{"id":3036,"date":"2018-04-30T12:09:26","date_gmt":"2018-04-30T10:09:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/idrottsforum.org\/forumbloggen\/?p=3036"},"modified":"2018-05-02T08:36:39","modified_gmt":"2018-05-02T06:36:39","slug":"bjorn-daehlies-bravest-moment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/idrottsforum.org\/forumbloggen\/bjorn-daehlies-bravest-moment\/","title":{"rendered":"Bj\u00f8rn D\u00e6hlie’s bravest moment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Who is the mightiest of them all? The ultimate riddle deserves to be addressed right now, the day after the official closure of the 2017\u201318 skiing season (so far as yours truly is concerned). Which one is the greatest Nordic skier ever, Marit Bj\u00f8rgen or her fellow Norwegian Bj\u00f8rn D\u00e6hlie?<\/p>\n

While Bj\u00f8rgen recently overtook D\u00e6hlie as the most decorated Winter Olympian ever, medals, trophies or even prize money should by no means count as the only criteria of greatness. Phone calls matter too.<\/p>\n

Back in 2002, a phone call interrupted Mika Myllyl\u00e4\u2019s lunch during a training camp somewhere in northern Finland. The Finnish world and Olympic champion had incurred a two-year ban in 2001 owing to a drug offense, and his toughest rival D\u00e6hlie, among other colleagues, had deemed it fit to moralize at his expense. On the phone, however, the Norwegian ace apologized for his harsh words and expressed sympathy for the beleaguered Finn.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Alas, Mika Myllyl\u00e4 is no longer with us \u2013 he died in 2011 \u2013 and Bj\u00f8rn D\u00e6hlie might not be willing to elaborate on the noble call that, in my book, sealed his position as the greatest skier ever. But how do I know that the discussion actually took place?<\/p>\n

My sources are impeccable, as the hard-nosed journalists put it. Myllyl\u00e4 divulged the main points of the phone call to a skier who happened to share lunch with him. For circumstantial evidence, consider Inge Br\u00e5ten\u2019s equally generous gesture during the infamous 2001 world championships hosted by Lahti. A few days before Myllyl\u00e4\u2019s disqualification, another Finn \u2013 Jari Isomets\u00e4 \u2013 tested positive and went on to announce his retirement from competitive skiing in a widely covered press conference.<\/p>\n

The media people immediately labelled Isomets\u00e4 as a \u2018disgraced\u2019 athlete, and prodded by sanctimonius journalists, some fellow athletes too denounced him as a \u2018drugs cheat.\u2019 Judging by Inge Br\u00e5ten\u2019s reaction, however, every serious skier must have felt pity – mere pity – for the unlucky Finn. The legendary Norwegian coach and D\u00e6hlie\u2019s mentor fought his way through the crowd, spread his arms and embraced Isomets\u00e4 as he walked out of the press conference. In doing so, Br\u00e5ten also whispered something into his ear.<\/p>\n

What did the esteemed coach and commentator, arguably the main architect of today’s Norwegian skiing hegemony, have to say to the \u2018disgraced\u2019 Finn? Thankfully, Isomets\u00e4 provided an immediate translation to a curious Finnish TV<\/a> journalist (3:20).<\/p>\n

\u2018Inge Br\u00e5ten said, ”You\u2019re the finest skier I\u2019ve ever known.” That means a lot coming from Norway’s former head coach.\u2019<\/p>\n

Let us savor D\u00e6hlie\u2019s momentous message and Br\u00e5ten\u2019s beautiful, enlightened words \u2013 especially when the next \u2018drug scandal\u2019 erupts and athletes are cajoled to heap dirt on their luckless colleagues!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Who is the mightiest of them all? The ultimate riddle deserves to be addressed right now, the day after the official closure of the 2017\u201318 skiing season (so far as yours truly is concerned). Which one is the greatest Nordic skier ever, Marit Bj\u00f8rgen or her fellow Norwegian Bj\u00f8rn D\u00e6hlie? While Bj\u00f8rgen recently overtook D\u00e6hlie […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3057,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-okategoriserade"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t