The pole break at Holmenkollen, the “smørebom” in Falun, the impossible jerk and the total collapse – here are the most dramatic WC races in modern times

WC fever is rising as the world championships in the Nordic skiing disciplines in Planica are just around the corner. Get in the World Cup spirit with a look back at some of the most astonishing races of all time.

1. Men’s relay WC 1982 – rollover, death threats, pole breaking and shared medals

This competition had it all and then some. To the great delight of the home crowd, Norway had built up a solid lead over the chasing Soviets during the first two stages.

However, Pål Gunnar Mikkelsplass did not have the best of days on the third stage. Young Juri Burlakov was closing in and when the finishing Norwegian inexplicably fell over with a couple of kilometers remaining, the Russian saw his chance. In one fell swoop, Burlakov was both in the race and passed.

Mikkelsplass was for a while Norway’s most hated man and even had to receive death threats, which the Norwegian police considered so serious that he was given a police escort out of Holmenkollen.

At the changeover, Soviet anchor Aleksandr Zavjalov had a 13-second lead over Oddvar Brå, who rode the last leg for Norway.

Brå took up the fight with Zavjalov and the whole thing was decided on the stadium grounds in front of tens of thousands of Norwegian ski enthusiasts. In the final uphill, Brå made a move and passed Zavjalov but broke the pole at the same time as the Russian lost his balance and fell to his knees.

An entire skiing nation held its breath as the Norwegian commentator Jon Herwig Carlsen howled: “Let him get a pole, da man!”. Brå got a new pole 100 meters later but by that stage Zavjalov had caught up again.

The fight for the gold was decided on the run. Brå was first for a long time but Zavjalov had a better slide and passed Brå by a minimal margin. At least he believed himself when he cheered after the finish.

But remember this was 1982. There was no sophisticated target camera technology and television production was far from what we are used to today. The jury studied the finish line for several hours before realizing that there was no finish photo that unequivocally showed which team had crossed the finish line first.

In addition, the finish line had been beaten during today’s race and could not be classified as straight. Gold was thus shared between Norway and the Soviet Union.

The WC relay in 1982 is one of the biggest events in Norwegian sports history. The question “Where were you when Brå broke the staff?” is still legendary in Norwegian skiing circles and the broken pole is now in a stand at the Holmenkollen Park Hotel.

In Oddvar Brå’s hometown of Hølonda, a statue has been erected to him. Every now and then someone breaks the right pole of the statue.

And in the best TV shop spirit, this was not all. The battle for bronze was just as tight.

Juha Mieto fought a furious battle against East Germany’s Frank Schröder. Finland looked set to lose the medal at the very end but Mieto extended his right ski impressively and looked to have finished ahead of Schröder. But just like in the fight for the gold, the judges found no watertight evidence. The bronze was shared between Finland and the GDR.

2. Men’s Relay WC 2003 – Jörgen Brink and the famous wall

Sweden could already smell a long-awaited World Cup gold. Then the shocking television images were broadcast: Jörgen Brink had collapsed and the gold was smoking all over the world.

Per Elofsson had switched with 20 seconds to the credit of the competitors. Jörgen Brink managed the lead with that honor on the final stage. Until just over a kilometer remained.

– Brink is exhausted. Totally finished, Yle Sporten’s expert Jan-Olof Näs said in amazement in live broadcast.

Norway’s Thomas Alsgaard and Germany’s Axel Teichmann whizzed past Brink and settled for the gold. The victory in the sprint showdown went to Alsgaard and Norway.

Jörgen Brink managed to finish third, but his collapse was named by Aftonbladet as the second biggest fiasco in Swedish sports of the 2000s.

Only several years later did he reveal to Norwegian VG that he suffered heart fibrillation at the end of his stage.

– It was lucky that I finished at all. I have no direct memories of crossing the finish line, but I knew we had lost the baton.

– Here there are three guys in the team who make a top performance, and then the fourth comes and destroys. It’s not something you dream about. It was a very difficult time after the relay, he said.

3. Women’s Sprint World Cup 2019 – Swedish medal hopes collide, thunderous thunderous bronze to Norwegian in mourning

Before the WC in Seefeld, Kristine Stavå’s Skistad had sailed up as a medal candidate. The Norwegian super talent had won the JVM sprint a month earlier and showed promising paces in the World Cup as well.

And it looked promising initially. She challenged the big cutters Maiken Caspersen Falla and Stina Nilsson in the final stage of the semi-finals, but then the accident happened. She put the staff between her legs and fell spectacularly. After the miss, the 19-year-old was inconsolable and crossed the finish line with tears in his eyes long after the others.

The conditions for the final were simple: Falla would fight for the gold against Swedes Nilsson, Jonna Sundling and Maja Dahlqvist.

Falla took command in the final but the Swedes left her scrambling. In the final downswing, Maja Dahlqvist, who was in top form and had won the prologue, attacked. But she hooked up with Jonna Sundling and both fell over, which also hindered Stina Nilsson’s progress.

– Oh no! It was set for a historic medal party, sighed Jacob Hård in SVT’s broadcast.

Falla was able to parade across the finish line as world champion ahead of Nilsson. Jonna Sundling approached the finish in third but had broken the pole in the collision with Dahlqvist and could not keep her medal position.

Norwegian WC debutant Mari Eide flew past Nilsson on the run and took the first and only major competition medal of her career. Mari Eide’s resounding bronze is one of the most emotional moments in WC history.

Her sister Ida Eide had died half a year earlier after suffering a cardiac arrest during an exercise race in Oslo. Ida Eide was only 30 years old.

– I so wish Ida was here and had seen this. But I think she was looking at me up there. The whole family is here and… yes, she said in NRK’s ​​interview before bursting into tears.

4. Women’s free mile WC 2015 – home cheer, Norwegian “smørebom” and sensational bronze medalist

World Cup classics: American medals in the snow storm in Falun – Charlotte Kalla saved the home crowd

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Play on the Arena

Do you remember which skater took bronze in the women’s ten kilometer freestyle in Falun 2015? It is almost impossible to guess the right answer.

The list of results was, for the most part, extremely surprising. A heavy snowfall swept over Falun in the middle of the competition and really stirred the pot.

One by one, the favorites disappeared from the tight battle. In the end there was only one left. Charlotte Kalla fulfilled the sky-high expectations of the Swedish skiing fans and won WC gold.

The foundation for Kalla’s gold was already laid before the start. Kalla stuck to a pair of skis that worked clearly better than the competitors’. It also added that she started before her main competitors, which was a clear advantage in the increasing snowfall.

Behind Kalla, the USA had a historically good day. That Jessica Diggins took silver may not sound like a surprise, but in 2015 the American had mostly made a name for herself as a sprinter. The really big bang was Caitlin Gregg. The 34-year-old Gregg started third in the terrain and benefited greatly from not riding in the heaviest snowfall.

Before the bronze race, she had not scored World Cup points for four years and her best finish that season had been 47th.

– Everything fell into place today. I can feel that some people give up on their careers and dreams too soon. Some of us just take a little longer and win our first medals at the age of 34, she said after the race with a twinkle in her eye.

For the favorite tipped Norwegians, the competition went down the drain. Best of them was Heidi Weng in 22nd place. Therese Johaug was 27th and Marit Björgen 31st. Both the choice of skis and the herding had failed.

The Norwegian national team coach Egil Kristiansen was dejected after the race.

– This is almost just ridiculous. We must try to forget this, he told NRK.

Norway took a gruesome revenge a couple of days later by winning the relay by a clear margin. During the closing weekend, Johaug also won the three-mile ahead of Bjørgen.

5. Men’s five-mile WC 2013 – Johan Olsson does the impossible

The script for the men’s 50 kilometers in Val di Fiemme 2013 was set. The main bunch would be kept intact throughout the race and then the whole thing would be decided after a sprint battle. And in the end, Petter Northug would emerge victorious.

This is what the five-mile races had looked like since mass starts were introduced as a form of competition.

In other words, not many people raised their eyebrows when Johan Olsson jerked at an early stage of the race. He would be caught eventually.

At first, Olsson was joined by Dario Cologna, but the Swiss fell in a steep downhill run and lost contact with the Swede with thirty kilometers remaining.

Olsson then went solo to the WC gold and was awarded the Bragdguldet later that year.

Johan Olsson was something of a pioneer. Since his golden race, the five miles have been considerably more unpredictable. We remember Iivo Niskanen’s fight against Aleksandr Bolsjunov for the Olympic gold in 2018, while Hans Christer Holund did just like Olsson in the WC 2019. Holund pulled away early and the main group never caught up.

Sources: Yle’s archive, SVT, Aftonbladet, Dagens Nyheter, NRK, VG, Aftenposten, New York Times