Athlete profile: Espen Bredesen

Posted: Tue February 3, 1998 at 5:00 PM ET

Athlete notes

A better fairy tale could hardly have been scripted...with the 1994 Winter Olympics held in his home country, Bredesen soared, both figuratively and literally, to a gold medal on the normal hill and a silver on the large hill..."It was like a dream come true for me. Most of my family and friends were there -- some went to the large hill, others to the normal (hill) competition. They got tickets through Ticketmaster"...while Ticketmaster certainly profited from ski jumping mania among the Norwegian public, the Lillehammer Olympics signaled sweet revenge for the entire Norwegian ski jumping squad, and Bredesen in particular...two years earlier, the Norwegians decided to switch from the classical to the then-newly popularized V-style just one month before Albertville... Bredesen performed miserably -- last on the normal hill and 57th out of 59 on the large hill, thereby evoking memories of Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards...in fact, his critics, including the Norwegian press, decided to label Bredesen, "Espen the Eagle"...but Bredesen never lost confidence in his jumping ability -- "I never felt I was so bad like in Albertville. I felt I was a better ski jumper than that"...he was quickly forgiven after winning the large hill at the 1993 World Championships and was coronated as a hero in Norway after the two Olympic medals in Lillehammer...Bredesen admits that "More people recognize me now, but I maintain my private life. Even though everybody in Norway like ski jumping, there is not so much money involved"...his Olympic medals are displayed in a glass cabinet in his living room...to how much ski jumping is a part of Bredesen's life consider that his June 1997 marriage to wife Veibek (vee-BEH-kuh) took place at Oslo's famous Holmenkollen Ski Jump...Bredesen describes "patience" as his best attribute...his patience allowed him to overcome his failure at Albertville, and gives him hope to improve his performance this year, after suffering from three subpar seasons... "I have not made it to the top since 1994"...part of the problem was a neck injury suffered during gymnastics-style training during the summer of 1994...Bredesen was injured both physically and psychologically -- "I picked up some bad habits and bad techniques from competing with the injury. Then, I started to hold back a little bit. There is fear even if you don't want it"...according to Trond Jøran Pedersen, Norway's head ski jumping coach, the neck injury still affects Espen..."Because of the injury, he still cannot do weight training and other dynamic workouts," says Pedersen. "We are trying to have him do different things so he can keep the muscles strong"...even Bredesen admits, "I was not as well-prepared this year because of the injury. I have been a little tense in my jumping"...although Bredesen has not displayed top form in the early World Cups, Finnish team leader Matti Pulli refuses to count Bredesen out of the Nagano medal hunt..."That old fox Bredesen will do well," says Pulli. "When it is demanded, he's always been in good condition"...Bredesen began skiing at an early age, but was never into either alpine or cross-country skiing... "I loved jumping because of the speed and the height"...that may also explain why he prefers the large hill to the normal hill -- "You jump further and it (the large hill) is more exciting"...his father, who owns a small construction-type company, introduced Bredesen to ski jumping around the age of 10...his mother worked as a secretary, and he has two older sisters...Bredesen also played soccer until he was 17, but his performance in local competitions demonstrated that he was a much better ski jumper than soccer player... the extremely well-spoken Bredesen studied law until 1993 but decided to stop because the studies were interfering with his training...he now works with motivational speaking seminars...Espen and Veibek are currently rebuilding their house...Bredesen speaks English well...