Johann Olav Koss

Personal information

Born

29 October 1968 (age 48)
Drammen, Norway

Height

1.89 m (6 ft 2 ¹⁄₂ in)

Sport

Country

Norway

Sport

Speed skating

Turned pro

1986

Retired

1994

Achievements and titles

Personal best(s)

500 m: 37.98 (1994)
1000 m: 1:14.9 (1993)
1500 m: 1:51.29 (1994)
3000 m: 3:57.52 (1990)
5000 m: 6:34.96 (1994)
10 000 m: 13:30.55 (1994)

Medal record

Men's speed skating
Representing Norway
Winter Olympics
	1992 Albertville	1,500 m
	1994 Lillehammer	1,500 m
	1994 Lillehammer	5,000 m
	1994 Lillehammer	10,000 m
	1992 Albertville	10,000 m

Johann Olav Koss, CM (born 29 October 1968) is a former speed skater from Norway. He won four Olympic gold medals, including three at the 1994 Winter Olympics in his home country. He resides in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Johann Olav Koss was born in Drammen, Buskerud County, Norway. Johann Olav Koss became the Norwegian Junior Champion in 1987, but he could not compete with the world top skaters in the 1986 and 1987 World Junior Championships. In 1988, he debuted with the seniors at the World Championships in Alma-Ata, but failed to qualify for the final distance. The following year, he finished eighth in the same tournament (after a fifteenth place in the European Allround Championships), placing second on the 1,500 m. His breakthrough came in 1990, winning the World Allround Championships in Innsbruck, Austria. The following four years, he would win two more world titles (1991 and 1994), while finishing second in 1993 and third in 1992. He won the European Allround Championships in 1991 and finished second in the next three editions. Koss had a total of twenty-three World Cup wins, while winning four overall World Cup titles (the 1,500 m in 1990 and 1991, and the combined 5,000/10,000 m in 1991 and 1994).

Koss made his Olympic debut at the 1992 Winter Olympics, finishing seventh on the 5,000 m, five days after undergoing surgery because of an inflamed pancreas. He would recover to win gold on the 1,500 m (by only 0.04 seconds over his countryman Ådne Søndrål) and silver on the 10,000 m (behind Dutch skater Bart Veldkamp).

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