In their history Norwegian biathlete Ole Einar Bjoerndalen. the site tells why the National Olympic Committee of Norway decided to take this step, and also who will replace the legendary athlete in the national team.
These Games were to be the last for the most successful biathlete in history. In the summer, Ole Einar prepared for the Olympics, trying to bring himself to the peak of his form by February. Unfortunately, it wasn't without problems. The 43-year-old Norwegian, who also visited Raubichi, did not feel the best, but continued to be brave, not focusing on his failures in preparation period. Three-time Sochi 2014 champion and wife of Bjoerndalen Daria Domracheva recently told NRK that her husband's difficulties were quite serious.
- At first he had problems in preparation in the summer. I don't think a lot of athletes could handle that at all. But still he began to perform in the World Cup. However, perhaps due to the fact that everything happened shortly before the season, it was difficult to get back in shape at the start of the season, when it was very important.
Bjoerndalen himself again modestly denied, calling the problems "unpleasant little things."
Be that as it may, Bjoerndalen started the season well. He was twice 18th at the first stage of the World Cup. Then few doubted that Ole would easily meet the standards in the next races, but the results began to decline. In Hochfilzen, the Norwegian became 28th in the sprint, and fell back outside the top 40 in the pursuit.
Bjoerndalen did not go to the third stage in France, having gone with Domracheva to another training camp. And if Daria benefited from additional training, then Ole was again far from the necessary conditions. In the sprint at Oberhof, he was only 52nd with two penalties, and in the pursuit he was 36th. The stage in Ruhpolding was approaching, after which the Norwegian coaching staff planned to decide on the six that would go to Pyeongchang.
Brothers Boe and Emil Hegle Svendsen met all the standards at the beginning of the season. They repeatedly got into the top 12 at the stages, without raising doubts about their candidacies. The remaining three places were claimed by four: Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, Lars Birkeland, Erlend Bjontegaard and Henrik L'Abe-Lund. The challenge is to finish in the top 12 individual races twice (or once in the top 6) or be in the top six Norwegians overall. In previous years, Bjoerndalen would have easily dealt with this trio, but now their results looked much more preferable.
Birkeland finished in the top 12 four times in individual races and proved to be an excellent relay starter. In the overall standings, he is on the border of the top ten and even bypassed Svendsen.
L'Abe-Lund also outpaced Bjoerndalen many times, and in Hochfilzen he was twice in the top 10. In the overall standings, he is now in 24th place.
Finally, Ole Einar's main rival was the least known biathlete of this squad, Erlend Bjontegaard. The 28-year-old native of Kongsberg was regularly placed seventh out of the national team. He was not taken to the Olympic Games and only once included in the application for the World Cup. What can I say, even at the stages of the World Cup, Erlend is an infrequent guest. When it became clear that it was he, and not Bjoerndalen, who could go to Pyeongchang, Bjöntegaard felt out of place, saying that he would normally accept the decision of the coaches if they chose Ole. But Erlend's results spoke better than any words. He was left out of the team for the Östersund and Oberhof stages, but he made the most of his chance at Annecy when Bjoerndalen left for the training camp. In the sprint and mass start, the 28-year-old biathlete finished tenth, having immediately completed the standard in the form of two hits in the top 12 riders in individual races.
Erlend Bjontegaard, laagendalsposten.no Everything was decided in an individual in Ruhpolding. Neither Bjontegard nor Bjoerndalen got into the mass start, and therefore the 20 km race with four firing lines was the last test. For an iron hit at the Olympics, Ole Einar needed to drop into the top six, but for sure the coaching staff would have convinced any high result of Bjoerndalen, provided that Bjontegaard performed worse. Before the start, the veteran was focused. He understood that the key factor would not be so much physical form how much shooting, because for every miss in individual race a penalty minute is given.
Bjoerndalen started the race at a good pace and passed the first firing line without a miss. Ole secured his success on the rack. By the third shooting, he was fifth, and by that time Bjontegard had already made two misses. Alas, it was the third firing line that became fatal for Bjoerndalen. He unexpectedly missed twice in prone. At the last shooting, Ole Einar added another miss to his liability and went to the finish lap. In the final protocol of his most important race in this World Cup, he was 42nd. This worst result in a team. Even Sjostad Christiansen, who does not claim a ticket to Pyeongchang Vetle, ran better. Bjöntegaard, like Ole Einar, missed three times, but finished in 21st place. On the track, he was faster than Bjoerndalen by a whole minute.
After that, the coach of the Norwegian men's team, Siegfried Maze, faced a difficult dilemma. On the one hand, Ole Einar Bjoerndalen did not fulfill the selection criteria, on the other hand, the rejection of a great champion may cause the anger of the fans. If Maze had a choice, he would probably limit himself to an application of four people. It is clear that it will be difficult for L'Abe-Lund and Bjontegard to fight for medals, and then coaching staff repeatedly remember Bjoerndalen. But, take Maze Ole Einar, who would also hardly have joined the fight for awards, there would have been a fuss about non-compliance with the sports principle.
Maze decided to focus on the selection criteria. Birkeland, Bjontegaard and L'Abe-Lund fulfilled them, Bjoerndalen did not. Albeit not immediately, but nevertheless agreed with the opinion of the coaches and the National Olympic Committee of Norway, which initially advocated the inclusion of Ole Einar, which approves applications for the Games.
— We had thorough discussions with the sports directorate of the biathlon federation. Unfortunately, the decision was made not to include Ole Einar Bjoerndalen in the composition for the Olympics in Pyeongchang. His results in this season do not give hope to count on good result. Other biathletes performed better and deserved the opportunity to compete at the Games. It is difficult to make such decisions, given the merits of Bjoerndalen. His name will forever remain in history Olympic movement Norway, - quotes the words of the representative of the NOC of Norway, Ture Evrebo, the NRK channel.
It's hard to disagree with Evrebo. The decision of the Norwegian side is difficult, but fair. There is no doubt that this step will be discussed before, during and long after the Olympics. But it is much more important now to pay tribute to the great champion, who at the age of 43 decided to enter the fight for selection for the Olympics in the team with the highest competition in the world. Bjoerndalen does not live on the moon, he was well aware that his experience and endurance were no longer so effective in modern biathlon with these explosive speeds and crazy intensity. At his age, it is already difficult to digest loads sufficient for competitive struggle. But Bjoerndalen fought to the end and looked decent. His results were enough to qualify for any national team in the world except Norway and Germany.
Failure to qualify for the Olympics will not make him any less great or take away his legendary status. Ole Einar Bjoerndalen and tomorrow will be eight times Olympic champion, 20-time world champion, 135-time World Cup winner and the best biathlete in history. Well, once again we will regret that the International Olympic Committee does not issue a wild-card outside the selection criteria, following the example of the organizers of tennis tournaments.
A lot of bright words can be said about the sports career of Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, who decided to leave biathlon. Sportbox.ru made a selection of the brightest news of the last five years related to the departure of the Norwegian from the sport.
As soon as Bjoerndalen stopped consistently winning, which happened in the early 2010s, rumors spread that he was going to end his career. But every spring, the Norwegian refuted them, starting preparations for the new season. In 2013, news suddenly appeared: “Bjoerndalen will end his career after the Games in Sochi” .
"This is my last season and it is important for me to conduct it with dignity. Fully focused on training and preparation. I will try to come to the Games in Sochi in good shape to finish my career on a high note. That's all I want right now."
It is not surprising that the then 39-year-old Bjoerndalen was supported by the biathlon leaders. For instance, Anton Shipulin. “I am not surprised by his decision. You have to understand that the Olympics is the main goal for any athlete. Many are aimed specifically at them and want to leave beautifully. After Sochi, more than one Bjoerndalen will surely do this.”
He added one more victory to the sprint gold - in mixed relay. The eighth Olympic success made Bjoerndalen the most titled Winter Olympian. But Norwegian did not understand that he went down in history .
Although colleagues who are ready to remind Bjoerndalen of his greatness are always there. Ondrej Moravec from the Czech Republic did not hesitate and compared the Norwegian with God. Maybe this is the very test with copper pipes that every successful person has to go through?
If Bjoerndalen really left after Sochi, he would probably be able to get rich on bets. After all, the Norwegian predicted the rivalry between Russia and Norway in the relay race very accurately.
Ole Einar Bjoerndalen: Russia and Norway will compete for the victory in the relay
Recall how it was four years ago on the Olympic track: Emil Svendsen missed the 100% victory of the Norwegian four, unable to cope with the shooting on the final rack. Anton Shipulin took advantage of the opponent's mistakes and snatched the gold.
At this point, Bjoerndalen behaved with great respect for his teammate. He urged to support Svendsen. After all, anyone could be in his situation.
The incredible Olympic season ended not with a departure from biathlon, but with a continuation of a career: Bjoerndalen decided to continue his career.
“After I returned home from Sochi full of energy and strength, I spoke with my team about whether I need to rethink my decision. As a result - I continue my career! At least until the 2016 World Cup in Oslo.”
Ole Einar Bjoerndalen: I am full of optimism
But first, Ole Einar was happily met in Simostrand, a Norwegian town, known for that Bjoerndalen was born there. Residents made their fellow countryman a modest, but at the same time luxurious free parking gift anywhere in the city. It was there, at home, that Bjoerndalen announced his retirement four years later.
One of the features of Bjoerndalen is always sincere and very passionate about his love for biathlon. Not only with his victories and sports longevity, but also with simple, but very honest words about his favorite business, he got a multi-million army of fans. Biathlon is my life, - Ole Einar repeated more than once. V last years he claimed to be looking for motivation in a new challenge to myself. "I'm 41 years old, but I'm still motivated!" .
Bjoerndalen met his fifth decade with a new inventory: curved ski poles who first brought into fashion.
Experimenters: why Bjoerndalen and Domracheva chose curved sticks
He argued that new technologies would improve speed performance. And more than once during the season he proved this, overtaking Shipulin and Fourcade. But the most interesting thing about this news is that Daria Domracheva unexpectedly joined Bjoerndalen in introducing new equipment. Heating thereby rumors about their close relationship. Athletes kept their romance a secret until the last, until the spring of 2016 did not announce an imminent replenishment. In fact, last December, Bjoerndalen, congratulating Shipulin on fatherhood, lamented that, probably, he himself would never become a father .
Each subsequent birthday fueled interest in the person of Bjoerndalen and his athletic longevity. More than once, our colleagues tried to unravel the secret of Bjoerndalen.
What is Bjoerndalen's secret?
After the not-so-successful 2017 World Cup, Bjoerndalen, perhaps emotionally, said that these tournaments are over. He felt that he no longer had the right to spray and be ready every race of the season. The Norwegian threw all his strength into getting into the Games in Pyeongchang. At the same time, he did not evade journalists' tricky questions about doping in Russia and the scandal surrounding the Richard McLaren report, which was in full swing.
0 February 11, 2018, 13:00Almost everyone has heard of the famous biathlete Ole Einar Bjoerndalen. At 44, the Norwegian is the world's only absolute Olympic champion in biathlon. In his homeland, in the city of Simostrand, a bronze monument was even erected to the athlete. Hundreds of articles have been written about Bjoerndalen's sporting merits and described in dozens of interviews. But not so much is known about the athlete's personal life. And she has been very stormy with the biathlete for the past few years. Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, being married and having repeatedly stated that he was going to live a long and happy life together with his wife, fell in love with the Belarusian biathlete Daria Domracheva without memory. We tell about how this love story began, which became fateful for Bjoerndalen, in our material on the site.
Daria Domracheva and Ole Einar Bjoerndalen met at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. That year, the biathlete turned 24 years old, and Bjoerndalen celebrated his 36th birthday. Of course, Daria and Ole Einar have known each other for a long time, because the world of sports is rather small. However, the Norwegian has been married for several years to Italian biathlete Natalie Santer, and everything seemed to be perfect in the relationship of the couple.
The romance between Domracheva and Bjoerndalen was first discussed in 2012. The reason for this was his divorce from his wife. They say that at that time the 38-year-old biathlete decided to part with his wife precisely because of his relationship with the 26-year-old Domracheva - in the summer they were together at a training camp in Austria, and then feelings broke out between them.
In October 2012, Bjoerndalen and Santer released a joint statement regarding their divorce:
We must admit that our desire to live a long life together did not come true. We have a separate life ahead of us. We agreed that we would say nothing more than this statement. Please respect and understand our desire not to comment on this topic in future interviews,
they said.
Despite the divorce, according to the Italian, she remained on good terms with her ex-husband and even sometimes communicates with him:
We periodically contact, and I am aware of everything that happens in his life,
- she admitted in an interview.
Despite, though not very pronounced, but still publicity, great fame and great public interest, the couple managed to hide their romance for a very long time. Of course, many of their fellow biathletes knew that Daria and Ole Einar were connected by something more than just a professional relationship. And although they tried to keep the secret of lovers as long as possible, it was still extremely difficult not to spill the beans. The first to surrender was the French biathlete Martin Fourcade, who, when asked about Domracheva, answered literally the following:
I have a good relationship with her. True, not as close as those of Bjoerndalen,
he said.
After the 2014 Sochi Olympics, Bjoerndalen and Domracheva spent quite a lot of time in each other's company, although even then their romance had not yet been confirmed. After that, the paparazzi managed to photograph the lovers together several times in an informal setting. But both of them remained silent about their love affair.
When there was nothing to hide and there was no need, Bjoerndalen in the spring of 2016 at one of the press conferences not only confirmed the relationship with Domracheva, but, one might say, shocked the public, saying that he would soon become a father.
In July of the same year, 42-year-old Ole Einar Bjoerndalen and 29-year-old Daria Domracheva got married, which, by the way, each of them reported on their social networks. The wedding, which was attended only by close and native couples, was very modest and took place abroad (where exactly is not reported).
Such a nice day :) (the spelling and punctuation of the author are preserved. — Approx. ed.), — Domracheva commented on the picture on Instagram.
What a beautiful day,
- the biathlete wrote in Norwegian, English and Russian on his Facebook.
On October 1, 2016, Ole Einar Bjoerndalen and Daria Domracheva became parents - the couple had a daughter, whom they named Xenia. After the lovers legalized their relationship, they decided not to hide their personal lives anymore - now there are a lot of family pictures on their social networks, including photos with a one-year-old daughter (although they, like many, don’t show her face).
Now the spouses, according to sources, live in Minsk, where Daria built a luxurious house a few years ago. The biathlete has already managed to fall in love with the local cuisine and began to master the Russian language. According to his confession, he plans to teach his daughter three languages: Russian, Norwegian and English.
This year, Ole Einar Bjoerndalen went to the Olympics for the first time in the last 20 years as a coach, and Belarusian athletes became his wards. Alas, the results that he showed at the last Biathlon World Cup did not impress the representatives of the Norwegian team at all, so they did not include him in the team. However, neither the athlete nor his fans should be upset, because the coaching career can become for him a new stage in his sports career, and quite successful and significant. But he has already won his main victory - he has become a wonderful husband and father, and this award is perhaps more important than all the gold medals.
Photo Gettyimages.ru/Instagram
Now we have talked with the legendary Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, overtaking the Norwegian at the presentation of a limited edition Certina watch dedicated to His Majesty. There we asked Ole questions invented by our readers.
The first question disappeared on its own: our reader Alexei Krasnokutsky asked to know why the biathlete rarely shakes hands, but Ole shook my hand so hard that I immediately moved on to the next paragraph of the interview.
Ole Einar, as you know, cross-country skiing is much more popular than biathlon in Norway. Why did you choose this particular sport? After all, everyone knows that you and cross-country skiing climbed to the highest step of the podium at the World Championships, that is, you have a very high speed by ski. ALEXEY BERESNEV
I like a sport where you have to think a lot, and biathlon is much more difficult than cross-country skiing. Racing requires only strength and a crazy attitude, while biathlon also requires a huge amount of self-control. You have to be calm as a boa constrictor and prudent to switch from the state of focus on the shooting ranges to the race that takes place between them. It is very difficult to train this combination so that success in one does not lead to a decline in the other. It was this complexity of biathlon that attracted me. By the way, it was also a serious challenge, because at first I shot very weakly.
What did you have to sacrifice and what to give up for the sake of such stunning successes? What do you regret most (sleep, alcohol, etc.)? DMITRY DMITRIEV
If you have a goal and it takes a long time to reach it, it requires a lot of discipline. Our moves take a lot of time - I am away from home for 300 days a year, add to this training - and it becomes clear that the family sees me very rarely. In such a situation, of course, you do not completely lose contact with loved ones, but it is more difficult to maintain it than when you just return home from work every evening. Here's one sacrifice for you. I brought another when I was 12 when I was determined to be the best in the world and made the decision to never drink alcohol. Since then, I have not broken this promise, and it was not so easy. Basically, I am not against alcohol. I think at the end of my career I will sometimes drink something, but first - sports.
What for you in ordinary (not sports) life can be an analogue of the Olympic gold medal? What causes the same emotions? NINA PEREGONTSEVA
The Olympics are special emotions, but I cannot say that they cannot be achieved in ordinary life and training. For me, a great pleasure, comparable to victories, is the opportunity to advise something to young athletes and see how it helps them become better. Sometimes this immediately affects their results - for me it is a great joy. Another joy available to everyone, close in emotions to happiness from receiving an Olympic medal, is charity, helping children. As for the adrenaline that I get from biathlon, fast cars give similar sensations. I also love rock climbing and, in general, I like to discover new sports. All these are also sharp and strong emotions.
How did you get into car racing? Do you have your own car, what brand is it?)) IRINA GORBACHEVA
I love speed and racing. When I had a contract with Porsche, I didn't miss the chance to drive all their cars. Now I have a contract with BMW and, again, I test all their cars, and I also look at them from the point of view of an athlete who is used to competition: I mean, it's interesting for me to see what they do to be the best in your class by defeating rivals. I can't even compare myself closely to professional racers, but I love that there is a lot to learn in this sport and the feeling of being in control of a powerful car is something special.
Dossier:
Born on January 27, 1974 in Drammen (Norway) in a large family - he has two brothers and two sisters. His sports career started when he was only twelve years old. The love for biathlon was instilled in him by his older brother Dag, and subsequently, with the younger one, Hans-Anton, the brothers created the “Team Bjoerndalen”, which for many years formed the backbone of the Norwegian national team.
The first competition in Ole's sports career was the World Junior Championships in 1992. And the first success came to him a year later, at the next world championship among juniors, when he won three of the four races. In the 1994/1995 season, and especially at the 1995 World Championships in Antholz, Ule attracted close attention by finishing fourth and literally releasing the medal from his hands. Thus began the era of Ole Einar Bjoerndalen in biathlon. At the end of the same season at the World Cup, he also finished fourth. But on the same track in Antholz in January 1996, he also won his first World Cup victory.
On the Olympic Games in Nagano in 1998, Ole as part of the Norwegian team won his first gold and silver Olympic medals in the relay. In the same year, Ole and his teammates won gold medal in the relay competition and silver - in the pursuit. And then he won the World Cup for the first time.
2002 was one of the most successful years of Ole's career - gold medals in four disciplines (individual, sprint, pursuit, and relay) at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, as well as brilliant performances in numerous cross-country competitions -country skiing.
Ole Einar Bjoerndalen is a unique figure in the history of biathlon; he rightly earned the nickname "King of Ole". The success of this athlete and his charisma have largely contributed to the increase in the popularity of biathlon in the world. Ole's personality, with over 90 World Cup victories and numerous world cross-country skiing victories, is exceptionally appealing to all sorts of people.
His impressive recent victories and two more gold medals (sprint and mixed relay) at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics show that Ole is still the best in the world. The most titled Olympian (13 medals) at the age of 40 continues to amaze the world, and his endurance is still inexhaustible. In recognition of his contribution to the development of biathlon and sport in general, Ole Einar Bjoerndalen was selected as a member of the International Olympic Committee. Ole Einar Bjoerndalen has been a brand ambassador for CERTINA since 2011.
What sport would you do if you lived in a place where there was no snow? PAVEL TSYMBAL
Perhaps it would be a run on long distances. For example, half marathons. Maybe, Mountain bike. I really love mountain biking, because you can travel, you can visit places that at first glance seem impregnable. A very interesting thing. I would advise readers of Men's Health not to get hung up on any one sport, there are many activities that do not require special equipment and a lot of money and time. The same run. If you run 30 minutes a day, you are already doing a great job If you can't run, swim.The main thing is not to be lazy, sport is also a great pleasure. skiing, cross-country skiing, water sports sport is everything great options leisure.
Ole Einar, few people know that you walk a tightrope perfectly and dreamed of becoming a sports photographer as a child, what prompted you to change your childhood dream and become a biathlete? ARTEM
At school, I loved taking pictures and became seriously interested in this business, but gradually the sport took all my time. Maybe when I finish my career, I will return to photography. I learned to walk a tightrope a long time ago - at the age of 12-13. Then my dad advised me to try it, and I liked it, because the ability to keep balance can come in handy at the most unexpected moment of life. I learned in two weeks, and this skill, like riding a bicycle, I learned once - and you can always repeat it. I even once at a party showed a striptease, walking to the tightrope. My underpants were on to the end, but I could take off all the rest of my clothes right on the rope.
Ole Einar, please remember the best advice you have ever received from your coach. IVAN
My weakness was shooting. And I quickly realized that this technique is much more difficult for me than for others. In the end, I even had to work with a psychologist. But what really helped me was that for a year I trained shooting twice a day, five days a week. I obviously don’t have the talent for this, but here’s some advice for you - if something doesn’t work out for you, don’t quit, just apply two, three times more strength than others (perhaps more gifted than you) and you will become better than them.
Dear Ole! When did you get more buzz from biathlon - at 17 years old or at your current age? ALEXANDER BLACK
When I was younger, I was more interested in trying new things, learning from everyone and trying to apply and combine different things, looking for optimal solutions. Now I'm probably the most experienced biathlete in the world and everything else. Now I have to feel where this sport is going and what new athletes bring to it - perhaps they will see something fresh that I never thought of. I have to watch, learn and copy them strengths. I think this works well for me. If I see a slightly different technique in skiing or shooting that works for someone else, I will always try it. I don’t even need to talk to the person I want to copy for this, just look, feel his movement - and that’s it, I can already repeat it. This is what helps me at the age of 40 to work on my technique and continue to improve it.
Dear Ole Einar, what are your thoughts during the race? Thoughts about what make you maintain concentration and the will to win, at the right time to collect all the reserves and rush to the finish line? NIKITA
I always have a race plan, it's in my head. Previously, these plans were very detailed and detailed, but now they are more general, since I can already rely a lot on my feelings, instincts and experience. I can trust myself. The most important thing is to outline a few key points that will not let you miss the race. When you are tired, your brain and your muscles work worse, and at this moment you need not to get confused. Everything is provided for in my plan, and these, as I call them “key points”, just give me the opportunity not to lose control.
Ole Einar, what kind of dreams do you have before important competitions? VLADIMIR SMIRNOV
I can not sleep - worry and endlessly scroll in my head the very plan for the race, which I have already spoken about. And sometimes, on the contrary, I fail and sleep before the start, like a child. It's always different - sometimes I wake up relaxed, sometimes I'm all wet, because I dreamed of a race in which something went wrong. I think it's not so important, and if girls dream about you before the competition, that's good too.
Is it true that you come to the competition with a mascot vacuum cleaner? And if so, how did he become your talisman? NIKITA GORLOV
I said that I spend the whole year on the road, and I need to always stay healthy. Infections, viruses knock the athlete out of the schedule, do not allow him to train or perform. Therefore, if there is a carpet on the floor in a hotel, I better clean it myself again, because I know how hard it is to vacuum such a thing well, ridding it of any infection. For fifteen years I flew everywhere with the same vacuum cleaner and, yes, perhaps it was my talisman. But for the past two years, I always stipulate in advance that everything in the room should be plastic or wooden, without carpets. So now the vacuum cleaner lives at home.
Of the several dozen questions you sent for Bjoerndalen, our jury, consisting entirely of Men's Health golden feathers, selected the best ones. We admit that it was difficult to do this (friends, you are great - the questions were very good), but since the interview could not last several hours, I had to cut the list almost live.As for the prizes, here they are:
1. NIKITA GORLOV
2. DMITRY DMITRIEV
3. PAVEL TSYMBAL
Congratulations to the winners - wait for the replenishment of your number of Forces and send your full name, postal address and phone number to [email protected] so that we can send you prizes.
The imminent departure of Ole Einar Bjoerndalen from the sport seemed inevitable, but in the end it still came out suddenly. The man, whom his all-powerful compatriots Norwegians, Germans and Russians have been trying to beat for many years, announced on April 3 that he was ending the sport. Let his last season turned out to be a failure, but the fact remains: biathlon has left one of its best representatives. recalls the greatest victories of an athlete.
Came and conquered
Perhaps he should have left earlier. Even after Sochi-2014, I thought about ending an outstanding career, but something stopped him. More precisely, on the contrary, forced to move on. Having become an eight-time Olympic champion, the Norwegian swung at Pyeongchang. The results also had this: at the age of 40, the athlete, although he was not close to the Bolshoi crystal globe, but he fought for separate victories at the World Cup stages. games in South Korea should have been his eighth. But they didn't.
The 2017/18 season was just awful. Crumpled summer training, health problems already in progress and the progress of young Norwegians left him behind the Olympic team. Bjoerndalen suddenly found himself in an unusual position for himself: they did not applaud him after another victory, but sympathized and pitied him. However, Ole Einar himself never complained or cried. For him, there were no sores that could justify failures, as well as reasons to give what he needed most - victories.
He came to adult biathlon in the status of the strongest young athlete in the world. It was in 1993, when, for example, Anfisa Reztsova, Ricco Gross or were in their prime. About a year and a half later, he climbed the podium for the first time in the World Cup, and before that he went to the first Olympics in his career.
I had to go far: the Games were held in Lillehammer, Norway, so for young Bjoerndalen and his partners they were homemade. For Ole Einar, this Olympics was the only one in which he was left without medals. Four years later, in Nagano, he won the first race - the sprint. Silver in the relay was a nice bonus and, perhaps, a seed before the main start. Ahead was Salt Lake City.
2002 was perhaps the most important year in Bjoerndalen's career. The 28-year-old athlete reached the peak of physical and psychological capabilities and gave the Olympics his name: in the USA he won the individual race, sprint, pursuit and relay race. Only the mass start did not submit - Olympic gold in this discipline, the Norwegian will not appear.
Bjoerndalen was rather selfish: at the end of the 2006/07 season, he stopped the Frenchman Raphael Poiret, one of his main rivals, from winning the last race of his career. The Frenchman, by the way, is half a year younger than Bjoerndalen and has already quit sports for ten years. In the Norwegian, apparently, the craving for victories controlled the movements of the body. That season, Ole Einar did not finish first in the overall World Cup standings. He was replaced on the throne by a German, but only for one year. Bjoerndalen returned to his place already in 2008, and the next season he once again showed who is in charge in the world biathlon.
Downhill
From that moment on, the great champion began to give up. His body was aging and could not withstand the usual stress. The Norwegian began to fall out often even from the top ten. In the 2009/10 Olympic season, he was shaken from side to side: the sight suddenly went astray, and the skis were not moving so fast. In Vancouver, he still wanted to win personal gold after the "shameful" (in his own words) silver and bronze medals in Turin 2006, but in the end he became a six-time champion, winning only the relay.
Four years later, Bjoerndalen was perceived more as a museum piece on the track than as a real contender for the podium. But it was in Sochi, 12 years later, that he again became the Olympic champion himself, without the help of partners. Moreover, he decided not to postpone the moment of the long-awaited triumph, having won in the sprint. Then it got worse: more and more often, terrible 30th and 40th places appeared in his statistics, and he appeared less and less on the podium.
The 2017/18 season was the last straw: 51st overall, health problems and the Norwegian national team refusing his services. Rumors that the Norwegian is going to finish, took more and more distinct forms. Everyone was waiting for him to explain what was what at the last stage of the World Cup. But this did not follow. Only two weeks later, Ole Einar called a special press conference, before which everything became completely clear.
“Since 2008 I have been experiencing heart problems. I have chronic arrhythmias. In the last season, she became more serious and disturbing. I had problems during training and preparations for races, ”Bjoerndalen said at a meeting with reporters. This time he was extremely frank. It turned out that for 10 years he was also worried about his stomach: “I regularly have heartburn and acid reflux. I never told anyone about this. Despite the fact that I managed to adapt to the pain, I could not solve this problem. ”
He has been helping him cope with all the difficulties for a long time. Belarusian biathlete in 2016, Bjoerndalen gave birth to a daughter, Xenia, and from that moment Ole Einar's life changed. Couldn't change. Just finding a nanny is not an option, so the family began to take a lot of time from him and at the same time give more strength, especially when the Norwegian did not succeed.
“The king of biathlon, the king in life. I'm proud of this man. A man who broke boundaries, a man who broke stereotypes. His sports career is an example for millions of how to fight and strive for a goal. A career that will inspire generations to come. His behavior in life is an example for everyone how to respect others. How to save face in the face of adversity. How to be above behind-the-scenes games. How to be human. Just a winner, ”Daria wrote in a letter to her husband. At 44, his sports career ended. And life has just begun.