Ole Einar Bjørndalen

Ole Einar Bjørndalen (; born 27 January 1974) is a retired Norwegian professional biathlete and coach, often referred to by the nickname, the "King of Biathlon". With 14 Winter Olympic Games medals, he is second on the list of multiple medalists behind Marit Bjørgen who has won 15 medals. He is also the most successful biathlete of all time at the Biathlon World Championships, having won 45 medals. With 95 World Cup wins, Bjørndalen is ranked first all-time for career victories on the Biathlon World Cup tour. He has won the Overall World Cup title six times, in 1997–98, in 2002–03, in 2004–05, in 2005–06, in 2007–08 and in 2008–09.

In 1992, he won his first career medal at the junior world championships. A year later in 1993, after winning three junior world championship titles, a medal haul only previously achieved by Sergei Tchepikov, Bjørndalen made his Biathlon World Cup debut. His breakthrough came in 1994 when he featured on his first World Cup podium in a sprint race held in Bad Gastein, Austria. Bjørndalen first competed in the Olympic Games at the Lillehammer 1994 Winter Olympics, held in his home country of Norway. He obtained his first major victory on 11 January 1996 in an individual competition held in Antholz-Anterselva, Italy. On 20 February 2014, Bjørndalen was elected to an eight-year term at the International Olympic Committee's athlete commission. He resigned from this role in 2016 as he elected to continue his career.

Career

At the age of 16 Bjørndalen left home to pursue his sporting career at a sports academy in Geilo, where he initially trained in both cross-country skiing and biathlon, although after one year there he decided to focus on the latter.

In 1993, at the age of 19, Bjørndalen first came into focus by winning 3 out of 4 possible gold medals at the Junior Biathlon World Championships, which among other things led to him being chosen to represent Norway in the 1994 Olympics, at the cost of highly merited biathlete Eirik Kvalfoss. At those Games Bjørndalen's best finish was a 28th position in the sprint.

Bjørndalen has won the relay world cup 11 times in the seasons: 1997–98, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2015–16 and 2017–18. He has 6 times finished second in the world cup relay in: 1996–97, 2006–07, 2008–09, 2011–12, 2012–13 and 2014–15.

Bjoerndalen also came in third place in 1998–99 and 2002–03. Altogether he has been on the podium 19 seasons in the world cup relay. Bjørndalen has won the mixed relay world cup 4 times. It happened in the seasons: 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15 and 2015–16.

Bjørndalen has won (together with the Norwegian biathlon team) the nations cup ten times. It happened in the: 1998–99, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2013–14, 2014–15 and 2015–16 season. Bjørndalen has also achieved five-second places in the nations cup in the years: 1999–00, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2005–06 and 2012–13. He has finished in third place in the nations cup 3 times, in the: 1996–97, 1997–98 and 2006–07 season. In total he has finished 18 times at the podium in the nations cup for men.

He is the only biathlete ever to win all biathlon events in a single Winter Olympics (2002 Salt Lake City Games). This encompassed the sprint, pursuit, individual, and relay events, the latter together with three other participants. He was the most successful competitor at these Games. This also made him only the third Winter Olympian to win four golds at one Games, and he was also the first biathlete to win more than two gold medals at a single Games. In addition, he had won all three competitions staged at the Olympic test event in Salt Lake City the previous year. before overtaking Dæhlie by winning his second gold of the Games as part of the Norwegian mixed relay team. He has also won 20 World Championship gold medals, 14 silver and 11 bronze (more than anybody in biathlon history), along with a record 95 World Cup victories in biathlon and 1 World Cup victory in cross-country skiing, 179 podium finishes in biathlon individual races and 3 in cross-country skiing. He also finished in the top three of the Overall World Cup rankings for a record thirteen successive seasons between the 1996–97 and 2008–09 seasons. Bjørndalen has also achieved 14 individual gold medals in the Norwegian Championship, biathlon, summer event: sprint (7) and pursuit (7).

In January 2018 Arne Botnan, the sporting director for Norwegian biathlon, announced that Bjørndalen would not be selected for the 2018 Winter Olympics, after he failed to achieve the qualifying standard of a top six finish in a World Cup race before the Norwegian Biathlon Association was due to nominate its Olympic squad on the 15th of that month. However, he did travel to the Games after being accredited as part of the Belarusian Olympic delegation as a coach, in order to support Darya Domracheva. On 3 April 2018 Bjørndalen announced his retirement from competition, explaining that his form had been affected by heart murmurs several times during the previous season.

In September 2019, Bjørndalen and Domracheva were appointed as head coach and women's coach respectively of the Chinese biathlon team.

2005–06 World Cup season

{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" style="font-size:90%; text-align:center; float:left; margin:1em 1em 1em 0;"

!colspan="9" style="white-space:nowrap; text-align:left;"|2005–06 World Cup season results  

! No.

! World Cup location

| rowspan="11" style="border-bottom-width:2x; padding:0;" |

! Individual

! Sprint

! Pursuit

! Mass start

! Relay

! Mixed relay

| 1 || style="text-align:left;"| Östersund, Sweden || — || 4 || style="background:#f7f6a8;"| 1 || — || style="background:#f7f6a8;"| 1 || —

| 2 || style="text-align:left;"| Hochfilzen, Austria || style="background:#dce5e5;"| 2 || 5 || — || — || 8 || —

| 3 || style="text-align:left;"| Osrblie, Slovakia || DNS || DNS || DNS || — || — || —

| 4 || style="text-align:left;"| Oberhof, Germany || — || DNS || — || DNS || DNS || —

| 5 || style="text-align:left;"| Ruhpolding, Germany || — || DNS || DNS || — || DNS || —

| 6 || style="text-align:left;"| Antholz-Anterselva, Italy || — || 5 || 5 || style="background:#f7f6a8;"| 1 || — || —

| x16px|link=Biathlon at the 2006 Winter Olympics || style="text-align:left;"| Turin, Italy || style="background:#dce5e5;"| 2 || 11 || style="background:#dce5e5;"| 2 || style="background:#f8e6c4;"| 3 || 5 || —

| 7 || style="text-align:left;"| Pokljuka, Slovenia || — || style="background:#f7f6a8;"| 1 || style="background:#f7f6a8;"| 1 || — || — || style="background:#dce5e5;"| 2

| 8 || style="text-align:left;"| Kontiolahti, Finland || — || 16 || style="background:#f7f6a8;"| 1 || style="background:#f8e6c4;"| 3 || — || —

| 9 || style="text-align:left;"| Oslo, Norway || — || style="background:#f7f6a8;"| 1 || style="background:#f7f6a8;"| 1 || style="background:#f7f6a8;"| 1 || — || —

| style="text-align:center;" colspan="9"| Key:"—" denotes discipline not held; DNS—Did not start.

In Oberhof, coming down from training in the heights, Bjørndalen performed below standard for the season, and finishing only 30th and 5th in the individual competitions.

In Ruhpolding he led his teammates to victory in the relay event. He won the two following individual competitions. After competing in the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships Sapporo 2007, he missed several Biathlon World Cup events; after missing eight competitions altogether Bjørndalen finished second in the overall standings, after German Michael Greis.

2008–09 World Cup season

{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" style="font-size:90%; text-align:center; float:left; margin:1em 1em 1em 0;"

!colspan="9" style="white-space:nowrap; text-align:left;"|2008–09 World Cup season results  

! No.

! World Cup location

| rowspan="11" style="border-bottom-width:2x; padding:0;" |

! Individual

! Sprint

! Pursuit

! Mass start

! Relay

! Mixed relay

| 1 || style="text-align:left;"| Östersund, Sweden || 24 || 4 || style="background:#dce5e5;"| 2 || — || — || —

| 2 || style="text-align:left;"| Hochfilzen, Austria || — || 12 || style="background:#dce5e5;"| 2 || — || DNS || —

| 3 || style="text-align:left;"| Hochfilzen, Austria || 14 || DNS || — || — || DNS || —

| 4 || style="text-align:left;"| Oberhof, Germany || — || 23 || — || style="background:#f8e6c4;"| 3 || style="background:#f8e6c4;"| 3 || —

| 5 || style="text-align:left;"| Ruhpolding, Germany || — || style="background:#f7f6a8;"| 1 || style="background:#f7f6a8;"| 1 || — || style="background:#f7f6a8;"| 1 || —

| 6 || style="text-align:left;"| Antholz-Anterselva, Italy || — || DNS || DNS || 5 || — || —

| WCH || style="text-align:left;"| Pyeongchang, South Korea || style="background:#f7f6a8;"| 1 || style="background:#f7f6a8;"| 1 || style="background:#f7f6a8;"| 1 || 4 || style="background:#f7f6a8;"| 1 || 4

| 7 || style="text-align:left;"| Vancouver, Canada || 18 || style="background:#dce5e5;"| 2 || — || — || DNS || —

| 8 || style="text-align:left;"| Trondheim, Norway || — || style="background:#dce5e5;"| 2 || style="background:#f7f6a8;"| 1 || style="background:#f7f6a8;"| 1 || — || —

| 9 || style="text-align:left;"| Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia || — || style="background:#dce5e5;"| 2 || style="background:#dce5e5;"| 2 || style="background:#dce5e5;"| 2 || — || —

| style="text-align:center;" colspan="9"| Key:"—" denotes discipline not held; DNS—Did not start; WCH—World Championships Along with Bjørndalen's first ever 20 km individual World Championship title, he won four out of six possible gold medals (10 km sprint, 12.5 km pursuit, 20 km individual and the 4 × 7.5 km relay).

After the World Championships Bjørndalen came second in the sprint in Vancouver, he took over the world cup overall lead. He followed up with a second place, and two victories at the events in Granåsen, Trondheim (the latter being a mass start where he shot clean). He secured his sixth overall win in the last sprint of the season, in Khanty-Mansiysk where he placed second. In the following event (a pursuit), he was beaten at the finish line by teammate Emil Hegle Svendsen, but won the pursuit cup.

Personal life

Bjørndalen grew up on a farm in , the fourth of five children: one of his siblings is fellow biathlete Dag Bjørndalen. Both brothers were part of the Norwegian team that took the silver medal in the men's relay at the 1998 Winter Olympics. On 7 July 2016, they married in Sjusjøen, Norway. Their daughter Xenia was born on 1 October 2016. They welcomed a second daughter in 2023.

On 3 April 2018 Bjørndalen announced his retirement from biathlon. Bjørndalen ended his Olympic career after being left off Norway's 2018 team for PyeongChang, thus ending a bid for a seventh Winter Games.

Endorsement

Alongside his career Bjørndalen also has a number of endorsement partnertships. He has been Certina's loyal ambassador since 2011, InstaForex brand ambassador since 2015. Among sports equipment brands that he promotes are Madshus, , and Casco.

Awards and honors

Ole Einar Bjørndalen won the Aftenposten Gold Medal in 1998. He was named the Norwegian Sportsperson of the Year in 2002 and 2014. For his accomplishments in biathlon and cross-country skiing, Bjørndalen received the Egebergs Ærespris in 2002. Bjørndalen was also awarded with the Fearnleys olympic honorary award in 2002. He was voted Best Male Athlete of 2002 by International Sports Press Association. Ole Einar Bjørndalen was nominated for Laureus World Sportsman of the Year in 2003. He came second, only lost to Lance Armstrong that year, who was later rescinded. In 2008, a nearly three meter tall bronze statue of Bjørndalen, created by sculptor Kirsten Kokkin, was erected in his hometown of Simostranda, Norway. Bjørndalen was awarded the Fair Play Mecenante Award in Castiglion in Fiorentino in Italy in 2009. Bjørndalen was elected Biathlon Athlete of the Year by AIPS Nordic Ski and Biathlon Commission in 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2009. In March 2011, he, Michael Greis and Andrea Henkel were awarded the Holmenkollen Medal, the first biathletes to receive the medal. In February 2014, Bjørndalen was voted Best Male Athlete of the 2014 Winter Olympics by International Sports Press Association. In November 2014, Bjørndalen was awarded Best Male Athlete of the 2014 Winter Olympics by the Association des Comités Nationaux Olympiques.

Cross-country skiing

Bjørndalen first participated in the FIS Cross-Country World Cup in Finland in the 10 kilometre freestyle event in a small town called Muonio in November 1998, finishing 23rd. His first podium place in the FIS Cross-Country World Cup came in Kuopio 25 November 2001, where he finished in 2nd place in the 10 km freestyle event. One month later he once again came in 2nd place, this time losing out to Per Elofsson in the 30 km freestyle mass-start event in Ramsau, Austria.

On 18 November 2006 Bjørndalen made history by becoming the first male biathlete to win a FIS Cross-Country World Cup event in the Swedish town Gällivare. Bjørndalen won the 15 km freestyle event. In 2007 his countryman, and fellow biathlete Lars Berger won the 15 km cross-country event at the World Championship in 2007.

Bjørndalen has twice finished on the podium in cross-country world cup relays for Norway: first in Beitostølen in 2003, where his team finished third, and secondly in La Clusaz in France in 2006, where Norway came in 2nd place. In total Bjørndalen has been on the podium 5 times in the Cross-Country World Cup.

In addition, Bjørndalen has won FIS events in cross-country twice. His first win was in 1997 in the 30 kilometre freestyle event in Valdres, Norway, and the second was in the 10 km freestyle event in Beitostølen, Norway in 2006. He has also two 2nd places in a FIS-event: in the 15 km freestyle event in Misurina, Italy in 1998 and in the 10 km freestyle event at Beitostølen in 2004. In addition to this, Bjørndalen has one third place in a FIS event, in the 10 km freestyle at Beitostølen in 2001. Following his two Cross-Country World Cup podium finishes in the 2001–02 season, ahead of the 2002 Winter Olympics he stated that he was hoping to become the first competitor to take Olympic medals in both biathlon and cross-country skiing, Bjørndalen has won the World Team Challenge biathlon exhibition event in Gelsenkirchen (held at the Veltins-Arena, the home ground of football club Schalke 04) in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006. He also won a bronze together with his wife Darya Domracheva in 2018 Ole Einar Bjørndalen finished second in the 2003 Dobbiaco-Cortina, a long-distance cross-country skiing event, (42 km) in Italy in the town of Cortina. He took his second place in the 26th edition of this prestigious event, finishing behind Italy's Costantin Pierluigi, and finishing half a second behind Pierluigi's winning time of 1 hour 43 minutes and 16.5 seconds. In 2008, Bjørndalen won the biathlon exhibition event in Püttlingen together with Kati Wilhelm. He also finished in second place in 2011 alongside Magdalena Neuner. Bjørndalen also got a bronze in this event in 2005 together with Nathalie Santer and in 2010 with Sabrina Buchholz. He won the Blink Festival in Sandnes in 2008. In April 2016, Bjørndalen and Karin Oberhofer won the Champions Race in Tyumen, Russia.

Biathlon results

thumb|Bjørndalen in Trondheim, March 2009

All results are sourced from the International Biathlon Union.

Cross-country skiing results

All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).

During the off-season in 2006 Bjørndalen was testing a new ski boot that had a high heel in the Torsby ski tunnel with boot manufacturers Madshus. The theory is that it forces the knee more forward for better position and it incorporates the large gluteal muscles.

References

General

All placings and results are sourced by the International Biathlon Union's searchable results database:
– searchable database of all World Cup race results
– searchable database of all IBU races