Bjorn Dalin biathlete personal life of Domracheva. What do Bjoerndalen and Domracheva do in retirement?
Ole Einar Bjoerndalen- legendary Norwegian biathlete and skier. Ole Einar Bjoerndalen- six-time Olympic champion in biathlon.
Biography of Ole-Einar Bjoerndalen/Ule-Einar Borndalen
Ole Einar Bjoerndalen born in Norway, Drammen, January 27, 1974. Since childhood, he devoted a lot of time to skiing with his older brother Dag, who became his example, and his younger brother, Hans Anton. At 12 years old Ole Einar Bjoerndalen became a shooting skier.
“My parents were not rich people. They lived with five children on a simple farm. We had twelve cows to feed us. They lived well, but not luxuriously. White bread, for example, was served only on Christmas, fruit - once a week. This life shaped my character.”
Career of Ole Einar Bjoerndalen/Ule-Einar Borndalen
The athlete began to take part in serious competitions on equal terms with the skiing elite in 1992-1993. The 1994 Olympic Games were not successful due to lack of experience. Real success came to Ole Einar Bjoerndalen in 1998 at the World Cup and with the first gold at the Olympic Games.
Awards and achievements of Ole Einar Bjoerndalen/Ule-Einar Borndalen
Ole Einar Bjoerndalen has in its arsenal 30 medals of various denominations (21 world championships and 9 Olympic medals). Of these, 12 are gold (5 Olympic, 7 World Champion), 9 silver (3 Olympic) and 9 bronze (1 Olympic). Individual medals - 20 (Gold - 9, silver - 4, bronze - 7.
Ole Einar Bjoerndalen won 94 victories in biathlon and cross-country skiing (93 and 1, respectively), and now ranks second among all winter sports athletes.
“I am always motivated! And I know that a bad start is not the worst thing. I can gradually get in shape and win races. Although every year it becomes more and more difficult to do this. But in the end, somewhere you can lose. My main goal is to continue to be at a high level for the 2014 Olympics in Sochi,” Ole Einar Bjoerndalen.
Bjoerndalen and Domracheva, who hid their relationship for so long, had a daughter on October 1. Perhaps nothing more important will happen in biathlon this season.
Start
Bjoerndalen and Domracheva, even having stopped keeping a common secret, still did not talk about the circumstances of their rapprochement, or at least about the approximate dates. Usually, couples enjoy remembering both.
The only specific date is October 4, 2012: the Norwegian announced his divorce from former Italian biathlete Nathalie Santer. They got married in 2006, having lived together for eight years before that. Bjoerndalen and Santer had no children.
The gap is most conveniently explained by the Norwegian’s sports fanaticism - as if biathlon had crowded out everything else from his life. But Bjoerndalen has not changed in his attitude to training for decades - and this devotion did not prevent him and Santer from staying together for many years.
One of the popular versions implies a close acquaintance between Bjoerndalen and Domracheva in the summer of 2012 at a training camp in Obertilliach (Austria).
Peekaboo
If in the next year and a half the relationship between the Norwegian and the Belarusian somehow developed, the couple hid it well. During all this time, Domracheva only once - through her own website - lazily brushed aside repeated questions:
“The only official information about my personal life will be the message about my marriage. On anyone. Everything else is rumors that I see no point in commenting on.”
What they said about Domracheva and Bjoerndalen
The best biathlete in the world, Martin Fourcade, split up faster than others:
“I am on good terms with Domracheva, but, of course, not as close as Bjoerndalen.”
The main showman and rock 'n' roller of biathlon, Bjorn Ferry, was a whole year behind the Frenchman. In a room filled with powerful bikes, drenched in alcohol and smelling of smoke, the Swede easily ratted everyone out:
“Dad was right that time in Russian Tyumen two years ago when he thought that they were a couple. They are a couple now. It's not that they advertise the relationship. But it’s noticeable.”
Anton Shipulin waited for the official message from the couple and told how in biathlon they protect other people’s secrets:
“We have known about their relationship for more than a year. Daria and Ole Einar tried not to advertise them, so few people talked about it.”
Wedding
In April 2016, Bjoerndalen announced at a special press conference that he and Domracheva would become parents. In fact, this was the first official confirmation of their relationship.
The wedding took place in mid-July - completely non-publicly, without even advertising the location. Bjoerndalen posted a photo on Facebook with the caption “What a beautiful day” - in three languages: English, Norwegian and Russian. The author of the photo is the famous Norwegian photographer Morten Krogvold.
Where will they live?
Domracheva has been building a house for several years - according to the idea, the building should resemble an ocean liner. Work in the village of Laporovichi (on the northern shore of the Zaslavsky reservoir - also known as the Minsk Sea) will be completed next year.
These are elite places; a plot next to the water costs several hundred thousand dollars. Back in 2011, Domracheva was given 20 acres here for bronze at the Games in Vancouver.
The houses of football player Alexander Gleb, football coach Viktor Goncharenko, Domracheva’s former coach in the national team Andrian Tsybulsky and another biathlete who brought a medal from Vancouver, Sergei Novikov, grew up in the district. By the way, then Novikov and Bjoerndalen showed the same time in the individual race and received silver.
After the Games in Sochi, where Domracheva won three gold medals, she was given a 99-year lease on another 80 acres adjacent to the first site. Locals say that the Norwegian regularly goes to the construction site to monitor the progress of work. The builders themselves claim that even Domracheva rarely comes here, and Bjoerndalen has never been there.
Both last summer and at the beginning of this fall, the Norwegian went to a scheduled training camp in Raubichi, and in general he likes Belarus:
“I can eat almost everything from Belarusian cuisine. I also love Belarusian milk. What I also like about Minsk is its cleanliness. I can't wrap my head around how this is possible. According to this indicator, it is in second place among all the cities where I have been. Only Monaco is cleaner.”
It is unlikely that the "liner" on the shores of the Minsk Sea will become the only home of the couple. Since 2002, Bjoerndalen has been living in Obertilliach. A couple of weeks after the wedding, Domracheva also filled out the registration form for this place.
Child
On October 1, Bjoerndalen and Domracheva had a daughter. They haven't chosen her name yet. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko congratulated the spouses on the event. Bjoerndalen was present at the birth, being next to his wife for two days.
“For the first time in Bjoerndalen’s life, biathlon will not come first. I think it's good for him."– another Norwegian superbiathlete Emil Svensen said what almost everyone is thinking.
Bjoerndalen promised to improve his command of Russian - he is going to learn the language with his daughter.
Bjoerndalen and attitude towards children
In 2007, the Norwegian was asked about children - the answer was harsh:
“Little children often get sick, and I can’t afford it. Two professional athletes with children is not an optimal option.”
Last April there was a clarification:
“I don’t remember these specific words. It seems to me that in general this topic is just another story that is written about me and which has no relation to reality. I never said that I don’t want and don’t like children. The infection can be caught anywhere; the more people around, the greater the likelihood. But that’s not a reason not to communicate with anyone, right? You just have to take certain precautions, like washing your hands before eating.”
What about biathlon?
42-year-old Bjoerndalen is already making up for missed training. He has at least a couple more seasons ahead of him.
Domracheva missed the entire last season - mononucleosis was to blame. A return to the track is planned, but no exact dates yet. There is an option even with the second half of the next season. A personal trainer works with the Belarusian woman, plus her husband suggests something. There is no reason yet to think that Domracheva’s career is over.
Photo for memory
Bjoerndalen and Domracheva don’t have many public pictures together.
The closing of the 2014 Olympics is nothing special; Bjoerndalen has a lot of similar photos with anyone.
Shooting for the calendar of the International Biathlon Union. Kaisa Mäkärinen, apparently, as a diversion.
A photo after which all doubts should disappear - a couple shopping in Kontiolahti, Finland (on the weekend of the 2015 World Cup).
Most important photo:
SPORT materials used. TUT.BY and “Komsomolskaya Pravda”, “Sport Express”
Photo: RIA Novosti /Vladimir Sergeev, Ilya Pitalev;
Seven-time Olympic biathlon champion Ole Einar Bjoerndalen was born on January 27, 1974, 40 years ago, in the city of Drammen (Norway). His father once left his sports career to support a family with five children. Perhaps, with his victories, Ole made not only his dreams come true, but also the dreams of his father. Another example for Bjoerndalen Jr. was his older brother Dag, who was also involved in biathlon.
He will not be chased!
In stories about his childhood, the Norwegian skier often said that even then he simply hated losing to anyone, especially his brother. Ulle was bored at school, but he devoted all his free (and sometimes not free) time to sports. He played handball and football, was involved in athletics and cycling, but in the end he chose biathlon as his main vocation and has not left this sport since 1986.
At the age of 20, Ole Björndalen took part in the Olympic Games for the first time (Lillehamer, 1994). The first pancake went wrong, but next year the young biathlete took 4th place in the general classification of the World Cup.
And already at the Winter Olympics in Nagano (1998) Bjoerndalen takes gold, and on the second attempt. The first sprint results were canceled due to a snowstorm. “I was very angry then,” Bjoerndalen recalls. “But I pulled myself together and was ready for the race in 5 minutes.” The next day, the Norwegian became an Olympic champion. In the same year he won the World Cup. From now on, Ole Einr is a cult in world biathlon.
For the next 4 years, the Norwegian has an almost personal sports battle with the Frenchman Raphael Poiret. The opponent is slower, but shoots better. As a result, 2004 remains with Poiret, Bjoerndalen leaves first place, having won only 3 bronze medals in Oberhof at the world championship. That same year, the biathlete’s mother died, which also affected Ole’s performances.
Hard training and unbending will are doing their job: the Norwegian unique returns in triumph. 12 victories at the World Cup, 4 more gold at the championship, and Bjoerndalen surpasses his idol, Bjorn Daly, in the number of victories.
We can say that Bjoerndalen trains constantly. He lives most of the time in the highlands of Italy with his girlfriend Nathalie Santer, also a biathlete.
During the 2003 Biathlon World Championships in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russian commentators made a mistake when they said that Bjoerndalen had asthma and was taking anti-asthmatic drugs (while the journalists actually accused the famous Norwegian of doping). In fact, although asthma is not uncommon among Norwegians (a feature of the climate), Ole Einar’s respiratory system is fine. By the way, he regularly undergoes an asthma test.
By 2005, Björndalen had won the right to be called not only the best runner, but also the best shooter. At the 2005 World Cup, he made 53 accurate shots and achieved 7 victories in a row.
Who would have thought that at the 2006 Olympic Games in Turin, shooting would become Ole Einar’s weak point. It was as if he had been replaced: problems with shooting did not allow the Norwegian to compete for first place, and in the sprint the best shooter and driver ended up in 12th place!
Another would have lost heart, but not a steel Norwegian. In the 2005-06 season, Bjoerndalen took part in six out of eight starts and crossed the border of 60 victories at the Biathlon World Cup. In addition to medals, Ulle wins the Big Crystal Globe.
Although the Olympics did not work out in 2006, the athlete’s personal life did work out: on May 27, Natalie Santer married Ole Einar Bjoerndalen. They got married in Italy in the city of Toblach, where Natalie was born. After leaving the church, the newlyweds walked through a “tunnel” of crossed skis. Alas, in 2013 the marriage broke up. There are rumors that the reason for the divorce was Bjoerndalen's affair with Daria Domracheva, a biathlete from Belarus.
In 2007, the confrontation between the Norwegian and his eternal opponent Raphael Poiret ended. The Holmenkollen mass start was supposed to be the Frenchman's farewell race, where he intended to win. Björndalen beat his opponent by a tenth of a second at the finish and left him in second. This race was an amazing ski competition. Now there is only one king left in biathlon.
Did the Norwegian biathlete compete at the 2008 Russian Open Championships, but show poor results? Sprint - 9th place, pursuit - 13th place. Bjoerndalen won the Christmas Star Race four times.
The next Winter Olympics has arrived. This time in Vancouver, Canada. The 2010 Olympic Games brought Ole Einar silver in the 20 km individual race. The “King of Biathlon” lost to his compatriot. The Norwegians took first place in the team relay.
After Vancouver, Bjoerndalen's results began to decline (besides, he). Despite this, at two world championships, the tireless Norwegian took two gold medals in relay races, and, along with Nikolai Kruglov, became a two-time world champion in the mixed relay. In 2011, Ole Einar was awarded the Holmenkollen Medal.
The years go by, but time seems to have no power over Bjoerndalen. In the 2011-12 season (Kontiolahti, Finland), the Norwegian becomes the oldest biathlete (he is already 38 years and 16 days) to win an individual event at the world championship.
In 2013, Bjoerndalen announced that he would end his career. He announced this after the 2013 World Cup in Nove Mesto (Czech Republic), where he took 4th place.
Now that at the Sochi Olympics the “King of Biathlon” managed to win another gold in the sprint at the age of 40, it is clear that he will leave the sport as an undefeated, seven-time Olympic champion.
The name of Ole Einar Björndalen is forever inscribed in the history of sports and biathlon, as the best and fastest biathlete, and at the same time the oldest winner.
Having won the bronze medal in the pursuit race at the World Championships in Hochfilzen, he said that he took the award as a victory.
“Don’t even ask me if I’m happy with this bronze medal - it’s not even a question,” said the Norwegian. - I'm just happy! In addition, this is my first podium this season, and I am very glad that I managed to climb it at the World Championships.
- How satisfied are you with your physical shape at the moment?
I felt much better on the track than in the sprint, so I continue to improve as the championship progresses, which is good news. In addition, I am very pleased with my shooting: even a mistake did not prevent me from winning a medal.
- a few hours ago. Did your wife's silver inspire you to race?
Yes very. Daria performed simply amazing, it can’t help but inspire.
- Before the start of this World Championship, did you expect that she would be able to win a medal?
To say the truth, no. In addition, she had a fairly large lag at the start of the pursuit. In the morning I watched the race on TV, and my wife surprised me very much: excellent shooting, excellent skiing! I was confident that Dasha would have some good races after returning to the World Cup, but I really didn't expect one of those races to come at the World Championships. I'm very happy for her.
Your family's magnificent performance is reminiscent of the 2004 World Championships, when Raphael and Liv Greta Poire shone on the podium together. How much has biathlon changed since then?
It has changed a lot: now it has become much more difficult to win, competition has increased very noticeably, athletes have begun to shoot and run much faster along the track. Of course, getting on the podium was not easy before, but now the level of biathlon as a whole has increased, and there are many more strong, high-level athletes than there were in previous times.
- How have you changed as an athlete over the years?
Of course, I try to keep up and grow with biathlon, look for new ways to develop and improve my professional level. Sometimes I succeed very well, other times a little worse.
You have always called Hochfilzen one of your favorite stadiums, and this is also where you won gold at the World Championships in 2005. What makes your local stadium so special to you?
In 2005 I was much stronger at distance than I am now. I also won a lot of cup honors that season and was overall stronger. But one way or another, I really like the local slope and it also suits my skiing technique well, so I really love competing here. I remember that winning race in 2005 well. I would really like to plunge into those feelings of lightness on the track again.
Ivanna Nikolskaya, Sportbox.ru
Ole Einar Bjørndalen (Norwegian: Ole Einar Bjørndalen). Born on January 27, 1974 in Drammen (Buskerud county, Norway). Legendary Norwegian biathlete, the most decorated athlete in the history of the Winter Olympic Games (13 medals, including 8 gold), Biathlon World Championships (19 victories) and Biathlon World Cups (6 victories overall).
Ole Einar won four out of four possible victories in biathlon at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and became the world's only absolute Olympic champion in biathlon.
Björndalen won 96 personal victories at the World Cup stages in biathlon and cross-country skiing (95 and 1, respectively).
IOC member since 2014.
Winner of the most medals (13) in the history of the Winter Olympic Games in all sports. Shares the record for most Winter Olympic Games titles with skier Björn Deli (8 each).
The oldest winner of the World Cup and Olympic Games in biathlon in individual races - at 41 years, 10 months and 5 days, individual race (Östersund), December 2, 2015.
Ole Einar Bjoerndalen. King of Biathlon
Ole Einar Björndalen was born in the Norwegian town of Drammen, and grew up in the town of Simostranda in the Modum municipality of Buskerud county in a family of farmers.
He had little interest in studies and spent quite a lot of time in sports clubs. He played football, went to handball training, threw a javelin, and participated in cycling and athletics competitions in the 3000-meter run.
Ole Einar's father was also involved in athletics, but was forced to give up sports to earn a living.
He has two brothers and two sisters. The older brother, Doug, was the first in the family to start biathlon. Ole Einar followed in his footsteps. Younger brother - Hans Anton.
Ole Einar has been interested in various sports since childhood. Following the example of his older brother Doug, he began to engage in biathlon.
Distinguished by his good skiing, Ole Einar was noticed by coaches, and from the end of the 1992/1993 season he began performing at the World Cup stages. In the same season, he made a splash at the Junior World Championships in Ruhpolding (1993), becoming a 3-time champion.
In 1994, he joined the Olympic team and took part in the home Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. But lack of experience did not allow the young biathlete to show good results.
At his first Olympics, he did not win a single medal. He finished thirty-sixth in the individual race, twenty-eighth in the sprint, and seventh in the relay.
In the 1993-1994 season, Ole Einar, as at the home Olympics, did not show high results in personal disciplines, taking places only behind the top ten, or even further. In the only race that counted towards the World Championship in Canmore, Canada, he ended up in a disappointing fourth place in the team race. And this was the only race of the season where I was just a little short of a medal.
The first significant success came in the 1994/1995 season. Björndalen won the first personal podium in his career, in the sprint, already at the first stage of the World Cup in Bad Gastein, Austria - 2nd place. During the season, he climbed to the podium twice more in a similar race (Oberhof, sprint - 3; Lillehamer, sprint - 3.). He competed at the World Championships in Antholz: individual race - 12th place, sprint - one step away from the podium - 4th place, relay - 5th. Very stable results in the sprint allowed Ole Einar to take the first small world cup in the sprint in his career and take fourth place in the overall World Cup standings. In addition to personal successes, the first podium was taken and the first victory in the relay was won.
In the 1995/1996 World Cup, Björndalen pleased himself with his first personal victory in his career in the individual race, where before this I didn’t even come close to the top three, unlike the sprints. This victory took place at the third stage in Antholz, Italy, where in addition to the victory there was also silver in the sprint. Just like last year, they won the relay race, the very last race of the season. The same team disciplines gave Björndalen three more podium finishes: 1 bronze and two silvers.
At the World Championships in Ruhpolding, the closest he came to a medal was in the relay race, where the Norwegian team took fourth place, finished 19th in the individual race, and 6th in the sprint. During the season, the Norwegian scored 141 points and took 9th place in the overall standings.
In the next season 1996/1997, Ole Einar's results went uphill. He won three personal victories at once, took prizes ten times, including relay ones, and at the World Championships in Osrbly he won a bronze medal in the pursuit and a silver medal in the relay. Björndalen, with 303 points, became second in the overall World Cup standings and first in the sprint standings.
In 1998, in Nagano, Björndalen won the sprint and became an Olympic champion., and won a silver medal as part of the relay team. Moreover, he won the sprint only on his second run. On the originally scheduled day, Björndalen showed the best result, but the organizers were forced to cancel the competition due to a sudden snowstorm. “Then I got angry.- he said, - but within five minutes I was ready for a new race".
And indeed, the next day he became the Olympic champion, and performed much stronger. At the end of the season, Björndalen won two sprints, one of which became an Olympic victory, and also became the world champion in the team race and won his first World Cup for winning the overall standings, gaining 289 points. In addition, he also received a small Cup for winning the sprint standings, and in just a season he won 11 prizes (together with team disciplines).
In the 1998/1999 season, Ole Einar failed to repeat the Olympic success, and he only became a bronze medalist in the mass start and relay. Björndalen again won 11 prizes, three of which were personal victories. Ole scored 397 points, which was not enough for the World Cup. The result in the overall standings was also affected by missing one of the stages.
In the 1999/2000 and 2000/2001 seasons, they again failed to win the World Championship. Björndalen won two silver and two bronze medals in the mass start and relay. In general, Ole Einar has so far been in the shadow of his main rival Rafael Poiret, to whom he lost the World Cup, missing one stage in each season.
Nevertheless, Björndalen set records year after year: 15 podiums in the 1999-2000 season, and then 19 in 2000-2001. In just two seasons, he accumulated 17 victories: 13 personal and 4 team successes. The collection included two more small World Cups in sprint disciplines, and one small Cup in the standings of pursuit races. At the fourth stage of the 1999-2000 World Cup, the athlete won all three races. The same thing happened at the Olympic track in Soldier Hollow (a suburb of Salt Lake City) of the 2000-2001 season.
Since the beginning of the 2001/2002 season, Björndalen has been systematically and carefully preparing for the upcoming Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, developing an effective training plan together with the coaches. And this plan worked brilliantly. Unexpectedly for everyone, he won four gold medals and became the only absolute Olympic champion in biathlon, becoming the only five-time Olympic champion in biathlon at that time.
All four Olympic distances existing at that time were submitted to him: individual race, sprint, pursuit and relay race. Moreover, before the biathlon program, Ole Einar managed to participate in the 30 km Olympic ski race, where he took fifth place and was even a contender for participation in the Olympic ski relay. He was called everywhere the “golden boy” and the “king of biathlon.”
After the triumphant Olympics, the book was published "Ten days - four victories", which tells in detail about the difficult path to the top, about how you can win four victories in 10 days. Such a resounding success still did not allow him to win in the overall standings, since the Norwegian missed two stages of the World Cup at once. Ole came third with 692 points.
The 2002/2003 season brought the eminent biathlete the second World Cup in his career. At the World Championships in Khanty-Mansiysk, after a long hunt for a personal gold medal, 29-year-old Björndalen finally won the sprint and won the mass start. In one season, he managed to win 12 victories, of which only one was in the relay. To the main cup of the season, Björndalen managed to add three small ones, for winning the sprint competition, the pursuit competition and the mass start.
However, the 2003/2004 season was not so successful. Throughout the season, Björndalen was “decimated” psychologically, largely due to family problems: the biathlete’s mother died. At the World Championships in Oberhof, Ole Einar won four medals: three bronze in individual races, silver in the relay. The victory in the overall standings was again celebrated by Raphael Poiret, for whom the season became triumphant.
In order to return to the top again, you need a strong character, and the five-time Olympic champion had it. The 2004-2005 season became one of the most successful in his career the greatest biathlete. Despite missing seven personal races, he triumphantly wins the next World Cup, gaining 923 points, and also wins three small cups for winning the individual race, mass start and the much-loved and successful sprint. In total, a record 15 victories were accumulated during the season, of which 12 were personal.
Over the entire season, Ole Einar did not fall below sixth place, and was 6th only twice. In addition, he became the “king” of two consecutive stages: in Ruhpolding and in Antholz, in which he won all three planned races. Of course, the World Championships in Hochfilzen, Austria, became a triumph for the 31-year-old “king of biathlon”; he repeated the result of the Olympic Games and again won four golds in the disciplines: sprint, pursuit, relay and mass start. That season "great and terrible" received also an awkward nickname - "Norwegian vampire", who can never get enough of victories.
In the 2005-2006 Olympic season, Ole Einar was completely focused only on the Winter Games in Turin, Italy. However, in January he suffered from a cold, complicated by sinusitis, and because of this he missed two stages. The form had to be retyped, in an accelerated manner. Perhaps this was the main reason for the failures in the Olympic Turin, but the Norwegian was mainly let down by unstable shooting. Ole Einar won three medals, none of which were gold: two silvers - in the individual race and the pursuit race and bronze in the mass start. Björndalen failed his signature sprint, remaining in 12th place, and in the relay the Norwegian team performed extremely poorly, and only thanks to the heroic efforts of Ole Einar at the last stage they managed to rise to a modest 5th place. Björndalen, of course, did not hide his disappointment, but the World Cup still remained with him, despite missing three stages.
Having scored 814 points, he won the next Big Crystal Globe and small cups in the mass start and pursuit races. He finally clinched victory in the overall classification at the last home stage in Holmenkollen, winning all three races.
In the 2006-2007 World Cup, the 33-year-old “king” set a fantastic record for the number of podiums and victories in a row: 10 personal podiums and 8 personal victories in a row at the junction of the 2005-2006 / 2006-2007 seasons. Moreover, in only one of these ten races Ole Einar was limited to bronze, all the other 9 were victorious, and it is unknown how long this series would have continued if it had not been for missing a stage. During the season, Björndalen won 11 victories and became "King of Östersund"(all 3 wins) and "King of Ruhpolding"(all 3 victories), but missed three stages, a total of 8 personal races, and therefore the German Michael Greis won the Big Crystal Globe. The Norwegian remained in second place with 736 points.
But one small Cup in mass starts still remained with Björndalen. Numerous missed stages were explained by skiing ambitions: Ole Einar had taken a couple of personal prizes before, back in 2001, and in November 2006 he finally won the skiing stage of the World Cup in Gällivare, Sweden, in the 15 km freestyle race. Börndalen highly appreciated this success, proving to skiers the competitiveness of biathletes in cross-country skiing. At the World Championships in Antholz, Ole Einar made a winning double: in the sprint and pursuit, and also won silver in the relay. The mass start at the World Championships was very disappointing - 4th place.
Björndalen has repeatedly taken part in the Christmas Star Race, where he has become the winner for the fourth year in a row. From the 2003/2004 season to the 2006/2007 season - first place.
In 2007, at the World Cup stage in Holmenkollen, the famous farewell race of Raphael Poiret took place. The Frenchman initially stated the mass start in Holmenkollen as a priority goal for the end of the season - he wanted to end his brilliant career on a victorious note. However, Björndalen thwarted his main rival, beating the famous Frenchman in a photo finish by just one tenth of a second. Bjoerndalen's perennial rival, Poiret lost his last race in what turned out to be a stunning battle.
In the same 2007, Ole Einar took part in the Russian Open Championship in Novosibirsk, then he managed to win the 15-kilometer race from the general start. He took 7th place in the sprint and 4th in the pursuit.
The 2007-2008 season was fruitful for medals at the World Championships in Ostersund, Sweden: bronze in the sprint, gold in the pursuit, silver in the individual race, relay and mass start - a total of 5 medals. In terms of the amount of gold, Ole Einar was pushed aside by Russian Maxim Chudov and young Norwegian Emil Hegle Svendsen. During the season, there were 7 victories (10 including relays) and a total of 18 podium finishes. There were 869 points and another World Cup, along with three small ones in the sprint, pursuit, and mass start.
The next Christmas race of the 2007/2008 season, after all, ended the series of victories of the great Norwegian, leaving him in second place.
In 2008, Ole Einar took part in the Russian Open Biathlon Championship in Uvat. He took 9th place in the sprint and 13th in the pursuit.
The 2008-2009 season turned out to be similar to last year's season, except for the World Championships in Pyeongchang, Korea, where instead of 5 medals, the Norwegian won four, but all gold. Even before the world championship, Ole Einar warned that he was only going for gold, and prophetically managed to do this, repeating the result of Hochfilzen in 2005, winning gold in the sprint, pursuit, individual race and relay. In the mixed relay, the Norwegians remained fourth, and in the mass start, Björndalen again took fourth position. The victory in the individual race was his first and only at the world championships, and the last relay gold in Pyeongchang was already his 14th gold medal, and it was an absolute record.
In the World Cup there were again 7 victories (9 including relays) and a total of 18 podiums. The record 1080 points reflect a strong overall victory and a 6th World Cup, as well as a 9th Small Cup in the sprints and a 5th in the pursuit. For the third time in his career, the “great and terrible” becomes the “King of Ruhpolding”, again winning all three races at the 5th stage of the World Cup.
Unlike the 2008-2009 season, the Olympic season gave only three victories in individual races, and unstable results, which did not allow them to fight for the World Cup. But Ole Einar was focused on the Olympics in Vancouver and hoped that it would be gold for him after his failure in Turin. However, the sprint and mass start were failures due to poor shooting: 17th and 27th places, respectively. In the pursuit race, a possible victory was missed by misses at the last shooting range (7th place). Björndalen won such an important silver in the 20 km individual race (showing the same time with the Belarusian biathlete Sergei Novikov), but lost in a bitter struggle to his compatriot Emil Hegle Svendsen, and in the last race, in the relay, in brilliant style, performing at the last stage, led his team to victory. Ole Einar stayed at a high level for four years after losing in Turin to finally become a 6-time Olympic champion.
The 2009-2010 Olympic season ended a series of strong performances by the “king of biathlon”. Björndalen turned 36 and it is becoming more and more difficult to compete with young people every year, and this is confirmed by a modest 10th place in the overall standings. Although an obvious crisis has arrived, he is still not going to give up and intends to compete until the Olympic Games in Sochi in 2014, and hopes to return to his previous level in the next season 2010-2011.
The main task in the 2010-2011 World Cup was victory in the overall standings and the World Championship in Khanty-Mansiysk. The start of the season in Östersund went well; together with Emil-Högle Svendsen they did not fall below second place in all three races. However, Ole Einar himself won only once and on the third attempt. In the individual race, he was hampered by two mistakes at the last shooting range, and in the sprint, a few meters before the finish, Björndalen unexpectedly fell on a steep descent and lost his advantage, again remaining second. The “king’s” revenge was the pursuit race, which he won with one less mistake.
Subsequently, the two Norwegians had a big fight and did not speak for a long time, but then Svendsen apologized and the two of them settled their relationship. But after Christmas, Ole Einar lost his form, showing poor results, and for a long time could not understand what was wrong. It turned out that a viral infection and too harsh training were to blame. As a result, the season became a failure, a nightmare and a collapse of hopes for a comeback. At the World Championships, personal races did not work out, and Ole, for the first time in 15 years of a long career, was left without personal awards at the World Championships. But he still managed to win two golds thanks to the mixed and men's relay races and became a 16-time world champion.
Until the end of the season, he was unable to get into optimal shape, it remained terrible, and only thanks to good shooting in the mass start, in the last race of the season in Holmenkollen, Norway, he managed to become the sole leader with a 16-second handicap, but Russian Evgeniy Ustyugov and Emil Svendsen, fighting among themselves for second place, unexpectedly, a hundred meters before the finish, managed to catch up and surpass Ole Einar, who ultimately remained in third place. After that race, Björndalen admitted that he was very tired and could not even really stand on his feet. In April, Ole also suffered a serious back injury and could even have ended his career, but managed to recover. At the end of the season, they again took 10th place in the total, having won only one personal victory.
In March 2011, Ole Einar was awarded the Holmenkollen Medal. The athlete received it at the last stage of the World Cup in Norway of the 2010/2011 season.
Also in 2011, Björndalen came to Kamchatka, where every year after the end of the season competitions for the prize in memory of Vitaly Fatyanov started. But Ole Einar did not show up at the start of the sprint race, explaining that he had not been feeling well in the last two days. Since he did not take part in the sprint, he could not compete in the pursuit race, which determined the winner.
Before the 2011-2012 season, due to a back injury, Ole Einar worked on an individual lightweight training plan and entered the season slowly and gradually, unlike the rest of the Norwegian team. At the World Championships in Ruhpolding he was left without personal awards, although he again won two relay races, becoming an 18-time world champion. Apparently, he managed to get sick and lose his form again. Even this time there was no trace of the brilliant and super-reliable relay runner, since the partners had to scramble out in each relay race when Ole entered the penalty loop, nevertheless, Norway’s team is very strong. Björndalen finished in a modest 16th place in the overall World Cup standings. Obviously, a back injury and age played a cruel joke in this not very successful season.
He took part in the Race of Champions in 2012. The main part of the commercial competition program consists of shooting, based on the results of which the starting list for mass starts is determined. Based on the results of the 6.5 km mass starts, the athletes form pairs for the mixed relay (11.7 km in total), which closes the competition. In the mass start, Björndalen showed the eighth result, and in the mixed relay paired with Olga Zaitseva - 6th.
Preparation for the 2012-2013 season took place without any adverse circumstances; Ole Einar had fully recovered from his injury and was ready to fight for the highest results. The coaches also assured that it seems that “the king has returned.” However, this time, the Norwegian was crippled by family problems: his father unexpectedly died of a heart attack, and later, after 6 years of marriage, Björndalen divorced his wife Natalie Santer. Ole Einar was never able to fully concentrate on competitions and training, although he tried his best. The best result of the season was fourth place in the sprint at the World Championships in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic. Then one miss with the last shot on the stand deprived him of not only the victory, but also the medal. Björndalen did not take part in the mixed relay at the World Cup this time, but won the men's relay, becoming a 19-time world champion. But in the World Cup it is becoming more and more difficult every year, Ole Einar has already fallen back to 22nd place.
In the summer of 2013, Ole Einar decided to retire after the Olympic Games in Sochi. Thus, the 2013-2014 season was supposed to be the last for the great Norwegian.
However, as it turns out, in his last season, the 39-year-old Norwegian is in good shape and was still able to win. Preparations for the season were as successful as ever, and Björndalen himself was incredibly motivated to end his career in a dignified manner. “The Great and the Terrible” did his best in his preparation. Back in April, for optimal training and recovery, preventing unexpected illnesses, etc., he purchased a “home on wheels” - a campervan worth up to a couple of million crowns. Colossal motivation, as he himself admits, appeared last season at the pre-Olympic stage in Sochi, and all preparation, with the onset of optimal form, went towards the Olympics. So in the sprint, at the World Cup stage in Hochfilzen, after a long break, Ole Einar won a bronze medal and one mistake deprived him of victory.
Subsequently, in a sprint-pursuit combination, he achieved a series of two consecutive second places in Oberhof, Germany, losing in a bitter fight to his compatriot Emil Hegle Svendsen in both races. Björndalen fights on equal terms with much younger leaders of recent years: Martin Fourcade and Emil Svendsen, almost not inferior to them in speed on the ski track even at 40 years old. In the sprint, with two penalties, he lost less than a second, and in the pursuit, where Ole was in the lead for a long time, victory was separated from victory by two mistakes at the last shooting range.
Bjoerndalen prepared for the Olympic Games in Sochi all season according to an individual plan, and according to the same plan he is in optimal condition. Already in the first start (sprint), despite one mistake, he becomes the owner of the next, seventh Olympic gold, winning a little more than one second over his closest pursuer. The 40-year-old “king of biathlon” demonstrates practically the best performance in the race, despite his incredibly advanced age for the sport. The personal Olympic gold medal came only in Sochi, 12 years after the triumph in Salt Lake City. After this great victory, Björndalen raises his own bar even higher from two years ago - the oldest winner of an individual race in biathlon, and this record already becomes an Olympic one. The great Norwegian gets another gold in the mixed relay, where he already becomes an eight-time Olympic champion and is compared in this indicator with skier Bjorn Deli. Ole Einar becomes the most decorated athlete in the history of the Winter Olympics, winning 13 medals, ahead of his idol Björn Deli.
At the closing ceremony of the Olympics, Björndalen deservedly carried the flag of his country and was officially elected to the IOC commission. Björndalen, together with Belarusian biathlete Daria Domracheva, were named the best athletes of the last Olympics.
At the end of the season, Björndalen shows a number of stable results, finishing in the top 10. He won another podium (3rd place) in the pursuit race at the World Cup in Pokljuka, Slovenia. Also, the “great and terrible” celebrates an anniversary: his record 400 race at the World Cup stages, which he ran in the second sprint of the Finnish Kontiolahti.
At the end of the season, Ole Einar takes a very high 6th place in the overall World Cup standings, which is much better than the result in the previous 4 seasons. And the speed of the “40-year-old junior” can be the envy of many elite and young biathletes, since Ole Einar entered the top 5 strongest for the entire season.
After a brilliant Olympics, Björndalen admits that he is still hungry for victories and feels the strength to win, and that is why he remains two more years before the World Championships in his native Oslo in 2016.
Before the season, Björndalen was aiming for experiments and therefore decided to change his regular ski poles to curved ones with an eye to increasing the efficiency of pushes and, accordingly, increasing the speed on the track. Following the results of the first stage in Östersund, he sensationally showed second speed in each race, but made a mistake at the turn. He ended up with 6th, 8th and 10th places in the first stage, but the following stages did not work out: he failed the sprint in Hochfilzen and fell ill, which is why he did not race until Christmas.
By 2015, Björndalen prepared at the highest level and managed to approach the German stages in good shape. In Oberhof, for the first time in a long time, he ran the last leg of the relay, but lost first place; the same thing happened in the sprint, where he was in the lead with one penalty, but lost in the last meters of the distance. As a result, he managed to achieve a silver double - his first podiums of the season.
At the World Championships in Kontiolahti, Björndalen took 5th, 6th and 4th places.
At the last stage of the World Cup, the Norwegians had problems with lubrication, and because of this, Björndalen was unable to compete for the podium in the sprint, where he shot clean for the third race in a row, but only took 9th place. After unsuccessful shooting in the pursuit race, Ole Einar fell ill and missed the mass start - the season ended in 14th place in the overall World Cup standings.
Ole Einar Bjoerndalen's height: 179 centimeters.
Personal life of Ole Einar Björndalen:
The biathlete lives in Obertilliach, Austria, in the federal state of Tyrol.
On May 27, 2006, he married Belgian biathlete of Italian origin Nathalie Santer. Have no children.
Ole Einar Bjoerndalen and Nathalie Santer
In October 2012, it was announced that Natalie and Ole Einar were divorcing after 6 years of marriage. The reason for the divorce was cited in the press as an affair with a Belarusian biathlete.
Ole Einar Bjoerndalen and Daria Domracheva
In April 2016, the biathlete announced that he and Domracheva would have a child.
An interesting fact about Björndalen is that he cares so much about cleanliness and his health that he carries a vacuum cleaner with him and rarely shakes hands. “Vacuum cleaners also occupy a special place in my life., - noted the athlete. - I take this thing with me everywhere". Björndalen also said that it was not his idea to ride with a vacuum cleaner, he adopted it from his older teammates.
