Norwegian · Drammen, Norway · Born 29 October 1968Norwegian speed skater who won three world-record gold medals at his home Olympics in 1994 before retiring to become a physician and found Right To Play, a global humanitarian organization.
Johann Olav Koss was born on 29 October 1968 in Drammen, Norway, and became the country's junior champion in 1987 before breaking through as a senior at the 1990 World Allround Championships, which he successfully defended in 1991 while setting world records at four distances. At the 1992 Albertville Olympics, he won gold in the 1,500 meters and silver in the 10,000 meters, competing just days after surgery for an inflamed pancreas. Koss's defining moment came at the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics, held in his home country in what would be his final competitive season. He won all three of his events - the 1,500m, 5,000m, and 10,000m - each in a new world record, with his 10,000m mark improving his own previous record by nearly 13 seconds and winning by the second-largest margin in Olympic history. The Dutch speed skating team presented him with a golden butterfly, an honor typically reserved for Dutch gold medalists, in a gesture of respect. He was named Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year alongside Bonnie Blair for his performance. Koss retired from competition immediately after Lillehammer to train as a physician at the University of Queensland in Australia. In 2000 he founded Right To Play, a Toronto-based international humanitarian organization using sport and play to support children's development in disadvantaged regions worldwide, building on his earlier work as an Olympic Aid ambassador to Eritrea. He served on the IOC Athletes' Commission and the founding executive board of the World Anti-Doping Agency, and was made an Honorary Member of the Order of Canada in 2015. A 2012 documentary raised questions about his connections to a physician later linked to systemic doping in other sports, which Koss has firmly denied, maintaining the visits were for legitimate physiological testing.
Winning all three of his events in world-record time at the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics before retiring to found the global humanitarian organization Right To Play
How They Played
Powerful distance specialist known for exceptional pacing and closing speed across the 1,500m, 5,000m, and 10,000m events
Lasting Impact
Remembered as much for his humanitarian work as his athletic dominance, having used his Olympic platform to build one of the most significant sport-for-development organizations in the world
Career Honours
- 4x Olympic Gold Medalist (1992, 1994x3)
- Won all 3 events at Lillehammer 1994, each in world record time
- Founder of Right To Play international humanitarian organization
- Honorary Member of the Order of Canada (2015)
Norwegian Athletes