Bjørn Dæhlie was tired even before the start of the five-thousander at the Nagano Olympics in 1998.

He had won two golds and a silver in Nagano, but at five thousand he was dropped before the start.

Alsgaard was the name everyone was talking about ahead of the race, making a big impression by catching Bjørn Dæhlie by 23.6 seconds in the 15km chase start.

For Dæhlie, no one believes in success, he himself clearly states that he just wants to finish it.

Caught again

Dæhlie started the race in third position, and was quickly overtaken by Austrian Christian Hoffmann starting behind.

Pulled forward by Hoffmann, the two then overtook Sweden’s Niklas Jonsson in second place.

The three of them walked together for a long time and eventually it became clear that the three of them would share the medals between them.

Dæhlie is gone

After about three miles, Hoffmann had to let go of the two Scandinavians and Dæhlie took over the pulling job.

Over 40 kilometers to go, Jonsson took the lead, but Dæhlie stuck to his back ski.

Everyone could see that the Norwegian was clearly more tired than the Swede, but Dæhlie refused to let go until less than two kilometers remained.

In the last two kilometers, Dæhlie rode on pure will and lost more than a second per 100 meters to the Swede.

As Dæhlie battled the final metres towards goal, a drained Niklas Johnson watched the race against time.

The most tired since Pheidippides

Not since Pheidippides shouted “We have won” and died after the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC has anyone fainted like Dæhlie when he crossed the finish line in Nagano.

Unlike Pheidippides, Dæhlie was still alive, and he managed to lift his head and see that he had beaten Jonsson by 8.1 seconds before passing out again.

The former Winter Olympian lay there for a few minutes, before he finally got a blanket and stood up.

The race was Bjørn Dæhlie’s final Olympic race, as injuries forced him to retire in the summer of 2000.