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By the time of the Lillehammer
Games, Dan Jansen had won seven
overall World Cup titles and set
seven world records. However at the
Olympics he had experienced nothing
but disappointment. After finishing
fourth at 500m in 1984, Jansen was
one of the favorites in 1988. But on
the morning of the 500m, his sister
died of leukemia. Jansen tried to
race anyway, but fell. He fell again
in the 1,000m. In 1992 he was again
a favorite, but could do no better
than fourth in the 500 and 26th in
the 1,000. In Lillehammer, Jansen
was the overwhelming favorite at
500m, but he slipped and finished
eighth. Despite his great
non-Olympic success, Jansen had
never won an Olympic medal despite
competing in seven races over a
ten-year period. His last chance was
the 1,000m, a distance at which six
of his opponents had better times.
Jansen was on world record pace when
he slipped during the penultimate
turn. Fortunately, he steadied
himself and powered on to set a
world record (1:12.43) and win a
gold medal at last.
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