Ole Einar Bjørndalen is a retired Norwegian professional biathlete and coach, often referred to by the nickname, the "King of Biathlon". With 13 Winter Olympic Games medals, he is second on the list of multiple medalists behind Marit Bjørgen who has won 15 medals. He is also the most successful biathlete of all time at the Biathlon World Championships, having won 45 medals, more than double that of any other biathlete except Martin Fourcade. With 95 World Cup wins, Bjørndalen is ranked first all-time for career victories on the Biathlon World Cup tour, more than twice that of anyone else but Fourcade. He has won the Overall World Cup title six times, in 1997–98, in 2002–03, in 2004–05, in 2005–06, in 2007–08 and in 2008–09.
The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVIII Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Nagano 1998, was a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Japan, with some events taking place in the nearby mountain communities of Hakuba, Karuizawa, Nozawa Onsen, and Yamanouchi. The city of Nagano had previously been a candidate to host the 1940 Winter Olympics, as well as the 1972 Winter Olympics, but had been eliminated at the national level by Sapporo on both occasions.
Bjørn Erlend Dæhlie is a Norwegian businessman and retired cross-country skier. From 1992 to 1999, Dæhlie won the Nordic World Cup six times, finishing second in 1994 and 1998. Dæhlie won a total of 29 medals in the Olympics and World Championships between 1991 and 1999, making him the most successful male cross-country skier in history.
The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2001 took place February 15–25, 2001 in Lahti, Finland for a record sixth time, previous events being held in 1926, 1938, 1958, 1978 and 1989. These championships also saw the most event changes since the 1950s with the 5 km women and 10 km men's events being discontinued, the 10 km women and 15 km men's events return to their normal status for the first time since the 1991 championships, the debut of a combined pursuit as a separate category, the addition of the individual sprint race for both genders, and the debut of the ski jumping team normal hill event. Extremely cold weather cancelled the women's 30 km event. The biggest controversy occurred when a doping scandal hit the host nation of Finland, resulting in six disqualifications. This would serve as a prelude to further doping cases in cross country skiing at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City the following year.
Mongolia sent a delegation to compete at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, United States from 8–24 February 2002. This was Mongolia's tenth time participating in a Winter Olympic Games. The delegation consisted of four athletes, two cross-country skiers; Davaagiin Enkhee and Jargalyn Erdenetülkhüür, as well as two short-track speed skating competitors; Battulgyn Oktyabri and Ganbatyn Jargalanchuluun. Erdenetülkhüür placed 63rd in the men's 15 kilometre classical cross-country race; he was the only one of the four to compete in an event final.
Nepal sent a delegation to compete at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, United States from 8–24 February 2002. This was Nepal's first time participating in a Winter Olympic Games. The delegation consisted of a single cross-country skier, Jay Khadka. In the men's sprint he finished in 70th place, and in the men's 2 × 10 kilometre pursuit he finished in 79th place, and did not advance to the finals of either event.
The men's 4 × 10 kilometre relay cross-country skiing competition at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, was held on 19 February at Pragelato.
The men's 4 × 10 kilometre relay cross-country skiing competition at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada, was held on 24 February at Whistler Olympic Park at 11:15 PST.
The women's 4 x 5 kilometre relay cross-country skiing competition at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada was held on 25 February at Whistler Olympic Park at 11:15 PST.
The women's 4 × 5 kilometre relay cross-country skiing competition at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, United States, was held on 19 February at Soldier Hollow.
The Women's 15 kilometre freestyle mass start cross-country skiing competition at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, United States, was held on 9 February at Soldier Hollow.
The Women's 30 kilometre classical interval start cross-country skiing competition at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, United States, was held on 24 February at Soldier Hollow. This was the final women's event of the 2002 Olympics cross-country program.
The men's 4 × 10 kilometre relay cross-country skiing competition at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, was held on 18 February at Snow Harp.
The women's 4 × 5 kilometre relay cross-country skiing competition at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, was held on 16 February at Snow Harp.
The men's 50 kilometre cross-country skiing competition at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, was held on Sunday 19 February at Veliko Polje, Igman. It was the last event of the men's cross-country skiing programme at these games and the fourteenth appearance of the 50 kilometre race as it had appeared in every Winter games. Thomas Wassberg of Sweden was the 1982 World champion and Nikolay Zimyatov of the Soviet Union was the defending champion from the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid, United States.
The men's 50 kilometre cross-country skiing competition at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, United States, was held on Saturday 23 February at Mount Van Hoevenberg, Essex County, New York. Sven-Åke Lundbäck of Sweden was the 1978 World champion and Ivar Formo of Norway was the defending champion from the 1976 Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria.
The men's 4 × 10 km relay cross-country skiing competition at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France, took place on 18 February at Les Saisies. The race saw Norway beat Italy by 1 minute 26.7 seconds, with Finland finishing third.
The 4 × 10 kilometre relay cross-country skiing at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, United States was held on Wednesday 20 February at the Mount Van Hoevenberg. It was the tenth appearance of the 4 × 10 km relay in the Winter Olympics.
The men's 50 kilometre cross-country skiing competition at the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France, was held on Saturday 17 February at Autrans. Gjermund Eggen of Norway was the defending World champion while Sixten Jernberg of Sweden was the defending Olympic champion.
The men's 15 kilometre cross-country skiing competition at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, United States, was held on Sunday 17 February at the Mount Van Hoevenberg in Essex County, New York.
