Bjoerndalen joins the pantheon of sporting greats

THE convoy of fans slowly snaked their way through the Alps expecting to see a coronation - but their cacophony of cowbells was soon muted and their flags and bunting hung limp.

LEGEND: Unmatched and unrivaled Ole Einar Bjoerndalen's achievements deserve more worldwide recognition (Getty Images)

Five-time Olympic champion Ole Einar Bjoerndalen was expected to be the star 2006 Olympic Winter Games - but he returned home with just two silvers and a bronze.

In Norway it was a sporting tragedy that equates to any England penalty shoot-out failure.

Fast forward three years and Bjoerndalen today secured his place in the pantheon of sporting greats - becoming the most successful winter sports athlete of all time.

It's an achievement that will tragically fail to make the world headlines that it deserves.

His victory in the 20km individual race at the World Biathlon Championships in Pyeongchang, South Korea was the 87th of his career - passing the mark of legendary Swedish alpine skier Ingemar Stenmark.

It was also a 13th world title and his third in as many days - following wins in the men's sprint and 12.5km pursuit.

It's hard to compare the achievements of Stenmark and Bjoerndalen.

It takes a certain sort of courage of career down a mountain but there are few more punishing sports than biathlon, a high altitude combination of cross-country skiing and shooting.

Activities resembling biathlon have had practical applications for more than four thousand years. From the time Norwegian hunters used their skis to find food to Scandinavian soldiers who learned to ski while carrying their rifles.

You don't have to trade blows or lift weights to be a hardman of sport and there are few more sadistic Olympic disciplines than this.

Cross-country skiing is, in the opinion of many exercise physiologists, the world's best aerobic fitness activity. The sport involves simultaneous use of arms and legs utilising ski equipment including boots, poles, and skis.

And if that lung-burning endeavour is not enough - biathletes are forced to regularly stop, slow their heart rate to a gentle murmur and fire down tennis-ball size targets fifty metres away.

All of that makes Bjoerndalen a sportsman to be mentioned in the same breath as Woods, Federer, Phelps and Redgrave.

 

James Toney is the Managing Editor of national press agency Sportsbeat and four-time shortlisted Sports Journalist of the Year.

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