Norway

LES SAISIES, France -- Vegard Ulvang bagged his third gold medal of the Winter Olympics yesterday as Norway gave its rivals another lesson in cross country skiing.The Norwegians' victory in the men's 4x10-kilometer relay was so crushing that anchorman Bjorn Daehlie, winner of the 15K race Saturday, humiliated the rest of the field by skiing across the finish line backward and waving the Norwegian flag.It was the first time Norway had triumphed in the event since 1968 and the victory made Ulvang the first Norwegian to take three cross country golds at one Games, a fact largely due to the increased number of men's races this year.

LILLEHAMMER, Norway -- The search for the Norwegian sporting soul begins and ends 110 miles to the south on a cloud-covered hill overlooking the capital city of Oslo.There, next to a century-old red-brick hotel with a roof of spires, is a ribbon of concrete shaped like a banana, a place that is the Yankee Stadium of Norway, a ski jump called Holmenkollen.Climb inside the belly of the tower, past a ski museum that is the nation's Cooperstown, and ascend metal steps that sway slightly in the breeze and lead to a platform.

Q: Do you know of organizations that offer walks in Norway?A: Here are some examples. Generally, walking trips are offered between late June and early September. Prices are for one person based on two sharing a room and unless noted otherwise do not include air fare to Norway but do include lodging and most or all meals and transportation, usually from Oslo. The hiking is generally moderately strenuous; companies often offer varying levels of difficulty.* Above the Clouds Trekking, P.O. Box 398, Worcester, Mass.

LILLEHAMMER, Norway -- A long year became longer for American Alpine skier Julie Parisien yesterday.At one time, she was one of the world's greatest female skiers.Now, she's in limbo."It's been a bummer of a year," said Parisien, who has gone through a new coach, a death in her family and a winless World Cup tour. "Sometimes I just get tired of it all, the struggle with self doubt and confidence. But I've got to fight, I've got to carry on."Parisien, 22, from Sugarloaf, Maine, missed Gate No. 31 on the 2,418-meter combined downhill course, causing her to forfeit a spot in the combined slalom race today.

MOSCOW -- Two Russian diplomats flew home from Norway yesterday after they were expelled for allegedly trying to buy Norwegian government secrets and spying on the NATO member.In a holdover from the Cold War era, a Norwegian official disclosed last week that he had worked as a double agent since 1994, feeding the Russians false documents and information after they tried to recruit him as a spy.Demonstrating its anger over the incident, Norway canceled a visit to Moscow by its prime minister, Kjell Magne Bondevik, that had been scheduled to start tomorrow.

LILLEHAMMER, Norway -- I have located Norway. It turns out to be right next to, but different from, Sweden. Also I'm pretty sure that Finland is around here someplace.Getting here was not easy. My flight from New York to Oslo sat on the ground at Kennedy airport for three and a half hours while the pilot came up with a series of increasingly lame excuses for the delay: He was waiting for connecting passengers; the dog ate his flight plan; vandals had stolen the landing gear; etc.I believe that the pilot was actually stalling because he didn't know for sure where Norway was. I bet that, between announcements, he and his flight crew were frantically thumbing through volume "N" of the World Book Encyclopedia, looking for the Norway section.

LES SAISIES, France -- Bjorn Dahlie learned from his mistakes.In the past, the Norwegian cross country skier has burned out after starting too quickly in the grueling 50-kilometer event. He adjusted his strategy yesterday and came home with a gold medal, capping a Norwegian sweep of the men's Nordic events."I decided to save my strength to the end and start slower than usual," said Dahlie, whose best previous 50K finish was fourth in last year's World Championships. It was Dahlie's third gold in the Albertville Games; he also won a silver.

WASHINGTON -- Score it Efficiency 2, Elegance 0 in Group E of the 15th World Cup.Italy and Mexico are the stylish, short-passing sides in what is generally agreed to be the strongest of the tournament's six four-team groups. Ireland and Norway are cast as less-skilled practitioners of the global art, but they're the ones sitting atop the "Group of Death" after their opening games.Norway's 1-0 defeat of Mexico kicked off the World Cup at steaming RFK Stadium yesterday, and the impact was felt 250 miles away at the Italians' training camp in New Jersey.

Bergen, Norway--Composer Edvard Grieg never missed an opportunity to visit Norway's extraordinary fiord country."I have never experienced anything like it," he wrote after one summer visit to the Hardanger fiord. "The surroundings seemed to come from a fairy tale world."Indeed, Norway's fiordscapes are so spectacular that they seem to mesmerize visitors. Tourists stand transfixed on chilly ferry decks or atop icy mountains, simply gazing upon these happy meetings of land and water.What they see are long, sinuous channels of water winding between rock walls so steep that not even grass will grow on their faces.

Riborg Hjordis Steger, who as a member of the Norwegian Underground helped smuggle Jewish refugees from war-torn Europe, died of heart failure Wednesday at her Hamilton home. She was 90. Born Riborg H. Brodahl, she was raised in Trondheim, Norway, and earned a degree in interior design and engineering from a Norwegian college. During World War II, she joined the underground movement that resisted her country's Nazi occupiers. "She lived in Oslo during the war and helped Jews who had to escape from Europe get into Sweden.