According to Thomas, the entire Norwegian team used the same approach leading up to and during the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City where he won a gold medal (his fourth Olympic gold) in the relay and a silver in the pursuit.
Thomas said that to survive the rigorous training to be a top Nordic skier you must truly enjoy what you do.
Thomas told us he has learned more during his ‘down times’ than when winning all his gold medals.
In Lake Placid in 1980, Nikolay Zimjatov recorded 3 gold medals, the 30k, the 50k and the relay with Russia. ThomasWassberg beat Juha Mieto with 1/100 on the 15k.
The games in Lake Placid in 1980 provided the tightest race ever in cross country skiing. ThomasWassberg of Sweden won the 15k classic by 1/100 of a second ahead of the great Finnish skier Juha Mieto. Wassberg won later won the 50k in 1984 and the relay with Sweden in 1988.
Wassberg is one of the biggest cross country skiing legends of all times.
Wassberg was also involved in the historical battle in the 15-kilometer at the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid when he won gold by beating the Finish legend Juha Mieto by the smallest margin possible, one hundreds of a second.
Wassberg, Koch, Caldwell, Simoneau, Mieto and Zimutov (sp?) were ski legends when I was kid.
Like ThomasWassberg and Gunde Svan who dominated the 1980s, Daehlie's domination of the 1990s gave way to the next generation star, Sweden's Per Elofsson who dominated the 2001 World Championships.
Unlike Wassberg, Svan, Smirnov and Ulvang, Daehlie's retirement was not on his terms.
His back operation was the same as the ones performed on Vegard Ulvang and Thomas Alsgaard earlier.
xtri.com | pro zone | quality underwear(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-02)
Nordic ski-legends like Gunde Svan, Juha Mieto, ThomasWassberg and Björn Dählie have all recorded stratospheric Vo2-max figures that are unmatched in exercise physiology (well above 7 litres/minute and peaking at 90ml/kg).
His frame was nothing but a huge heart, a giant set of lungs and a big old beard that was most often filled with ice and snot.
Wassberg later had his gold medal cut in half and sent one half to Mieto!
Thomas, whose asthma has been acting up this season, said he was tested some 30 times last year and he would be glad to be tested more often.
Thomas Alsgaard left for the U.S. today, Per Elofsson leaves tomorrow: The Norwegian Ski Association had given Allsgaard the OK to train with Per in Silver Star, Canada, but Alsgaard opted to train on his own in the US.
November 26, 2001 Thomas Alsgaard suggests Sweden and Norway train together: Thomas suggested that Per Elofsson and the Swedish Team train together with the Norwegian Team in the summer and the fall.
www.jenex.com /news/archives.html (24061 words)
Tomas Wassberg - TheBestLinks.com - Olympic Games, Sweden, 1977, 1980, ...(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-02)
Tomas Wassberg - TheBestLinks.com - Olympic Games, Sweden, 1977, 1980,...
Ski Racing(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-02)
When the World Cup became official with the 1982 season (and a steel-willed Vermonter named Bill Koch upset the charts to win the title in a final-race duel with Swedish great ThomasWassberg), there were four seeding groups.
Nations were allowed to put two skiers in each group.
Thomas Alsgaard may have retired but the Norwegian men haven't gone away.
Cross country skiing, men's 4x10km relay at Canmore: ThomasWASSBERG of Sweden leads Vladimir SAKHNOV of the Soviet Union during the event.
Women's figure skating: eventual gold medallist Katarina WITT of the German Democratic Republic performs in the free programme.
Women's figure skating medal presentation: (L to R) Elizabeth MANLEY of Canada, 2nd, Katarina WITT of the German Democratic Republic, 1st, and Debra THOMAS of the United States, 3rd.
Another example in cross country skiing - in 1980 in Lake Placid, they timed the races to 100th of a second for the very first time.
Juha Meito was at the finish line, waiting to see if his time in the 15km would hold up as the best, when ThomasWassberg finished 1/100th of a second faster.
Some time later the FIS decided that Wassberg was right, and so afterwards even if races are timed to 1/100th of a second, the times are rounded to the nearest 1/10th of a second, and people with the same time to the tenth are declared to be tied except in mass start and pursuit races.
The World Sauna Championships count often with guests from the sports' world and the national political scene.
Famous Finnish cross-country skierJuha Mieto challengend two other skier legends, ThomasWassberg from Sweden and Vladimir Smirnov from Kazakstan, to try the World Championships Sauna in Heinola just before the finals on Sunday the 7th of August 2004.
Politicians did also feel the heat as Heinola's mayor Mr Hannu Komonen invited mayors of other Finnish cities and German "Sauna-town" Colbitz to a «Mayors Sauna».
CNNSI.com - Historic Medal Tracker - Sweden - 1984
ThomasWassberg, Gunde Svan, Benny Kohlberg, Jan Ottosson
Peter Hjalm, Thomas Ahlen, Mats Thelin, Arne Thelven, Leif Nordin, Goran Lindblom, Bo Ericson, Gote Walitalo, Rolf Ridervall, Tomas Sandstrom, Mats Hessel, Peter Gradin, Lars Eriksson, Thomas Eklund, Per Eklund, Jens Ohling, Thomas Rundqvist, Karl Hakan Sodergren, Tommy Morth, Mats Waltin
