Olympic boss suffers heart attack
February 24, 2011
Gerhard Heiberg, the former Norwegian boss of the successful Olympics at Lillehammer who went on to join the International Olympic Committee (IOC), underwent surgery Thursday morning following what’s being called a mild heart attack. Heiberg, age 71, reportedly was on holiday in the mountains when he felt unwell and contacted his doctor. “Fortunately he got [...]
Make or break for women’s ski jumping
February 2, 2011
The performance of women ski jumpers at the Nordic World Ski Championships in Oslo later this month is likely to determine whether they’ll make it onto the Olympics. Crowd response may tip the decision of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), so to ensure a sufficiently festive mood, some of the tickets are being distributed free [...]
IOC member urges new Olympics bid
January 28, 2011
Norway’s Gerhard Heiberg, best known for running the successful 1994 Winter Olympics at Lillehammer and a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), now thinks Norway should mount another bid for the winter games in 2022 or 2026, as long as they’re located in Oslo. He hints there’s support for the idea within the IOC. [...]
Skiing star snares sunglass sponsor
September 30, 2010
Norwegian Olympic skiing star Aksel Lund Svindal, triple medal winner at the Olympics in Vancouver last winter, is clearly profiting from his success on the slopes. Now he’ll be sporting sunglasses made by Italian luxury goods producer Prada, the latest in a series of high-profile Norwegians to sign lucrative sponsorship deals. Svindal won Olympic gold in the super G [...]
Svindal best-liked at the Olympics
March 9, 2010
Downhill racer Aksel Lund Svindal took three medals at the Olympics in Vancouver, one of them in gold, and clearly won a place in Norwegians’ hearts as well. He topped a popularity ranking back home, emerging as by far the best-liked of all Norwegian athletes. Svindal is a handsome, articulate, 27-year-old alpine skier who seems [...]
Northug ‘best skier in the world’
March 1, 2010
Norway’s “bad boy” at the Winter Olympics ended two weeks of competition in a blaze of glory on Sunday. Petter Northug won the gold medal in arguably the toughest race of all, and suddenly emerged as what one commentator called “the best skier in the world.” Northug, age 24, ran neck and neck against Axel [...]
Curling clowns settle for silver
February 28, 2010
Norway’s playful men’s curling team lost its coveted gold medal to Canada on Saturday, but skip Thomas Ulsrud tried to keep smiling. He said all along that his team mostly wanted to have fun in Vancouver, and their clown-like trousers were the hit of the Olympics. Their game was good, too, but not as good as [...]
Bjørgen brings home most medals
February 28, 2010
Marit Bjørgen ended her Olympic competition with another silver medal on Saturday, placing second in the tough 30-kilometer race after a thrilling duel against arch rival Justyna Kowalczyk of Poland. Bjørgen fought hard for the gold, but will still be bringing home the most medals won by any Norwegian athlete at an Olympics since the [...]
Sweet revenge for the biathlon king
February 26, 2010
Norway’s reigning biathlon king Ole Einar Bjørndalen had seemed in danger of being dethroned, with no medals to his name as of Friday at the Winter Olympics. Then he anchored the Norwegian men’s relay team, and both he and his teammates could proudly travel home with more gold after all. It had been a disappointing [...]
Curling heroes secure final spot
February 26, 2010
Norway’s men’s curling team has made a sensation of sorts at the Winter Olympics because of their checkered trousers. Now the clown-like team has proven they deserve respect as well, after beating Switzerland in a semi-final match and securing a spot in Saturday’s final against Canada. Photo from fOTOGLIF The Norwegians won every match they [...]
Women grab historic relay gold
February 25, 2010
For the first time in 26 years, Norway won the Women’s 4 x 5-kilometer Relay Classic/Free at the Winter Olympics, crushing their competitors along the way. All four Norwegian skiers — with Vibeke Skofterud out first, followed by Therese Johaug on the second lap, Kristin Størmer Steira on the third and anchor Marit Bjørgen on [...]
Norwegian’s ‘ugly’ tackle draws criticism
February 25, 2010
Norway’s men’s hockey team got knocked out of Olympic competition, as expected, but one dubious aspect of its match against Slovakia on Tuesday was still being talked about, both in Vancouver and at home in Oslo. Ole-Kristian Tollefsen tackled Lubos Bartecko so hard that Bartecko’s helmet flew off, he fell hard and hit his head [...]
Norway second in cross-country relay
February 24, 2010
Cross-country veteran Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset was putting all the blame on himself that Norway failed to win a coveted gold medal in the Men’s 4×10-kilometer Classic/Free relay on Wednesday. He was in good shape, but his skis failed to perform in a heavy snowstorm during his part of the race, and he fell more than half-a-minute behind [...]
Great day for two downhill racers…
February 23, 2010
Kjetil Jansrud (right) skied a fabulous second run at the Winter Olympics’ Men Giant Slalom in Whistler on Tuesday, edging out his favoured teammate Aksel Lund Svindal to win the silver medal. Jansrud held the lead for a long time and looked set to take the gold, but he in turn was edged out in the end [...]
Northug redeems himself with gold
February 22, 2010
Petter Northug, Norway’s “bad boy” at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, finally won an Olympic gold medal, acknowledged instead of snubbing his fellow athletes, and even talked to reporters afterwards. Heavily favoured to win several of the cross-country skiing events, Northug instead performed poorly (even placing a lowly 41st in the Men’s 15-kilometer freestyle), but [...]
