Anne Jahren came from practically nowhere in 1981, when at age 17 she won gold in the 5 km cross-country skiing and relay at the Junior World Nordic Ski Championships. Next year she was once again a member of the winning Norwegian relay team, although she placed only eighth in the 5K event, unable to defend her title. She was selected for the 1982 Senior World Championships in Oslo, but was only a non-starting substitute. In 1983 she won her first national senior title at 10 km, a title she defended in 1985 and 1987. She also won the 5 km in 1985 and the relay for her club Bærum Skiklubb in 1987. She was also an excellent runner, winning a silver medal at 10 km at the 1984 Norwegian championships in cross-country. At the age of 17 she ran 1,500 m in 4:30 in a track race.
At the 1984 Winter Olympics Jahren skied the second leg for the victorious Norwegian relay team, and also placed third in the 20 km. She won four more relay medals for Norway: silver at the 1985 and 1987 World Championships and the 1988 Winter Olympics, and bronze at the 1989 World Championships. Her greatest individual moment came at the 1987 World Championships, when she won the 10 km classical style after a very close battle with Finland’s Marjo Matikainen, the victory margin only 0.8 seconds. Jahren was a specialist in the classical style and had problems with the new skating technique. After the 1990 season she competed only in some long-distance races, winning the women’s division at the 1992 Birkebeiner race. Jahren later settled in Oslo where she worked as a physiotherapist.
Norway