Bjørn Erlend Dæhlie (born 19 June 1967) is a Norwegian businessman and retired cross-country skier. From 1992 to 1999, Dæhlie won the Nordic World Cup six times, finishing second in 1994 and 1998. Dæhlie won a total of 29 medals in the Olympics and World Championships between 1991 and 1999, making him the most successful male cross-country skier in history. During his career, Dæhlie measured a VO₂ max of 96 ml/kg/min. Dæhlie's result was achieved out of season, and physiologist Erlend Hem who was responsible for the testing stated that he would not discount the possibility of the skier passing 100 ml/kg/min at his absolute peak. Since retiring, Dæhlie has become a successful businessman in real estate and fashion. His real estate investments have produced a fortune of more than half a billion kroner.

Early life and career

Born in Elverum,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, Dæhlie later moved to Nannestad Municipality, where he settled down. Dæhlie attributes much of his success in sports to his upbringing where he was active in hunting, fishing, hiking, kayaking, football and, of course,

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow for basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International S ...

from a very early age. For much of his childhood Dæhlie wanted to be a football player, but after being prompted by a coach, he tried Nordic skiing. Dæhlie did not have immediate success as a junior racer, but he consistently improved and eventually qualified for the FIS World Cup competitions. In 2018 he claimed that his family comes from Alvdal Municipality; the claim was made while answering the public during a meeting prior to getting municipal recommendation in regard to building what media calls "his Coop store" - a store in the chain

Coop Coop or Co-op most often refer to: * Chicken coop or other animal enclosure * Cooperative or co-operative ("co-op"), an association co-operating for mutual social, economic or cultural benefit ** Consumer cooperative ** Food cooperative ** Housin ...

Athletic career

Dæhlie was first on the Norwegian skiing team for the

1988 Winter Olympics The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Calgary 1988 were a multi-sport event held from February 13 to 28, 1988, with Calgary, Calgary, Alberta as the main host city. This marks the m ...

in Calgary, Canada. However, he did not participate in any races and was there to learn from more senior skiers. He later claimed these Olympics were the turning point for Norwegian skiing before their following period of success. He made his debut in the World Cup in January 1989, finishing 11th on the 15 km freestyle in Kavgolovo. In December of the same year, he won his first World Cup race. He finished first on the 15 km freestyle, the first World Cup race of the season. In the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1991 in Val di Fiemme, Dæhlie won his first World Championship gold medal. He beat skiing legend Gunde Svan on the 15 km freestyle. The medal was unexpected, since Dæhlie was young and still largely unknown. It was Norway's first individual male gold medal in the World Championships since Oddvar Brå won gold in the same race in Oslo in 1982. Dæhlie also skied the last leg on the winning 4 × 10 km relay team. In 1992, Dæhlie's period of dominance started. He won the World Cup overall for the first time, a feat he would accomplish five more times in the next seven years. In

Albertville Albertville (; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Arbèrtvile'') is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Savoie Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It is best k ...

, Dæhlie won his first Olympic medals. He won gold in 10/15 km freestyle pursuit, 50 km freestyle and was on the winning team for the 4 × 10 km relay. He won a silver in 30 km classical style. Dæhlie also finished fourth on the 10 km freestyle, where his teammate

Vegard Ulvang Vegard Ulvang (born 10 October 1963) is a retired Norwegian cross-country skier who won three Olympic gold medals, two silver, and one bronze. At the opening ceremony of the 1994 Winter Olympic Games, he took the ceremonial Olympic Oath on p ...

won the gold. Dæhlie completed the fourth leg of the relay, and crossed the finishing line backwards, having won by a margin of over one and a half minutes. Dæhlie and Ulvang completed a clean sweep of the cross-country skiing gold medals, each winning three golds and a silver. Dæhlie was awarded Fearnley's Olympic Prize for his performance, a prize given to the best performing Norwegian athlete in the Olympics. In the

1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, were an international winter multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 February 1994 in and around Lillehammer, Norway. Hav ...

Lillehammer Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the munici ...

, Norway, Dæhlie won gold in the 10 km classical style and the 15 km freestyle pursuit. He won silver in the 30 km freestyle, where he was beaten by his compatriot Thomas Alsgaard. The 4 × 10 km relay was a very tight race between Norway and Italy. The Italians won the gold after Silvio Fauner beat Dæhlie on the sprint on the last leg. In later years, Thomas Alsgaard took over the fourth leg on the Norwegian relay team with Dæhlie skiing the third leg, since Alsgaard was the better sprinter. The 1997 Skiing World Championships were Dæhlie's most successful World Championships. In front of the home crowd in Trondheim, he won a medal in every race, taking gold in the 10 km classical race, the 10+15 km combined pursuit and the 4 × 10 km relay. In addition he won a silver in the 30 km freestyle and bronze in the 50 km classical. Dæhlie said the championships were like "Lillehammer all over again" and that "For me, it's very special to compete in Norway". Dæhlie won three golds and one silver in his last Olympics in Nagano. He won the 10 km classical style, the 50 km freestyle and the 4 × 10 km skiing relay. In the 15 km freestyle pursuit, he got a silver medal having been beaten by Thomas Alsgaard on the sprint. Dæhlie won the 50 km freestyle ahead of Niklas Jonsson by only eight seconds. Both skiers collapsed on the finishing line, having given everything in pursuit of victory. Dæhlie described the race as his hardest ever. Dæhlie also formed a lasting friendship with Phillip Boit, the Kenyan skier. Dæhlie waited for Boit on the finish line for 20 minutes following the 10 km race, saying Boit deserved encouragement. Philip went on to name one of his children Dæhlie Boit. Dæhlie was planning to compete in the

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 (; Gosiute dialect, Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; ; Shoshoni language, Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), were an international wi ...

in Salt Lake City, but he was prevented from participating by a career-ending

roller skiing Roller skiing is an off-snow equivalent to cross-country skiing. Roller skis have wheels on their ends and are used on a hard surface to emulate .Bryhn, Rolf and Knut Are Tvedt (eds.): ''Kunnskapsforlagets idrettsleksikon''. (Norwegian Encyclopedi ...

accident in August 1999. The resulting back injury prevented Dæhlie from adding more medals to his collection. He retired from the sport in March 2001, having tried extensive rehabilitation and surgery to come back. His decision to retire shocked the nation of Norway, where Dæhlie was idolized for his great winning record. Dæhlie's eight Olympic titles are a record for the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held i ...

, as are his total of 12 Olympic medals (he also won four silver medals) which he amassed in three Olympics (

and Nagano). In addition to his achievements at the Olympics he had great success in the World Championships where he won 17 medals of which nine were gold medals. He was particularly successful in the

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

1997 World Championships, where he earned medals in all five events. Despite his unanticipated early exit from the sport, Dæhlie is considered by many to be one of the greatest Winter Olympic athletes of all time. In his illustrious career, Dæhlie never won a race at the Holmenkollen ski festival, but he was still awarded the Holmenkollen medal in 1997 (shared with Bjarte Engen Vik and Stefania Belmondo). He supports non-profit organisations that work for causes such as

multiple sclerosis Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease resulting in damage to myelinthe insulating covers of nerve cellsin the brain and spinal cord. As a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the nervous system's ability to Action potential, transmit ...

. In 2009 Dæhlie raced in the American Birkebeiner as a fundraiser for

. Dæhlie competed in the classic race, which is 54 km long, finishing second in a

photo finish A photo finish occurs in a sporting race when multiple competitors cross the finishing line at nearly the same time. As the naked eye may not be able to determine which of the competitors crossed the line first, a photo or video taken at the fini ...

. In 2011, Dæhlie won the downhill event in the

Kicksled The kicksled or spark is a small sled consisting of a chair mounted on a pair of flexible metal runners that extend backward to about twice the chair's length. The sled is propelled by kicking ( or in the Scandinavian languages) the ground by foo ...

World Championships in Hurdal Municipality. Also in 2011, Dæhlie announced a comeback, stating his intention to participate in long-distance races like Marcialonga and

Vasaloppet (Swedish language, Swedish for 'the Vasa race') is an annual long distance cross-country skiing (sport), cross-country ski race held on the first Sunday of March. The course starts in the village of :sv:Berga, Malung-Sälens kommun, Berga, jus ...

Dæhlie also participated in

long-distance running Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely aerobic in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength. Within endurance running come two di ...

in his youth, representing Ullensaker/Kisa IL. He participated in the Nordic junior match versus Denmark/Iceland, Finland and Sweden in 1987.

Cross-country skiing results

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

Olympic Games

* 12 medals – (8 gold, 4 silver)

World Championships

* 17 medals – (9 gold, 5 silver, 3 bronze)

World Cup

Season titles

* 8 titles – (6 overall, 2 sprint)

Season standings

Individual podiums

* 46 victories * 81 podiums

Team podiums

* 16 victories * 27 podiums Note: Until the 1999 World Championships and the 1994 Olympics, World Championship and Olympic races were included in the World Cup scoring system.

References

External links

* * * * * – click Holmenkollmedaljen for downloadable pdf file {{DEFAULTSORT:Daehlie, Bjorn 1967 births Cross-country skiers at the 1992 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 1994 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 1998 Winter Olympics Holmenkollen medalists Living people Norwegian male cross-country skiers People from Bø, Nordland People from Elverum Olympic cross-country skiers for Norway Olympic gold medalists for Norway Olympic silver medalists for Norway Norwegian businesspeople Olympic medalists in cross-country skiing FIS Nordic World Ski Championships medalists in cross-country skiing FIS Cross-Country World Cup champions Medalists at the 1998 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1994 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1992 Winter Olympics Ullensaker/Kisa IL athletes 20th-century Norwegian sportsmen Norwegian businesspeople in textiles Norwegian businesspeople in real estate