Bjørnar Håkensmoen
Bjørnar Håkensmoen (or Bjoernar Haakensmoen, born July 18, 1969) was the head coach of the Norwegian cross-country skiing team at the 2006 Winter Olympics. He rose to fame after offering Canadian skier Sara Renner his ski pole after hers broke during the Women's team sprint event.[1] This act of sportsmanship allowed Renner to go on to claim the silver medal, edging the Norwegian entry of Ella Gjømle Berg and Marit Bjørgen into fourth place.[2]
Canada responded to this act of kindness with many gifts and gestures, including:
- Over 600 letters, telephone calls and e-mails of thanks were received by the Norwegian Embassy in Canada.[3]
- Canadian businessman Michael Page donated 7400 cans of maple syrup to the Norwegian Olympic Committee.[4]
- Renner herself sent Håkensmoen a bottle of wine as a token of her appreciation.
References
- ^ Håkensmoen assists Renner.
- ^ Canadians hail Norwegian coach's sportsmanship Archived January 17, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2006-10-10. Retrieved 2006-04-06.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Canadians thank Norway for Renner assistance. Archived March 11, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
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