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Mar 11, 2006

"If you win, but don’t help somebody when you should have, what kind of win is that?" --Bjoernar Hakensmoen

Norwegian Sportmanship

"All of a sudden, I was kind of flapping one arm," Renner said. "The next thing I knew, there were three racers in front of me." At the 2006 Winter Olympics, Sara Renner broke her ski pole. A cross-country skier without a pole is like a hockey player without a stick, or a canoeist without a paddle. Renner had invested her life to be in this position; she had her tyroid removed after being diagnosed with Graves disease six years ago. She had pressed on, and at that moment it was all slipping away - the dream, the work, everything. She watched other skiers go past her, utterly helpless to keep up. And then something miraculous happened. A "mystery man" standing near the course handed his ski pole to Renner. That mystery man was Bjoernar Hakensmoen whose Norwegian team was knocked off the medal stand as Renner won the Silver medal. Hakensmoen sportmanship is dubbed as the defining moment of the 2006 Winter Olympics.