There are 20 athletes and 20 different lives. They have survived in their own ways in the history of the Winter Olympics, some of which are awe-inspiring, some of which elicit a sigh.
In the world of competitive sports, there will always be something more important than the gold medal, such as passion for sports, respect for opponents, yearning for love and peace, the pursuit of equality in life, and the reverence for life and nature. We hope that the 20 stories told here will bring more inspiration to life.
Matti Nykanen Matti Nykanen
17 July 1963 – 4 February 2019, Finland
In the early 1980s and early 1990s, the Finn was invincible in ski jumping. In fact, to this day he is widely regarded as the greatest male athlete in the history of ski jumping, not one of them. He has won 5 Winter Olympic medals, including 4 gold medals, and 5 World Championships.
But what makes people lament is that the private life of this great athlete is a mess. He has been married 6 times, and has been accused of domestic violence many times, the most serious one was stabbing a wife with a knife and then strangling the neck of the other party with a bathrobe belt. In addition, he often made trouble in public, and it became common to go in and out of the police station. His financial situation was also in a mess, and he was tricked into going to a restaurant to make a living by stripping in order to increase his income. He was diagnosed with diabetes 3 months before his death, but the final confirmed causes of death were pancreatitis and pneumonia.
Annalise Cobberger Annelise Coberger
New Zealand, 16 September 1971
A silver medal in steeplechase at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albert City made Coberger the first southern hemisphere player to win a medal at the Winter Olympics. How important is this medal for New Zealand, which doesn't see snow all year round! She became the best athlete in the country that year, and it is still New Zealand's best record at the Winter Olympics.
In New Zealand, the Kobergers were absolute ski pioneers, largely because her grandfather was German, and mr. Old founded the country's first company to operate ski equipment. Although she failed at the Lillehammer Winter Olympics two years later and has not been seen since, Coberger inspired a large number of ski-loving southern hemisphere teenagers to chase their dreams and bravely throw themselves into a sport that seemed so out of step with their living circumstances. Coberger later concentrated on completing his studies and became a member of the New Zealand Police Force.
Lascelles Brown
October 12, 1974, of Jamaican descent
Brown is also a god man in the history of the Winter Olympics. He was born in Jamaica and was born to Jamaican ancestors. After starting his bobsleigh career in 1999, he represented three countries and was the first Jamaican athlete to win a medal at the Winter Olympics. Between 1999 and 2004, he was a member of the Jamaican National Snow Racing Team, which had not changed his nationality at the time, and participated in the 2002 Winter Olympics.
Brown then trained in Calgary, Canada, where he had hosted the Winter Olympics, where he met a Canadian girl, and after the two married, he applied for Canadian citizenship and made an exception before the 2006 Winter Olympics. At this Olympic Games, he competed in the double bobsleigh event and won a silver medal. At the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, he won a bronze medal in the four-man snowmobile event. After winning the medal, he ran away from his teammates and played for the Monaco national team for two years before returning to the Canadian national team.
Bjorn Daehlie
Norway, 19 June 1967
With 3 Winter Olympics, 8 gold medals and 4 silver medals, and a total of 29 medals at the Winter Olympics and World Championships throughout the 1990s, he is undoubtedly the greatest king of cross-country skiing in history.
After retiring from the army, Dali became a successful businessman in the real estate and fashion sectors. His investment in real estate has generated at least more than 500 million crowns in his income, and he is also the founder of a well-known ski clothing brand.
Nancy Kerrigan
United States, October 13, 1969
A bronze medal at the 1992 Winter Olympics and a silver medal in 1994 were The best results Kellygan had on the women's figure skating top stage. However, Kellygan's fame did not come from these achievements alone. On January 6, 1994, an incident of intentional injury brought her world-class fame. At that time, after finishing training, she was walking through a corridor in the stadium when she was suddenly hit by a stick in her right leg, and the murder weapon was a police baton. As you can see from the footage captured by the camera, Kelly Root covered her knees and asked 3 times, "Why, why, why?" The killer was then found to have been found by her rival Harding's ex-husband to save Kellygan from the upcoming national championships and the Winter Olympics. But she quickly made a comeback and began high-intensity training, eventually winning a silver medal at the Winter Olympics. And her rival Harding? She was permanently banned from all figure skating competitions.
Nodar Kumaritashvili
25 November 1988 - 12 February 2010, Georgia
On the day of the celebration of the opening of the Vancouver Winter Olympics, the 22-year-old Georgian luge rider died in his last practice. His body was thrown out of the sleigh and hit a steel pillar at a speed of 143.5 kilometers per hour.
Kumari Tashvili was born into a family of luges: his grandfather first introduced the sport to Georgia, his father and uncle both competed in luge competitions when they were young, and his uncle later became president of the Georgian Luge Federation. Nordal began practicing the sport at the age of 13 and began competing in the Bobsleigh World Cup series from the 2008-2009 season.
On this fateful day of death, Nordal is practicing his last exercise. When he reached the last turn of the track, he suddenly lost control and was thrown out of the sleigh, thrown off the side wall of the track, and hit the naked steel pillar without any protection. He immediately vomited blood and died after being rushed to the local hospital by helicopter. He was the 4th athlete to die in winter Olympic training.
At the opening ceremony later in the day, when the Georgian players entered the arena, the entire audience stood up and saluted them. Felix Loch, the bobsleigh champion at the Winter Olympics, had his gold medal melted to make two gold plates, one of which was engraved with the image of the deceased and the date of birth and death, and presented it to the Kumari Tashvili family. His mother has since attempted suicide twice, while his father was devastated by grief and hospitalized several times since.
Kim Bong-seok Toby Dawson
May 4, 1979, Korean origin
The most moving part of South Korea's bid to host the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics came from a speech by a Korean-American freestyle skier named Toby Daw son.
Born in Busan, South Korea, Toby Daw son went out with his mother at the age of 3 and wandered away in a crowded Central Market. His father then searched through orphanages, looking nowhere for his son. He was later adopted by a couple from Colorado, usa, both of whom were ski instructors, so he started practicing skiing from an early age. At the 2006 Winter Olympics, he won a bronze medal in the free ski snow skills event. His biological father saw his photo in the media and felt familiar, and then the family was reunited through genetic comparison. "If I stay in South Korea, I may never be able to become an Olympian." Kim Bong-seok told IOC members in his speech, "I want to speak for the young people of Korea's future, and I hope you can give them the opportunities I've had in the United States — to participate, to transcend, to inherit." ”
Marit Bjorgen
21 March 1980 Toby Dawson, Norway
The athlete with the largest number of medals in the history of the Winter Olympics is from cross-country skiing. Bjorgan has participated in five Winter Olympics and won five medals in one go at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, locking her number of Winter Olympic medals at 15, including 8 gold medals. Her compatriot, Ole Bjø daland, known as the "king of modern biathlons", has the largest number of Winter Olympic medals among male athletes, winning 13 medals and eight gold medals.
However, it is hard to imagine that Bjorgan turned out to be an asthmatic. During the 2009-2010 season, she enjoyed an exemption granted by the International Ski Federation to allow her to use the asthma-treating drug Sym bicort, which contains ingredients that are on the world anti-doping agency's banned list. She continued to use the drug during the 2010 Winter Olympics and was strongly rebuked by rival Justina Kovalchik for using the banned drug. But Bjorgan's medication was legal, and ironically, Kovalchik himself was found to have used banned steroids and punished for it.
Noriaki Kasai
June 6, 1972, Japan
At the Winter Olympics, Kasai won two silver medals and a bronze medal, one of which was in the individual event. It's not the most dazzling achievement, but he still holds an unbroken Winter Olympic record – from 1992 to 2018, Kasai Participated in eight Winter Olympics. He was 41 years old and 254 days old when he won the individual silver medal for ski jumping at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, making him the oldest medalist in the history of the Winter Olympics.
In 2016, Kasai received two Guinness World Records certificates, namely the individual ski jumper with the most appearances at the FIS (International Ski Federation) Nordic Ski World Championships and the individual with the most appearances in the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup.
Yuzuru Hanyu
December 7, 1994, Japan
The first Asian person in the history of the Winter Olympics to win a gold medal in figure skating in men's singles and the winner of this event in two previous Olympic Games. At this Beijing Winter Olympics, the eyes of the whole world will be focused on him. Three consecutive Winter Olympics? Let's wait and see.