in 20th place, the only time in his Olympic career that he finished worse than 4th.
The next race was the 10 km, which he had won 4 years earlier, and this one would be held in a steady rainstorm, but it didn't hurt Daehlie as much as some of the others. He led at both checkpoints by several seconds over Smirnov, and finished 8 seconds ahead of the next skier, earning him his first gold of these games, and his 6th overall.
Next was the skiathlon, where he was the 2-time defending champ and had the advantage of starting first thanks to winning the 10 km. He didn't start off as strong as expected, and by the halfway point, his teammate Thomas Alsgaard was right behind him, where he stayed for nearly 20 minutes. Daehlie was never able to pull away or get Alsgaard to take the lead, until the final 200m, when Alsgaard made his move and finished strong, leaving Daehlie to take the silver by a margin of 1.1 seconds.
Next was the relay, where Norway wanted revenge on Italy for beating them on their home course. Daehlie took the third leg this time, and he needed to ski well, because their first skier struggled, leaving Norway in 10th place after the first leg, 22.6 seconds off the lead. The next Norwegian skied a great leg, and pulled them into 2nd place, still 12 seconds down, when Daehlie started. Daehlie had an even better leg, and finished his section just half a second behind Italy. Alsgaard skied the anchor leg, and just as he had done in the previous race, he sat right behind the Italian for the entire leg, before pulling ahead at the finish, and Norway won gold by 0.2 seconds.
The final event was again the 50 km, which was in freestyle this time, which helped Daehlie. His start was slow, but he had pulled himself into 4th place by the halfway point. By 40 km, Daehlie was holding a slight lead, and he was able to hold on to it through the finish, where he ended up 8.1 seconds ahead to win his final Olympic gold medal.
He competed in the 1999 World Championships, but later that year, he had a serious injury while roller skiing later that year, and after 2 years of surgeries and rehab, he was unable to overcome the injury and was forced to retire. At the time, his 12 medals and 8 golds were both Winter Olympic records, though both were eclipsed earlier this year by Johannes Hosflot Klaebo. Even though he no longer owns those records, his great 6-year run was enough to make him the greatest Winter Olympian of all time, and one of the greatest Olympians overall as well.
