Heia Norge! (Go Norway!) The Norwegian athletes are taking Sotsji and the 2014 Vinter-OL by storm. So far, their chests have been adorned with 10 gullmedaljer (gold medals), 4 sølv [sell] and 8 bronse [BRONGseh]. That’s one gull more than the host nation of Russland, and with only two days left of the spectacle, it’s likely that Norway will stay ahead in skisporet [SHEEspohret] (the skiing track)…
Den norske gullfesten (the Norwegian ”gold party”) started two weeks ago, when skidronninga (”the Ski Queen”) Marit Bjørgen spurtet fra alle de andre skiløperne (spurted away from all the other skiers) in a 15 km race of Norway’s nasjonalidrett (national sport), langrenn (cross-country skiing, literally ”long run”). Another star athlete, Ole Einar Bjørndalen, didn’t disappoint either, taking førsteplassen (the first place) in the skiskyting [SHEEsheeting] (biathlon, literally ”ski-shooting”) sprint later that day. (For those of you who’re not into winter sports, biathlon is a sport where you alternate between racing on your skis and lying down in the snø – snow – to fire at a target with a special kind of gun.)
This Thursday, a lag (team) of four skiers won Norway its tenth gold medal in the vintersport known as kombinert (”combined”). In this sport, the skiers combine langrenn and skihopp (ski jump). One of gullguttene (”the gold boys”), Magnus Moan, later told Norwegian television:
– Dette er helt sinnsykt bra. Det er artig, altså! Jeg er så stolt. For en seier.
”This is totally insanely good. It’s fun, it is! I’m so proud. What a victory.”
Bjørgen, Bjørndalen and Moan are still lagging behind the Norwegian medal record in Lillehammer, 1994, when the Norwegians won a total of 26 medals on their native snow. (So far, they’ve got 22 medals in Sochi.) Nevertheless, no matter how big the final medaljefangst (medal ”capture”) turns out, for many Norwegians the main goal has already been achieved: Beating Sweden.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qy7gzM-EuEE Kristin Størmer Steira wins a heat in Sochi – and Norwegian television is cheering on her with the kind of enthusiasm you’ll only find in Norway…
