Historic Day for Norway!

After a disappointing start to the 2010 Winter Olympics, Norway finally lived up to expectations yesterday with three medals in biathlon: gold from Tora Berger and Emil Hegle Svendsen, and silver from Ole Einar Bjørndalen. Two days ago, cross-country skier Marit Bjørgen broke the drought by winning the sprint for Norway's 99th ever Winter Olympics gold, making yesterday's golds numbers 100 and 101. Norway is the winningest nation in Winter Olympics history with 291 medals (followed by the USA with 237) - not bad for a nation of just 4.5 million people, although they are 'born with skis on their feet,' as the saying goes.

Anette was particularly proud of Marit and Tora for taking the first golds of 2010 and giving the Norwegian women some much-deserved attention. Tora's gold was the first ever by a Norwegian woman in biathlon. After poor shooting in the sprint left her in 33rd for the pursuit, she shot 20 out of 20 targets in that race to move all the way up to 5th - a Herculean effort. In her gold medal 15km run, she hit 19 out of 19 targets (an amazing 39 in a row over 2 competitions) and only missed on the final target, but she was too fast on her skis for anyone to catch her.

The men's race was phenomenally exciting, with both Svendsen and Bjørndalen seeking revenge after dismal performances in the sprint and pursuit. Svendsen, like Berger, hit 19 of 19 but missed his last target, giving Bjørndalen the chance to overtake him with a clean shoot on his final round. However, the King of Biathlon also missed, and had to ski his heart out to cross the line 9.5 seconds behind Svedsen. Bjørndalen's silver gives him medals in championship events (either World Cup or Olympics) in 14 straight years, a longevity record that may only ever be tested by Svendsen, the Prince of Biathlon, 12 years his junior.

So, I've been waiting years to bear witness to such a day, ever since I became hooked on biathlon in Oslo in 2004. Anette and I were screaming at the TV and biting our nails throughout the races, which we watched on BBC but listened to in Norwegian over the internet. Norway couldn't be happier today, and all eyes now turn to the mass start competitions on Sunday and the relays next week.