Head to the Bjorn Daehlie was mildly said misty through the final miles of femmila in the Nagano OLYMPICS.
But that the Swedish king Carl Gustaf suddenly appeared when he had it that bad, he forget never.
He was namely among the Swedish sekundantene as the best of their ability motivated Niklas Jonsson in the gullduellen against Daehlie.
– I remember hearing: “Nu är norrmannen slutkört”, says Dæhlie to see 22 years later.
ENGAGED: King Carl Gustaf (t.h.) in action as sekundant under femmila in Nagano. Here are the Mathias Fredriksson who receive the messages.
Photo: Ulf Palm
Langrennskongen do not forget the answer that came directly from the Norwegian kvinnelandslagstreneren, Sindre Bergan:
“do Not f****! This gold you shall have, Bear!”
It is boiled with other words fine out in the japanese forests at the end of the femmila in 1998, but then it was also the most dramatic femmila in OLYMPIC history.
Rated to drop gulløpet
Since there isn’t any active sports because of the koronaviruset, NRK the last few weeks looking back on some of the biggest, Norwegian idrettsprestasjonene.
In the occasion reveals Daehlie and the Norwegian coaches how they mobilized and literally maneuvered – through the last gruelling miles of the OLYMPIC femmila in Nagano.
A OL-forth that eventually ended with a slitekamp between Daehlie and Swedish Niklas Jonsson.
Dæhlie was actually so tired after a long and challenging OLYMPIC games that he considered to drop the whole femmila.
With two gold and one silver was the championship is already a success, and Thomas Alsgaard was the big favorite at the OLs last day.
KANONFORM: Thomas Alsgaard (t.v.) was the biggest favorite before femmila. Here posing him with the gold from the 15-kilometer together with Bjørn Dæhlie (silver) and Bjarte Engen Vik, who won the kombinertgull the same day – 14. February 1998.
Photo: LASZLO BALOGH
the Then national team manager Erik Røste tells today that he was mentally prepared that Dæhlie wanted to go home, and the coach therefore prepared for what he would say to persuade him to go.
But the 30-year-old did not let be. Dæhlie did either something very unusual to him to be: He opened the quiet.
– It was probably the first time I did not lead after five kilometres, he says.
– Had the Jonsson though it, he had taken the gold
It took just one mile before the then unknown austrian Christian Hoffman took again Daehlie with a half a minute.
A runner Daehlie says he only “had briefly heard the name of”. Then understand the OLYMPICS, the king of that move had up, and he noticed also that the shape was not as bad as feared.
It was not long before he cried out “trail” and went up to drag. Dæhlie did not stop before he reached the back of the man who had started 30 seconds in front of him: Swedish Niklas Jonsson.
It would prove to be a hard back to keep.
Hoffmann disappeared eventually, but so would Daehlie overestimate your own powers. With 6-7 miles again he went namely to drag, but it was a tactical blunder, says Dæhlie in the day.
error of judgment: Bjorn Daehlie believes the initiative a few kilometers before the finish was close to cost him the OLYMPIC gold.
Photo: Gunnar Lier / NTB scanpix
The forces had he simply does not. It was warm and soft trail, and Daehlie had to drop Jonsson past again.
At this time he realized that Jonsson was far more fit. Daehlie remember how Jonsson glanced backwards to get the answer.
– But he knew it not, ” says Daehlie.
he Had done it, he had become olympic champion, ” says Daehlie without hesitation.
SATISFIED: Niklas Jonsson was close to the very large, but the OLYMPIC silver was still an accomplishment. Here gratuleres he of among others king Carl Gustaf.
Photo: Ulf Palm / NTB scanpix Jumped over the fences and past the barrings
Jonsson discovered not the huge upper hand before there was a scant three miles again. When had namely Daehlie give some metres after the worst parties.
Full of motivation, he went straight from his Norwegian gullkonkurrent, and that was when the drama really came to the fore for the TV viewers.
Daehlie got cramp in both legs. On radiosambandet to the Norwegian team shouted coach Erik Røste: “Now goes the gold”.
This day it was double up with drikkeposter, each 2.5 kilometres, since it was so hot.
Røste rallied all the men out in the trail to help what he describes as “a broken” Daehlie.
Kvinnelandslagstrener Sindre Bergan, who helped during the men’s race, was on his way back to the stadium from his sekunderingspost when the message came.
He turned on heel and ran to a point about five hundred meters before the finish. Here he jumped over the fences and dundret past holds.
For as he says:
– It was the last day of the OLYMPICS, so it got burst or carry with accreditation.
Called out the swede in front of the king
Bergan reached the point in the track just seconds before Jonsson passed.
Here he saw many Swedish landslagsjakker without noticing who it was.
– When Niklas pass, the swedes completely in ecstasy and shouts: “Now the fields for gold, Niklas! Normannen is slutkört”.
Bergan is aroused and responds by screaming “lots of bad words” back:
“This gold you shall have, Bear! He j**** the swede f*** do not get the gold. There you have, Bear!”.
Bergan swore and yelled at through the whole sekunderingssonen on 40 meters.
– Then I turn me, and then c. the first one I see. He had been standing there with the other all the time, and heard everything I had said. Then I went a little crestfallen on without to greet him, ” says Bergan, who be chuckling when he reminisces back.
– It wasn’t a pretty performance, but ok, you used the means you had.
– the Finish line is where the hell is over
Daehlie tells that he was so finished that he used the lamp along the track as milestones.
50 yards here, 50 feet there. With gelébein, it was difficult enough just to keep the balance.
If he should fall, he knew that he would not have had the chance to travel themselves.
Inside the stadium loses Daehlie further two seconds only in the last two hundred metres.
The only thing he thinks of now, is to put the skis down in the slots Niklas Jonsson has been up before him.
He glimpsed the finish line. And so collapsed he.
as FAR AS: Bjørn Dæhlie managed just to fight the necessary centimeterne over the finish line.
Photo: Gunnar Lier / NTB scanpix
– the Finish line is where the hell is over, ” says Daehlie and continues:
– When I fell over the finish line, I thought that I had fallen on the wrong side. But as I raised my head and saw the line behind me.
Never before had he been so tired. And never would he be there again. This was the Bear Dæhlies very last OLYMPIC games.
It ended with his eighth gold. Thus he took the throne as the most-awarded vinterolympier.
ICONIC: Here you go Bjorn Daehlie in the measure of femmila in the Nagano OLYMPICS, but he was unsure if he actually came over the finish line. You need javascript to see the video.
ICONIC: Here you go Bjorn Daehlie in the measure of femmila in the Nagano OLYMPICS, but he was unsure if he actually came over the finish line.
