In Sochi, biathlete Ole Einar Bjørndalen will compete in his sixth – and probably last – Winter Olympics. While that would tie the current record for participations, it will likely be broken in Sochi by two competitors. Bjørndalen may still break another record: that for most Winter Olympic events started in. He has currently had 21 starts (20 in biathlon, 1 in cross-country skiing) and can break the Olympic record of 25 by competing in all five men’s biathlon events in Sochi. Given his results this season, this is quite likely to happen. Other athletes who competed in Vancouver and have earned 21 starts, Oksana Yatskaya and Ilmārs Bricis are not expected to start in Sochi, although Yatskaya has been active this season.

The current record is held by a not-so-famous athlete, although she became Olympic champion in 2002. Cross country skier Gabriella Paruzzi (Italy) has competed in five Olympic events at five Olympic Games, 1992 through 2006. At each of these Games, she won a medal. She won four bronzes with the Italian relay team, and an individual gold. That came in the 2002 30 km race, although she was only awarded the medal almost two years later, as Larisa Lazutina was finally scratched from the record books due to an out-of-competition doping violation. Paruzzi’s teammate and contemporary, Stefania Belmondo is second on the list of most events started in, with 22. She was more successful than her compatriot though, earning 10 medals including two golds (and a silver behind Paruzzi in the 2002 30 km).

Looking at the top ten of most Winter Olympic starts, it is not a surprise there are a lot of cross-country skiers there. The sport has had a large number of events for many years, allowing competitors with long careers to make many starts. Biathlon, which has grown from three to five events per Olympics, is now allowing the same. Speed skating also has six events, but as we have seen starters in all Olympic speed skating events have become rare in recent years. The top 10 of most Olympic starts is:

[table]

#,Athlete,Country,Sport,Years,Starts

1,Gabriella Paruzzi,ITA,cross country skiing,1992-2006,25

2,Stefania Belmondo,ITA,cross country skiing,1988-2002,22

3,Oksana Yatskaya,KAZ,cross country skiing,1998-2010,21
3,Harri Kirvesniemi,FIN,cross country skiing,1980-1998,21
3,Ole Einar Bjørndalen,NOR,biathlon & cross country skiing,1994-2010,21
3,Ilmārs Bricis,LAT,biathlon,1992-2010,21
7,Kjetil André Aamodt,NOR,alpine skiing,1992-2006,20
7,Kateřina Neumannová,CZE,cross country skiing,1992-2006,20
7,Emese Nemeth-Hunyady,HUN&AUT,speed skating,1984-2002,20
10,Hiroyuki Imai,JPN,cross country skiing,1992-2002),19
10,Marja-Liisa Kirvesniemi-Hämäläinen,FIN,cross country skiing,1976-1994),19
10,Manuela Di Centa,ITA,cross country skiing,1984-1998),19
10,Sergey Chepikov,URS&EUN&RUS,biathlon & cross country skiing,1988-2006),19[/table]

It should be pointed out that Kateřina Neumannová also competed in the 1996 Summer Olympics in mountainbiking, realizing an additional, 21st, start. The married couple of Harri and Marja-Liisa Kirvesniemi take the pairs title for Winter Olympic starts, with a combined total of 40.