Ole Einar Bjørndalen

Ole Einar Bjørndalen
nation	Norway
birthday	27th January 1974 (age 46)
place of birth	Drammen , Norway
size	180 cm
Weight	66 kg
Career
discipline	Biathlon cross-country skiing
society	Simostranda IL
Trainer	Roger Grubben (head coach) Joar Himmle (shooting coach)
status	resigned
End of career	2018
Medal table
Olympic medals 8 × 4 × 1 × World Cup medals 20 × 14 × 11 × JWM medals 3 × 0 × 1 ×
winter Olympics gold 1998 Nagano sprint silver 1998 Nagano Season gold 2002 Salt Lake City singles gold 2002 Salt Lake City sprint gold 2002 Salt Lake City persecution gold 2002 Salt Lake City Season silver 2006 Turin singles silver 2006 Turin persecution bronze 2006 Turin Mass start silver 2010 Vancouver singles gold 2010 Vancouver Season gold 2014 Sochi sprint gold 2014 Sochi Mixed relay  Biathlon world championships silver 1997 Osrblie Season bronze 1997 Osrblie persecution gold 1998 Hochfilzen team silver 1998 Hochfilzen persecution bronze 1999 Kontiolahti Mass start bronze 1999 Kontiolahti Season silver 2000 Lahti Season bronze 2000 Oslo Mass start silver 2001 Pokljuka Mass start bronze 2001 Pokljuka Season gold 2003 Khanty-Mansiysk sprint gold 2003 Khanty-Mansiysk Mass start silver 2004 Oberhof Season bronze 2004 Oberhof singles bronze 2004 Oberhof sprint bronze 2004 Oberhof persecution gold 2005 Hochfilzen sprint gold 2005 Hochfilzen persecution gold 2005 Hochfilzen Mass start gold 2005 Hochfilzen Season silver 2006 Pokljuka Mixed relay gold 2007 Antholz sprint gold 2007 Antholz persecution silver 2007 Antholz Season gold 2008 Östersund persecution silver 2008 Östersund singles silver 2008 Östersund Mass start silver 2008 Östersund Season bronze 2008 Östersund sprint gold 2009 Pyeongchang sprint gold 2009 Pyeongchang persecution gold 2009 Pyeongchang singles gold 2009 Pyeongchang Season silver 2010 Khanty-Mansiysk Mixed relay gold 2011 Khanty-Mansiysk Mixed relay gold 2011 Khanty-Mansiysk Season gold 2012 Ruhpolding Mixed relay gold 2012 Ruhpolding Season gold 2013 Nové Město Season silver 2015 Kontiolahti Season gold 2016 Oslo Season silver 2016 Oslo sprint silver 2016 Oslo persecution bronze 2016 Oslo Mass start bronze 2017 Hochfilzen persecution  Biathlon Junior World Championships bronze 1992 Canmore Season gold 1993 Ruhpolding singles gold 1993 Ruhpolding sprint gold 1993 Ruhpolding Season
Placements in the biathlon world cup Debut in the World Cup 1992 World Cup victories 135 (94 individual wins) Overall World Cup 1.  ( 1997/98 , 2002/03 , 2004/05 , 2005/06 , 2007/08 , 2008/09 ) Individual World Cup 1st  ( 2004/05 ) Sprint World Cup 1.  ( 1994/95 , 1996/97 , 1997/98 , 1999/2000 , 2000/01 , 2002/03 , 2004/05 , 2007/08 , 2008/09 ) Pursuit World Cup 1.  ( 1999/2000 , 2002/03 , 2005/06 , 2007/08 , 2008/09 ) Mass start world cup 1.  ( 2002/03 , 2004/05 , 2005/06 , 2006/07 , 2007/08 )
Podium placements 1. 2. 3.  singles 8th 9 2  sprint 35 24 12  persecution 37 14th 8th  Mass start 14th 6th 9  Season 40 21st 14th  team 1 0 0
Placements in the cross-country skiing world cup Debut in the World Cup November 28, 1998 World Cup victories 1 Overall World Cup 29. ( 2001/02 ) Sprint World Cup 89th ( 1999/2000 ) Distance World Cup 25th ( 2006/07 )
Podium placements 1. 2. 3.  Distance races 1 2 0  team 0 1 1

Ole Einar Bjørndalen (born January 27, 1974 in Drammen ) is a former Norwegian biathlete .

In terms of both the number of titles and the total number of medals , he is the most successful athlete at the World Championships and the Olympic Winter Games, and with eight gold medals at the Olympic Winter Games, he is one of the most successful Winter Olympians . Since 2011, he has been the first male biathlete to hold world championship titles in all disciplines. Bjørndalen celebrated one of his greatest successes at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games when he won all four biathlon competitions held there. In the biathlon world cup he achieved the most victories and won the overall world cup with six times the second most often.

In 2011 he received the Holmenkollen Medal , one of the highest awards in skiing . During the 2014 Olympic Games , he was elected to the IOC's Athletes' Commission for eight years , but resigned in 2016.

December 2018 he contested his last competition.

biathlon

Beginnings and first successes

Ole Einar Bjørndalen came to biathlon through his four year older brother Dag . Together with the third Bjørndalen brother, Hans Anton, they formed the “Team Bjørndalen”. In 1992 he contested his first international races at the Junior World Championships. Here he finished 23rd (individual) and 47th (sprint). He was sixth with the season. He then won a medal in the team race with the bronze place. In 1993 Bjørndalen celebrated his breakthrough in Ruhpolding at his second Junior World Championships. He won three gold medals in four races, including both individual competitions (individual and sprint) and gold in the team. Norway was only eighth in the season. Although he could have started again in the juniors from the age of 1994, he naturally preferred the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer. Ole Einar Bjørndalen had his first World Cup season in the winter of 1992/93. After his very successful for him verlaufenen first Olympic Games in 1994 in Lillehammer , he drew attention to himself for the first time in the 1994/95 season. At his first world championships in 1995 in Antholz , he narrowly missed a medal with fourth place in the sprint; in the overall World Cup he was also fourth at the end of the season.

Ole Einar Bjørndalen celebrated his first victory in a World Cup race in January 1996 in the individual race in Antholz, at the end of the 1995/96 season he finished ninth in the overall World Cup. The Norwegian celebrated his first world championship successes in Osrblie in 1997 by winning the relay silver medal and the bronze medal in the pursuit.

For a long time Ole Einar and Dag were the heart of the Norwegian national team, but with the great successes of Halvard Hanevold , Frode Andresen and Egil Gjelland there was soon no more room for Dag.

Breakthrough and first setbacks

The 1997/98 season was the first great success in the Norwegian career. At the Olympic Games in Nagano Bjørndalen won his first ever Olympic medal with the gold medal in the sprint, and he also won the silver medal with the Norwegian relay. In the non-Olympic competitions held as world championships, Bjørndalen was victorious with the Norwegian team and thus won his first World Cup gold medal, the silver medal in the pursuit was his best individual performance at world championships up to then. At the end of the season Bjørndalen also won the overall World Cup for the first time in his career and was honored with the Aftenposten gold medal. In 1996 Bjørndalen also won two medals at the Summer Biathlon World Championships in Hochfilzen.

After the 1997/98 season, which was extremely successful for Bjørndalen, he established himself permanently in the World Cup in the following years. Despite consistent performance, however, he had to settle for second place in the overall World Cup three times in a row. In the 1998/99 season he was beaten by the German Sven Fischer , in the 1999/00 and 2000/01 seasons by the French Raphaël Poirée . Bjørndalen ran his worst World Cup race ever at the start of the 2000/01 season in the individual race in Antholz: With twelve shooting errors, he made the most mistakes of the entire field, and in the end he finished 95th.

At world championships he won no title; his best results were two silver medals with the Norwegian relay ( 2000 ) and in the mass start ( 2001 ). Bjørndalen remained without a single gold medal at the world championships even after his seventh participation.

Triumph in Salt Lake City (2001/02)

The 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City became one of the Norwegian’s greatest successes . Before the biathlon competitions began, Bjørndalen had already completed a cross-country skiing competition over 30 km freestyle and achieved a remarkable fifth place. Afterwards, he won in all three individual disciplines with comparatively clear differences between the respective silver medal winners. On February 11, 2002 he was 36.1 seconds ahead of the German Frank Luck in the individual competition , two days later in the sprint 28.9 seconds ahead of the German Sven Fischer and on February 16 in the pursuit race, which was held for the first time at the Winter Olympics, 43.0 seconds the French Raphaël Poirée.

After Bjørndalen had been successful with Halvard Hanevold , Frode Andresen and Egil Gjelland on February 20 with the Norwegian relay, he emerged as the winner of all four competitions held at the Olympic Winter Games. He was the most successful athlete at these Winter Games and the first biathlete to win more than two gold medals within the same Winter Games.

Although the three individual victories at the Olympics also counted as World Cup victories, Bjørndalen only finished third in the overall World Cup at the end of the 2001/02 season behind Raphaël Poirée and the Russian Pawel Rostowzew .

At the end of the year he was voted Norway's Sportsman of the Year and won the Fearnleys olympiske ærespris .

Subsequent seasons

2002/03 season

After the success at the Olympics, Bjørndalen celebrated further successes in the following years. After the French Raphaël Poirée won the overall World Cup three times in a row between 2000 and 2002, Bjørndalen achieved his second overall World Cup victory after 1998 with a total of eleven wins of the season and a lead of 107 points over Belarusian Vladimir Drachev . At the world championships held at the end of the season in Khanty-Mansiysk , Russia , the Norwegian also won his first two individual gold medals at world championships in the sprint and mass start. At the same time, these were his first world championship gold medals since winning with the team in 1998 .

2003/04 season

At the start of the 2003/04 season, Bjørndalen won three of the four races held in Kontiolahti and Hochfilzen. During the season he won two more World Cup races, finished second five times and was third three times. Despite 901 points in the overall World Cup at the end of the season, it was only enough for second place; Bjørndalen's long-term rival Raphaël Poirée won the overall standings for the fourth time with 1010 points. Bjørndalen was also in the shadow of the French at the World Championships in Oberhof , but also weakened by the death of his mother. While Poirée won three gold medals, the Norwegian was denied a victory. With the relay he won the silver medal, in the individual disciplines a total of three bronze medals.

2004/05 season

At the beginning of the season Bjørndalen was just ahead of the three times successful German Sven Fischer and the French Raphaël Poirée after two victories in Beitostølen and Oslo , but then fell back to fifth in the overall World Cup because he left out the following World Cup in Östersund to prepare for cross-country skiing. After two fourth places in Oberhof, the Norwegian fought back the World Cup leadership with five consecutive victories in Ruhpolding and Antholz, but then skipped the Olympic dress rehearsal in San Sicario as well as the first two World Cup races in Pokljuka. He only took part in the mass start race there and won with no shooting errors and a lead of over a minute.

Bjørndalen was similarly dominant at the 2005 World Championships in Hochfilzen, Austria. At the beginning he won the sprint and pursuit races and at the end of the world championships he won the mass start race. In addition, he was also successful with the Norwegian relay. Only in the individual race, in which he finished sixth, was there another winner with the Czech Roman Dostál . With four wins, Bjørndalen increased the number of World Cup gold medals he won to seven.

Due to the seven exuberant World Cup races Bjørndalen was in the overall World Cup before the last World Cup station in Chanty-Mansiysk behind Sven Fischer and Raphaël Poirée only in third place. After both Fischer and Bjørndalen had won once in the sprint and pursuit races and had finished fourth, the Norwegian benefited from an illness in the German in the last race of the season. He was unable to start as the World Cup leader and Bjørndalen took second place in the mass start behind Poirée. With that he secured the overall standings for the third time with a lead of eleven points. In terms of overall performance in the races actually run, however, the Norwegian was superior: in 20 races he won twelve times, eight of them in a row, and was never worse than sixth in the other races.

2005/06 season

After winning the overall World Cup last year, Bjørndalen started the new season successfully. With the victory in Östersund and a second place in Hochfilzen, he again took the lead in the overall standings after the first two World Cup stations. However, due to a total of seven missed races, he then slipped to twelfth place. As in the previous year, he had skipped the last World Cup station for training before Christmas, at the beginning of 2006 he suffered from a cold and could not start at the two World Cups in Oberhof and Ruhpolding. With two fifth places and a victory in the mass start in Antholz, the last race before the Olympic Games, he then reported back.

The Olympic Winter Games in Turin , however, did not go as expected for Bjørndalen. With four gold medals, he had been the dominant athlete in Salt Lake City, but in San Sicario he won none of the Olympic races. He was twice in a promising position for a gold medal: In the pursuit race he had to admit defeat to the French Vincent Defrasne in the sprint to the finish and won silver, in the final mass start race he took the lead with two shooting errors himself for better chances and finally won Bronze. Despite his own good performance, he only finished fifth with the Norwegian relay. Together with the silver medal in the individual, he still won three medals, but was overshadowed by the German Michael Greis , who was just as successful with three gold medals as Bjørndalen four years earlier.

The post-Olympic World Cup races were more successful for Bjørndalen and brought him back into a promising position in the overall World Cup. After three wins in Pokljuka and Kontiolahti, he was in second place in the overall standings behind Raphaël Poirée before the last three World Cup races in Oslo. With a superior victory in the sprint race in Oslo, in which the Frenchman only finished 46th, Bjørndalen took over the World Cup lead after the first race. He defended this with two more victories in the last two races and won the overall World Cup for the fourth time with a margin of 119 points.

2006/07 season

Ole Einar Bjørndalen in Antholz, 2006

After the overall World Cup victories in the past two years, Bjørndalen did not manage to win the overall World Cup for a third time in a row, despite eleven wins this season in the 2006/07 season.

Bjørndalen started the season with five wins in a row in Östersund and Hochfilzen . This dominance was only broken by a victory by Michael Greis, when the Norwegian skipped the competitions that were held again in Hochfilzen and instead took part in the cross-country skiing world cup in La Clusaz . Bjørndalen achieved two more World Cup victories in Ruhpolding in mid-January, and he was also successful there with the Norwegian relay. He skipped the races that took place in Pokljuka a week later in preparation. Bjørndalen had at this point won seven of the nine individual races he had contested.

The winning streak continued at the World Championships in Antholz, where he won the two gold medals in the sprint and the pursuit. After an unsuccessful individual race, he also won the silver medal with the Norwegian relay. In the final mass start race, four shooting errors in the two standing stages cost him a medal, and in the end he finished in 4th place.

To participate in the Nordic World Ski Championships in Sapporo, Bjørndalen skipped the World Cup, which took place in Lahti at the beginning of March, but was again successful twice a week later in Oslo . At the final World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk, however, he was no longer able to prevail in the overall World Cup against the German Michael Greis . In the end, the eight missed races of the season were his undoing.

2007/08 season

After the narrowly missed win last year, Bjørndalen won the overall World Cup for the fifth time in his career. He became the sole record holder in this category for men.

After the first third of the season, he was already at the top of the overall standings with one win each in Kontiolahti, Hochfilzen and Pokljuka and two second places. With the successes at the mass starts in Oberhof and Antholz, he continued the series of successes in January and also won two victories in the Norwegian relay in Oberhof and Ruhpolding.

At the world championships in Östersund he dominated together with his compatriot Emil Hegle Svendsen and the Russian Maxim Tschudow . Bjørndalen won a gold medal in the pursuit and two silver medals in the individual and mass start races. He won his third silver medal with the Norwegian relay, which only had to admit defeat to the Russians.

After his seventh win of the season in the sprint of Khanty-Mansiysk, he won the overall World Cup at the end of the season in Oslo with a clear advantage of 173 points. Except for the individual World Cup, which went to the French Vincent Defrasne, he also won all discipline World Cups.

2008/09 season

This season turned out to be one of the most successful seasons in the Norwegian career. As in the previous year, Bjørndalen won the overall World Cup, for the fourth time in five years and for the sixth time in his career. He drew level with the Swede Magdalena Forsberg . In addition, after triumphing at the Olympics in 2002 and the world championship title in 2005 in Hochfilzen, he succeeded for the third time in becoming a four-time title holder at an event.

The season started promisingly for Bjørndalen with two second places in the pursuits from Östersund and Hochfilzen. In Ruhpolding he underlined in the penultimate World Cup before the World Championships with two individual victories in the sprint and pursuit that he was one of the favorites. He confirmed this role in Pyeongchang with the titles in sprint, pursuit, individual and with the relay. After two more World Cup victories in Trondheim and podium finishes at the Olympic rehearsal in Whistler and Chanty-Mansiysk , the Norwegian secured the overall standings ahead of Tomasz Sikora and Emil Hegle Svendsen.

2009/10 season

The season started for Bjørndalen with a 43rd place in the individual race in Östersund. The next day he stayed clear and won the sprint over 10 km ahead of Emil Hegle Svendsen. On the last day of the season opening, he finished second with the Norwegian relay. At the subsequent World Cup in Hochfilzen, he won his second sprint of the season ahead of Nikolai Kruglow and Yevgeny Ustjugow . In the pursuit, he dropped to third after making three mistakes. In the final sprint he was defeated by his teammates Emil Hegle Svendsen and Simon Eder . He did not take part in the season. Bjørndalen was absent from Pokljuka the following weekend.

The new year started successfully. Bjørndalen won with the Norwegian relay in Oberhof. In the sprint, he finished 14th after four errors in standing shooting. Bjørndalen won the mass start with a one-minute lead over Tim Burke . At the second German World Cup, he finished second in the sprint behind his team-mate Emil Hegle Svendsen. In the mass start he finished sixth after two misses. Together with the relay, Bjørndalen took second place. He did not take part in the third World Cup in January in Antholz, Italy, due to an illness.

At the Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver , Canada , Bjørndalen took part as a favorite. In the sprint he finished 17th due to the weather conditions. In the pursuit race he missed twice and finally came in seventh place. Bjørndalen won the silver medal in the individual race over 20 km, at the same time as Sjarhej Nowikau . He ran the fastest time and made two mistakes. Bjørndalen missed seven times in the mass start, so that he only finished 27th. On the last day of the biathlon competitions, he won the gold medal with the relay.

Bjørndalen did not take part in the first World Cup after the Winter Olympics in Kontiolahti. In Oslo he finished 54th in the sprint after five shooting errors. In the pursuit, he came in 17th; he only made one mistake. Bjørndalen finished 13th in the mass start on Sunday; the Russian Ivan Cheresov won . At the final World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, he finished fifth in the sprint. In the mass start, he finished 15th after making four mistakes. On the last day of the 2009/10 season, the mixed relay world championship race was held, as the 2010 mixed relay was not an Olympic discipline. With the Norwegian mixed relay he won the silver medal; it won the German team.

Bjørndalen finished the season in tenth place in the overall World Cup. In the Sprint World Cup, he finished seventh, while he finished 16th in the Pursuit World Cup. In the mass start world cup, he finished seventh. Bjørndalen was able to achieve three victories throughout the season.

2010/11 season

The new season started very successfully for Bjørndalen. In the opening race over 20 km in Östersund, Sweden, he finished second. The next day he finished second again in the 10 km sprint. He won the persecution the following day by superiority.

At the following World Cup weekend in Hochfilzen, he was tenth in the sprint. In the 12.5 km pursuit, he improved to seventh place. Together with the Norwegian relay team, he won the 4 × 7.5 km relay race the next day. At the World Cup in Pokljuka, Slovenia, he finished 55th in the individual race after seven shooting errors. In the sprint, he finished eleventh. Bjørndalen was not represented in the mixed relay.

At the beginning of January he reached third place in Oberhof with the Norwegian relay. In the sprint he made four mistakes and finished 22nd in the first mass start of the season, he finished 21st. The following weekend he was eighth in the individual race in Ruhpolding. In the sprint he finished 17th with a shooting error. He did not contest the final 12.5 km pursuit. In Antholz-Anterselva he did not start in the sprint. In the mass start Bjørndalen finished seventh with three penalties. With the Norwegian relay, he finished third. He skipped the two World Cups in Presque Isle and Fort Kent in the USA.

Bjørndalen won the gold medal in the mixed relay at the Biathlon World Championships in Khanty-Mansiysk. He competed as defending champion in the sprint, pursuit and individual disciplines. In the sprint, he finished 22nd. In the pursuit he was 24th. He finished sixth in the individual race over 20 km. Together with the relay, Bjørndalen won his second gold medal. In the final mass start, as in the individual race, he finished sixth.

At the last World Cup in Oslo, Norway, he was 13th in the sprint. He did not start in pursuit. In the last race of the season, the 15 km mass start, he finished third. In the overall World Cup, he finished tenth. In the Sprint World Cup, he finished 14th. In the Pursuit World Cup, he was 20. Overall, Bjørndalen achieved one victory and four podium finishes during the season.

2011/12 season

The 2011/12 season began with a 43rd place in the Östersund individual race. In the sprint the following day, Bjørndalen finished ninth. He finished the pursuit in 27. At the second World Cup in Hochfilzen, he finished 19th in the sprint. He finished fifth in the pursuit. He did not take part in the season. The following weekend the World Cup took place again in Hochfilzen due to lack of snow in Annecy. In the sprint over 10 km Bjørndalen finished 15th despite zero shooting errors. In the pursuit over 12.5 km he finished second after a target sprint. Norway renounced the mixed relay the day after.

Bjørndalen did not take part in the first World Cup in 2012. At the test world cup for the world championships in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic, he was 46th in the individual race over 20 km. He made four mistakes in the sprint and finished 25th in the end. In the pursuit, he improved to 15th place. At the World Cup in Antholz-Anterselva, Italy, Bjørndalen was 56th in the sprint. In the 15 km mass start he was tenth. In the final 4 × 7.5 km relay, he and his teammates took eleventh place.

At the World Cup in the Norwegian capital Oslo he finished fifth in the sprint over 10 km. In the pursuit, he missed four times and ended up in tenth place. He finished the mass start in 17th. At the last World Cup before the World Championships in Ruhpolding, in Kontiolahti, he finished fourth in the sprint. He won the pursuit the next day and thus achieved his 93rd World Cup victory in biathlon.

At the World Championships Bjørndalen won the gold medal with the Norwegian mixed relay after a time credit. In the sprint, he finished 21st. In the subsequent pursuit, he made six mistakes and was at the end of 27. In the individual race over 20 km, he was 47. With the Norwegian relay, he won his second gold medal at these world championships. In the mass start he was eighth with two shooting errors. In total, Bjørndalen added two more gold medals to his collection of medals.

At the last World Cup in Chanty-Mansijsk Bjørndalen was 47th in the sprint. He did not start in the pursuit. In the last race of the season, the mass start over 15 km, he was 20th.

Overall, he finished the season as 16th in the overall World Cup. While he was 18th in the Sprint World Cup, he finished fifth in the Pursuit World Cup. In the mass start World Cup Bjørndalen was 17th. At the World Championships in Ruhpolding, he won the gold medal with both relays.

2013/14 season

On February 8, 2014 Bjørndalen won the gold medal in the 10 km sprint at the Winter Olympics in Sochi and on February 19, 2014 another gold medal with the Norwegian mixed relay.

At the end of the year he was voted Norway's Sportsman of the Year for the second time since 2002 .

2015/16 season

In the 2015/16 season he won the first race of the season with the singles in Östersund. In doing so, he renewed the record for the oldest overall World Cup leader and the oldest World Cup winner. At the World Championships in Oslo he won a silver medal in the sprint and in the pursuit. Bjørndalen won gold as the starting runner of the relay, and came third in the mass start that followed.

Failed Olympic qualification and end of career

Ole Einar Bjørndalen 2018 in Oberhof

In the 2017/18 season Bjørndalen tried unsuccessfully to qualify for the 2018 Olympic Games in Pyeongchang . For the last three World Cups of the season in Kontiolahti , Oslo and Tyumen he took over from Emil Hegle Svendsen , who had ended the season prematurely for health reasons. He contested his last race on March 24, 2018 in Tyumen, Russia , and finished the pursuit race in 32nd place among the points. Bjørndalen announced his retirement from competitive sports at a press conference on April 3, 2018. On December 29, 2018, he and his wife Darja Domratschawa took part in the World Team Challenge again and took third place.

Balance sheet

With eight Olympic gold medals as well as four silver and one bronze medal, Ole Einar Bjørndalen is the most successful biathlete at the Winter Olympics. With the exception of the mass start, Bjørndalen won at least one gold medal in every discipline. With his victory with the Norwegian mixed relay on February 19, 2014 in Sochi, he became the oldest Olympic champion in biathlon and also replaced his compatriot Bjørn Dæhlie as the most successful winter Olympian in history .

Bjørndalen won a total of 44 medals at biathlon world championships (20 gold, 14 silver, 10 bronze), which puts him in first place in the overall standings, including relay and team results. Bjørndalen was the first ever biathlete to win every possible world title at least once. In the evaluation of the individual disciplines, he leads with 11 × gold, 6 × silver and 8 × bronze in front of the French Martin Fourcade .

With a total of six wins in the overall World Cup , Bjørndalen was the sole record holder between 2008 and 2017. This record was broken in 2018 by Martin Fourcade, who has seven overall wins. Behind Fourcade, Bjørndalen is currently in second place in the ranking ahead of French Poirée and German Frank Ullrich with four overall World Cup victories each. From the 1996/97 season to the 2008/09 season, Bjørndalen was always among the top three biathletes in the overall standings for a total of 13 years at the end of the season. With 95 World Cup victories in biathlon and cross-country skiing, Ole Einar Bjørndalen is the most successful male winter sportsman in history, ahead of the alpine skier Ingemar Stenmark from Sweden with 86 World Cup victories.

Bjørndalen has won 20 discipline World Cup rankings in his career so far (9 × sprint, 5 × pursuit and mass start and 1 × individual), and together with his six overall World Cup victories, he has won 26 World Cup rankings. Only Martin Fourcade (26) has won more discipline World Cup scores in the Biathlon World Cup.

Cross-country skiing

In addition to biathlon competitions, Ole Einar Bjørndalen has also competed in cross-country skiing competitions since the late 1990s , both at national and international events. In addition, he occasionally skips individual World Cup stations during the biathlon World Cup season.

Bjørndalen celebrated his first cross-country win at the Norwegian Championships in Valdres on December 21, 1997. At World Cup races or major events, he also shines with consistent performance and he always manages to place in the top 10. At the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, he first ran the 30 km race and finished fifth here, and later he also ran all of the biathlon competitions. At the Nordic World Ski Championships in Oberstdorf in 2005 , he finished eleventh in the 15 km race, but failed to achieve the goal of a medal in cross-country skiing.

On November 11, 2006 Bjørndalen won the 10 km race at the Norwegian Championships in Beitostølen. A week later, on November 18, he also achieved his first World Cup victory in cross-country skiing in the 15 km freestyle race in Gällivare, Sweden . This made him the first male winter athlete ever to celebrate World Cup victories in two different sports. One of his goals was to win a gold medal at both the 2007 Biathlon World Championships in Antholz and the 2007 Nordic World Ski Championships in Sapporo. After two world championship titles in Antholz, however, he only managed a 13th place in the 15 km race in Sapporo.

Preparation and training

Bjørndalen is known in specialist circles as a perfectionist and balance artist. As a child, during a show on Norwegian television, he undressed and put on his pants while balancing on a rope. Ole Einar Bjørndalen is an excellent skater . He was also able to improve continuously in shooting. He was supported by his personal shooting coach Joar Himmle (now the head coach of the Norwegian national team), with whom he worked during the 2004/05 and 2005/06 seasons and whom he paid himself. Roger Grubben , the former head coach of the Norwegian national team, is now Bjørndalen's personal trainer.

Private life

Ole Einar Bjørndalen has two sisters and two brothers. His two brothers Hans Anton and Dag Bjørndalen are both former professional athletes.

On May 27, 2006 Bjørndalen married his longtime partner, the South Tyrolean biathlete Nathalie Santer, in Toblach . In October 2012, both announced their separation. Rumors of a secret relationship with the Belarusian biathlete Darja Domratschawa began shortly afterwards. He has been married to her since July 7, 2016. On October 1, 2016, they became parents to a daughter.

Bjørndalen is based in Obertilliach ( East Tyrol ), where a ski scooter track for summer training is named after him in the biathlon center.

Because of his success, Bjørndalen is often referred to as the king of biathlon in the press .

Quotes

"Ole is an alien!" (The then German national trainer Frank Ullrich about Bjørndalen after his four gold medals in Salt Lake City)

"Vacuum cleaners are important to me." (Bjørndalen on his penchant for cleanliness)

“The result is not important to me. For me, the only thing that counts is the perfect race, whether 1st or 10th ”(Bjørndalen on his motivation)

successes

Bjørndalen at the World Cup in Trondheim, March 2009

winter Olympics

	Individual competitions				Relay competitions
	sprint	persecution	singles	Mass start	Men's relay	Mixed relay
1994 Winter Olympics Lillehammer	28.		36.		7th
1998 Winter Olympics Nagano	1.		7th		2.
2002 Winter Olympics Salt Lake City	1.	1.	1.		1.
2006 Winter Olympics Turin	11.	2.	2.	3.	5.
2010 Winter Olympics Vancouver	17th	7th	2.	27.	1.
2014 Winter Olympics Sochi	1.	4th	33.	22nd	4th	1.

World championships

	Individual competitions				Relay competitions
	sprint	persecution	singles	Mass start	Men's relay	Mixed relay
World Championships 1995 Antholz	4th		12.		5.
World Championships 1996 Ruhpolding	6th		19th		4th
World Championships 1997 Osrblie	9.	3.	6th		2.
World Championships 1999 Kontiolahti / Oslo	19th	5.	4th	3.	3.
World Championships 2000 Oslo / Lahti	5.	4th	20th	3.	2.
World Championships 2001 Pokljuka	19th	4th	10.	2.	3.
World Championships 2003 Khanty-Mansiysk	1.	8th.	30th	1.	4th
World Championships 2004 Oberhof	3.	3.	3.	7th	2.
World Championships 2005 Hochfilzen	1.	1.	6th	1.	1.
Mixed Relay World Championship 2006 Pokljuka						2.
World Championships 2007 Antholz	1.	1.	32.	4th	2.	-
World Championships 2008 Ostersund	3.	1.	2.	2.	2.	-
World Championships 2009 Pyeongchang	1.	1.	1.	4th	1.	4th
Mixed Relay World Championship 2010 Khanty-Mansiysk						2.
World Championships 2011 Khanty-Mansiysk	22nd	24.	6th	6th	1.	1.
World Championships 2012 Ruhpolding	21st	27.	47.	8th.	1.	1.
World Championships 2013 Nové Město na Moravě	4th	10.	25th	24.	1.	-
World Championships 2015 Kontiolahti	19th	5.	6th	4th	2.	-
World Championships 2016 Oslo	2.	2.	17th	3.	1.	-
World Championships 2017 Hochfilzen	8th.	3.	47.	23.	8th.	-

Overall World Cup

• 6 × overall World Cup winners (1997/98, 2002/03, 2004/05, 2005/06, 2007/08, 2008/09)
• 6 × 2nd place (1996/97, 1998/99, 1999/2000, 2000/01, 2003/04, 2006/07)
• 1 × 3rd place (2001/02)

Discipline World Cups

• 9 × winners in the Sprint World Cup (1994/95, 1996/97, 1997/98, 1999/2000, 2000/01, 2002/03, 2004/05, 2007/08, 2008/09)
• 5 × winners in the Pursuit World Cup (1999/2000, 2002/03, 2005/06, 2007/08, 2008/09)
• 5 × winners in the mass start World Cup (2002/03, 2004/05, 2005/06, 2006/07, 2007/08)
• 1 × winner of the individual World Cup (2004/05)

World Cup victories

Note: In biathlon, victories in individual competitions at the Olympic Games (OS) up to and including 2010 and world championships (WM) are counted as World Cup victories.

Single race

Relay race

No. date place discipline 1. January 11, 1996  Antholz Single (20 km) 2. 4th January 1997  Oberhof Sprint (10 km) 3. January 5, 1997  Oberhof Pursuit (12.5 km) 4th January 11, 1997  Ruhpolding Sprint (10 km) 5. January 17, 1998  Antholz Sprint (10 km) 6th February 18, 1998  Nagano (OS) Sprint (10 km) 7th December 11, 1998  Hochfilzen Sprint (10 km) 8th. January 9, 1999  Oberhof Pursuit (12.5 km) 9. January 23, 1999  Antholz Pursuit (12.5 km) 10. December 2, 1999  Hochfilzen Single (20 km) 11. 4th December 1999  Hochfilzen Pursuit (12.5 km) 12. January 6, 2000  Oberhof Sprint (10 km) 13. January 7, 2000  Oberhof Pursuit (12.5 km) 14th January 22, 2000  Antholz Pursuit (12.5 km) 15th December 1, 2000  Antholz Sprint (10 km) 16. December 17, 2000  Antholz Pursuit (12.5 km) 17th January 12, 2001  Ruhpolding Sprint (10 km) 18th January 18, 2001  Antholz Sprint (10 km) 19th January 21, 2001  Antholz Mass start (15 km) 20th February 28, 2001  Salt Lake City Single (20 km) 21st March 2, 2001  Salt Lake City Sprint (10 km) 22nd March 3, 2001  Salt Lake City Pursuit (12.5 km) 23. December 6, 2001  Hochfilzen Sprint (10 km) 24. December 9, 2001  Hochfilzen Pursuit (12.5 km) 25th February 11, 2002  Salt Lake City (OS) Single (20 km) 26th February 13, 2002  Salt Lake City (OS) Sprint (10 km) 27. February 16, 2002  Salt Lake City (OS) Pursuit (12.5 km) 28. December 8, 2002  Ostersund Pursuit (12.5 km) 29 December 14, 2002  Pokljuka Sprint (10 km) 30th December 15, 2002  Pokljuka Pursuit (12.5 km) 31. January 9, 2003  Oberhof Sprint (10 km) 32. January 12, 2003  Oberhof Mass start (15 km) 33. January 18, 2003  Ruhpolding Sprint (10 km) 34. January 19, 2003  Ruhpolding Pursuit (12.5 km) 35. February 9, 2003  Lahti Mass start (15 km) 36. February 16, 2003  Oslo Pursuit (12.5 km) 37. March 15, 2003  Khanty-Mansiysk (WM) Sprint (10 km) 38. March 23, 2003  Khanty-Mansiysk (WM) Mass start (15 km) 39. December 4, 2003  Kontiolahti Sprint (10 km) 40. December 7, 2003  Kontiolahti Pursuit (12.5 km) 41. December 14, 2003  Hochfilzen Pursuit (12.5 km) 42. January 10, 2004  Pokljuka Pursuit (12.5 km) 43. January 18, 2004  Ruhpolding Pursuit (12.5 km) 44. December 2, 2004  Beitostølen Sprint (10 km) 45. December 11, 2004  Oslo Sprint (10 km) 46. January 15, 2005  Ruhpolding Sprint (10 km) 47. January 16, 2005  Ruhpolding Pursuit (12.5 km) 48. January 19, 2005  Antholz Single (20 km) 49. January 21, 2005  Antholz Sprint (10 km) 50. January 23, 2005  Antholz Pursuit (12.5 km) 51. February 20, 2005  Pokljuka Mass start (15 km) 52. March 5, 2005  Hochfilzen (WM) Sprint (10 km) 53. March 6, 2005  Hochfilzen (WM) Pursuit (12.5 km) 54. March 13, 2005  Hochfilzen (WM) Mass start (15 km) 55. March 17, 2005  Khanty-Mansiysk Pursuit (12.5 km) 56. November 27, 2005  Ostersund Pursuit (12.5 km) 57. January 22, 2006  Antholz Mass start (15 km) 58. March 8, 2006  Pokljuka Sprint (10 km) 59. March 11, 2006  Pokljuka Pursuit (12.5 km) 60. March 18, 2006  Kontiolahti Pursuit (12.5 km) 61. March 23, 2006  Oslo Sprint (10 km) 62. March 25, 2006  Oslo Pursuit (12.5 km) 63. March 26, 2006  Oslo Mass start (15 km) 64. November 30, 2006  Ostersund Single (20 km) 65. December 2, 2006  Ostersund Sprint (10 km) 66. December 3, 2006  Ostersund Pursuit (12.5 km) 67. December 8, 2006  Hochfilzen Sprint (10 km) 68. December 9, 2006  Hochfilzen Pursuit (12.5 km) 69. January 13, 2007  Ruhpolding Sprint (10 km) 70. January 14, 2007  Ruhpolding Mass start (15 km) 71. February 3, 2007  Antholz (WM) Sprint (10 km) 72. February 4, 2007  Antholz (WM) Pursuit (12.5 km) 73. March 10, 2007  Oslo Pursuit (12.5 km) 74. March 11, 2007  Oslo Mass start (15 km) 75. December 1, 2007  Kontiolahti Sprint (10 km) 76. December 8, 2007  Hochfilzen Pursuit (12.5 km) 77. December 15, 2007  Pokljuka Sprint (10 km) 78. January 6, 2008  Oberhof Mass start (15 km) 79. January 20, 2008  Antholz Mass start (15 km) 80. February 10, 2008  Östersund (World Cup) Pursuit (12.5 km) 81. March 6, 2008  Khanty-Mansiysk Sprint (10 km) 82. January 17, 2009  Ruhpolding Sprint (10 km) 83. January 18, 2009  Ruhpolding Pursuit (12.5 km) 84. February 14, 2009  Pyeongchang (World Cup) Sprint (10 km) 85. February 15, 2009  Pyeongchang (World Cup) Pursuit (12.5 km) 86. February 17, 2009  Pyeongchang (World Cup) Single (20 km) 87. March 21, 2009  Trondheim Pursuit (12.5 km) 88 March 22, 2009  Trondheim Mass start (15 km) 89. December 5, 2009  Ostersund Sprint (10 km) 90. December 11, 2009  Hochfilzen Sprint (10 km) 91. January 10, 2010  Oberhof Mass start (15 km) 92. 5th December 2010  Ostersund Pursuit (12.5 km) 93. February 12, 2012  Kontiolahti Pursuit (12.5 km) 94. 2nd December 2015  Ostersund Single (20 km)

No. date place discipline 1. March 19, 1995  Lillehammer Season 1 2. March 17, 1996  Hochfilzen Season 2 3. December 14, 1997  Ostersund Season 3 4th January 11, 1998  Ruhpolding Season 4 5. March 15, 1998  Hochfilzen (WM) Team 3 6th December 11, 1999  Pokljuka Season 5 7th January 9, 2000  Oberhof Season 6 8th. December 9, 2000  Antholz Season 5 9. January 10, 2001  Ruhpolding Season 4 10. January 26, 2002  Antholz Season 5 11. February 20, 2002  Salt Lake City (OS) Season 5 12. December 7, 2002  Ostersund Season 5 13. December 13, 2003  Hochfilzen Season 7 14th December 5, 2004  Beitostølen Season 8 15th January 13, 2005  Ruhpolding Season 8 16. March 12, 2005  Hochfilzen (WM) Season 8 17th November 29, 2005  Ostersund Season 8 18th January 11, 2007  Ruhpolding Season 9 19th December 9, 2007  Hochfilzen Season 10 20th January 4, 2008  Oberhof Season 10 21st January 10, 2008  Ruhpolding Season 11 22nd January 15, 2009  Ruhpolding Season 10 23. February 22, 2009  Pyeongchang (World Cup) Season 12 24. January 7, 2010  Oberhof Season 13 25th February 26, 2010  Vancouver-Whistler (OS) Season 13 26th December 12, 2010  Hochfilzen Season 14 27. March 3, 2011  Khanty-Mansiysk (WM) Mixed season 15 28. March 11, 2011  Khanty-Mansiysk (WM) Season 14 29 March 1, 2012  Ruhpolding (WM) Mixed season 16 30th March 9, 2012  Ruhpolding (WM) Season 17 31. December 9, 2012  Hochfilzen Season 18 32. February 16, 2013  Nové Město na Moravě (World Cup) Season 19 33. December 7, 2013  Hochfilzen Season 20 34. 19th February 2014  Sochi (OS) Mixed season 21 35. January 15, 2015  Ruhpolding Season 22 36. January 25, 2015  Antholz Season 23 37. 15th January 2016  Ruhpolding Season 23 38. March 12, 2016  Oslo (World Cup) Season 23 39. November 27, 2016  Ostersund Mixed season 24 40. January 11, 2017  Ruhpolding Season 25 41. December 10, 2017  Hochfilzen Season 26 1With Jon Åge Tyldum , Frode Andresen and Kjell Ove Oftedal . 2With Halvard Hanevold , Frode Andresen and Dag Bjørndalen . 3With Egil Gjelland , Sylfest Glimsdal and Halvard Hanevold. 4th With Egil Gjelland, Frode Andresen and Dag Bjørndalen. 5 With Egil Gjelland, Frode Andresen and Halvard Hanevold. 6th With Egil Gjelland, Halvard Hanevold and Dag Bjørndalen. 7thWith Stian Eckhoff , Lars Berger and Halvard Hanevold. 8th With Halvard Hanevold, Stian Eckhoff and Egil Gjelland. 9With Emil Hegle Svendsen , Frode Andresen and Lars Berger. 10With Emil Hegle Svendsen, Alexander Os and Halvard Hanevold. 11With Emil Hegle Svendsen, Rune Brattsveen and Halvard Hanevold. 12 With Emil Hegle Svendsen, Lars Berger and Halvard Hanevold. 13With Halvard Hanevold, Tarjei Bø and Emil Hegle Svendsen. 14thWith Alexander Os, Emil Hegle Svendsen and Tarjei Bø . 15thWith Tora Berger , Ann Kristin Flatland and Tarjei Bø. 16With Tora Berger, Synnøve Solemdal and Emil Hegle Svendsen. 17th With Rune Brattsveen, Tarjei Bø and Emil Hegle Svendsen. 18thWith Lars Helge Birkeland , Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen and Henrik L'Abée-Lund . 19th With Henrik L'Abée-Lund, Tarjei Bø and Emil Hegle Svendsen. 20th With Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen, Tarjei Bø and Emil Hegle Svendsen. 21stWith Tora Berger, Tiril Eckhoff and Emil Hegle Svendsen. 22ndWith Erlend Bjøntegaard , Johannes Thingnes Bø and Emil Hegle Svendsen. 23 With Tarjei Bø, Johannes Thingnes Bø and Emil Hegle Svendsen. 24With Marte Olsbu , Fanny Horn Birkeland and Johannes Thingnes Bø. 25th With Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen, Henrik L'Abée-Lund and Emil Hegle Svendsen. 26th With Henrik L'Abée-Lund, Erlend Bjøntegaard and Lars Helge Birkeland.

World Cup victories in cross-country skiing

No.	date	place	discipline
1.	November 18, 2006	Gällivare	15 km freestyle individual start

Biathlon World Cup placements

The table shows all placements (depending on the year, including the Olympic Games and World Championships).

• 1st - 3rd Place: Number of podium placements
• Top 10: Number of placements in the top ten (including podium)
• Points ranks: Number of placements within the point ranks (including podium and top 10)
• Starts: Number of races run in the respective discipline
• Relay: including mixed relay

placement	singles	sprint	persecution	Mass start	team	Season	total
1st place	8th	35	37	14th	1	39	134
2nd place	9	24	14th	6th		23	76
3rd place	2	12	8th	9		14th	45
Top 10	38	120	95	51	3	94	401
Scoring	59	176	124	72	3	96	530
Starts	83	192	126	72	3	97	573
Status : end of career (data may not be completely complete, especially for team and relay)

Web links

Commons : Ole Einar Bjørndalen  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Ole Einar Bjørndalen's website
• Ole Einar Bjørndalen in the database of the IBU (English)
• Ole Einar Bjørndalen in the database of the International Ski Federation (English) (cross-country skiing results)
• Ole Einar Bjørndalen in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• Ole Einar Bjørndalen at biathlon.xc-ski.de ( Memento in the Internet Archive )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ole Einar Bjørndalen. Eurosport , accessed February 23, 2020 . 
2. ↑ olympic.org
3. ↑ Result of the individual from Antholz (2000/01 season)
4. ↑ biathlonresults.com
5. ↑ web.archive.org
6. ↑ Biathlon in Ruhpolding Bjørndalen's Olympic dream is over
7. ↑ Biathlon legend announces resignation on eurosport.de, accessed on April 3, 2018
8. ↑ data.fis-ski.com
9. ↑ data.fis-ski.com
10. ↑ data.fis-ski.com
11. ↑ data.fis-ski.com
12. ↑ data.fis-ski.com
13. ↑ data.fis-ski.com
14. ↑ A dream marriage burst: Santer and Bjørndalen go their separate ways. In: sportnews.bz. October 4, 2012, accessed April 3, 2018 . 
15. ↑ Биатлонист Бьёрндален расстался с женой из-за Домрачевой - СМИ. In: rsport.ria.ru. January 22, 2013, Retrieved April 3, 2018 (Russian). 
16. ↑ Une liaison entre Domracheva et Bjoerndalen? In: ski-nordique.net. January 25, 2013, accessed April 3, 2018 (French). 
17. ↑ Olympic champion refususes to comment on Bjorndalen affair rumors. In: tass.com. February 11, 2014, accessed April 3, 2018 . 
18. ↑ Giftet seg på Sjusjøen. gd.np, September 26, 2016, accessed April 3, 2018 (Norwegian). 
19. ↑ rp-online.de
20. ↑ Grandpa Björndalen is the king of biathlon
21. ↑ King Harald V sees Björndalen's victory in pursuit ( Memento from January 3, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
22. ↑ The alien is back . Süddeutsche Zeitung, May 17, 2010, originally published January 17, 2009 ( archived version )
23. ^ Ole-Einar Björndalen: The Adrian Monk of the biathlon ( Memento from March 17, 2010 in the Internet Archive ). In: sport.sf.tv , February 9, 2010.
24. ↑ Biathlete Björndalen in an interview. In: faz.net. December 3, 2007, accessed April 3, 2018 . 
25. ↑ Winter sports - SPOX introduces the world's best biathletes: With a woman's weapons . spox.com. Retrieved April 3, 2018.