Oddvar Brå

Who is Oddvar Brå?

Oddvar Brå is a Norwegian former cross-country skier. He was among the best skiers in Norway, winner three times of World Cup winning 16 national championships, but his success in the major international championships was more modest. He participated internationally from the 1972 Winter Olympics to the 1989 Holmenkollen ski festival, but his first individual major international win was at the 1982 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Oslo, where he won the 15 km event. In the same championship, he won a shared gold medal in the relay after a dramatic finish where his ski pole broke, something which forever became a memory for most Norwegians, leading to the popular all-Norwegian expression "Hvor var du da Brå brakk staven?". Brå also won three relay medals at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships with a gold in 1982 and bronzes in 1974 and 1978. Brå additionally won two silver medals in the 4 x 10 km at the 1972 Winter Olympics and the 1980 Winter Olympics.

He also won the 15 km at the Holmenkollen ski festival in 1980 and 1982, and the 50 km in 1975, 1979, and 1981. In 1975, Brå was awarded the Holmenkollen medal.