Athlete profile: Lasse Kjus

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

Athlete notes

The Olympic combined champion, Kjus is a leader of the "Attacking Vikings" and he will attack the medal podium in all five events...if history holds true to form, Kjus will leave Nagano with a trio of silver medals, having placed second in three events at last year's World Championships in Sestriere, Italy...Kjus' strong performance came after a season in which he had to battle the most common of ailments -- sinusitis...he missed over one month of the season due to problems with his sinuses, but returned two weeks before the Worlds..."Of course it felt really good," recalls Kjus of his frequent trips to the Sestriere podium's second position. "It was, of course, a little bit of a surprise. Whenever I am sick, I tend to come back very strong"...he credits his ability to storm out of the gates, finishing second to now-retired compatriot Atle Skårdal in the Super G on the championships' first day, with setting the tone for the entire Events..."Maybe the first one was a little more important," says Kjus. "It gave me a little more confidence. I am most angry about the downhill. I made a stupid mistake on the way down," referring to his loss to Switzerland's Bruno Kernen by only seven-hundredths of a second...while he did not pan gold last year, Kjus was happier with his performance in Sestriere than in Lillehammer, where he won only one medal, albeit gold in the combined..."I felt I had more success when I won the three silver medals," says Kjus. "It made me feel more complete, doing well in all disciplines. But the Olympics, it was a really great experience to win. I was struggling a lot that season. The gold medal helped bring me back"...joining Kjus on the podium in Lillehammer were compatriots Kjetil Andre Aamodt and Harald Christian Strand-Nilsen -- the first sweep of an Olympic alpine Events since 1964...Kjus was welcomed home in Siggerud with a big celebration -- "Even the mayor was there," he says...Kjus had only touched the surface of his potential four years ago...he has earned six of his seven World Cup victories, spread over four disciplines, over the last two seasons...his all-around skills came to the forefront during the 1996 season, when he became the second Norwegian in three years to win the World Cup overall title; Aamodt had won it in 1994 but missed much of the '96 campaign due to a knee injury...in fact, after winning his own World Cup overall title, Aamodt, Kjus' closest friend on the team, had predicted, "Watch out for Kjus, he's just as good as I am"...the crystal globe vindicated Kjus' decision to compete as an all-around skier, unlike Switzerland's Michael von Gruenigen, Italian sensation Alberto Tomba, and retired Frenchman Luc Alphand, his top competitors that season - "I don't think you can win the World Cup by only taking part in two events," argues Kjus ...in comparing his many achievements, Kjus notes that there is something particularly special about being the best skier in the world over a full season, rather than in a certain race, regardless of its magnitude..."When you feel good is when the whole season is good," explains Kjus. "You feel complete. That season gives me really good memories but it's difficult to compare (to his gold medals)"...after having finished second eight times in his career in all four base disciplines, Kjus finally broke through to the top of the World Cup podium that season, winning a Super G in Vail...amazingly, Kjus' overall title came despite missing two weeks after suffering a severe concussion in a training crash at Kitzbühel, Austria in January 1996...it was initially believed that he would miss the remainder of the season...it comes as little surprise that Kjus has been able to bounce back from adversity throughout his illustrious career...he races with one of the most unusual afflictions plaguing any athlete...during the summer of 1991 he crashed while training downhill in Chile and dislocated his left shoulder, ripping the nerve which connects to the deltoid muscle of his left arm...doctors later determined that he had cut the nerve and completely lost the sensation of the nerve to the muscle, rendering the muscle ineffective..."It's not really there," says Kjus, who essentially skis with a paralyzed upper arm. "I can't use it. I have to use other muscles around it now. It was a long time before I could even use my arm. I had no contact with the muscles. In the beginning my arm just hung down. It took four months to work. I went through a long rehabilitation. I just had to try to work on it every day. It's not a problem any more"...in fact, lately, Kjus notes that there has been some unexpected improvement..."After one and a half years the doctor said, if you don't feel contact, the nerve will never come back," explains Kjus. "But now I am starting to feel some things sometimes"...Aamodt is amazed at what Kjus has accomplished given his affliction -- "He's maybe at 15 percent with that arm," says Aamodt...ironically, when asked how much longer he would like to compete on the World Cup, Kjus replies, "The reason most skiers quit is because they have some physical problems. If I don't have any, I would like to keep going"...Kjus and Aamodt are among a dying breed of all-around skiers..."When I came into the national team, I was a downhill skier," says Kjus, explaining how he evolved into a five-tool skier. "But I've been working hard to do slalom and giant slalom. The team tried to protect me from just doing downhill"...over the past several years of his career, he has realized that to be an effective all-around skier, he would have to work hardest at the giant slalom..."All the time I am working to find new solutions to ski better," says Kjus. "And I have found that giant slalom is the basic discipline. The turns you need in the Super G, in the downhill also. Only slalom is different. So the most important discipline to work in is the GS"...Kjus and Aamodt are roommates on the road...after Kjus won the '96 World Cup overall title, Aamodt remarked, "As we're in the same room all the time, maybe I can find a few tricks to slow Lasse down"...Kjus quickly retorted, "Maybe I should look for another roommate"...the two, notorious for being absent-minded, can often be found playing chess...they were dubbed the "Dream Team" for both their dreamy ways and their ability to win races both speed and technical -- they gained the moniker after each won medals in all five disciplines at the 1990 World Junior Championships; Kjus won the giant slalom and finished second to Aamodt in the downhill and combined..."The other guys call us the ‘Dream Team' because we dream too much," emphasizes Kjus. "But we are concentrating on the most important things and we forget shoes or the room key or we put the skis down next to the car, get in, and drive away"...their girlfriends also usually travel with them, since with both speed and technical events in which to compete, they are on the road for a longer time than their teammates...according to Kjus, his girlfriend was not a skiing aficionado until she met him -- "Until she met me, she probably skied only twice a year," he says...Kjus learned to ski on small 200-meter hills outside of Oslo..."But to race," says Kjus, "the whole family had to go on weekends to events which were three, four, five hours away by car. I have to thank my family for my success"...he has a brother and a sister...his father runs an electrical company while his mother runs a clothing store...extremely quiet by nature, Kjus takes his celebrity status in stride..."Norway is a small country," he explains. "When something happens, everyone knows about it but it doesn't give us a problem"...he frequently escapes city life by spending time at a cabin he recently purchased on an small island in Norway..."I spent one month there this summer," he says. "I like to boat. But now we (Lasse and his girlfriend) are spending a lot of time doing renovations"...he speaks English very well...