Lillehammer (Norwegian pronunciation: [ˈlɪləˈhɑmər] (listen)) is a town and municipality in Oppland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. As of May 2011, the population of the town of Lillehammer was 26,639 . The city centre is a late 19th century concentration of wooden houses, which enjoys a picturesque location overlooking the northern part of lake Mjøsa and the river Lågen, surrounded by mountains. Lillehammer hosted the 1994 Winter Olympics and will host the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics.
The municipality is named for the old timur (Old Norse: Hamarr, "rocky hill") farm, since the first church was built there. To distinguish it from the nearby town and bishopric of Hamar, it began to be called "little Hamar": Lilþlæ Hamar and Litlihamarr and finally Lillehammer.
It is also mentioned in the Old Norse sagas as Litlikaupangr ("Little Trading Place").
The coat-of-arms was granted in 1898. The arms show a birkebeiner, carrying a spear and a shield, who is skiing down a mountainside. It symbolizes the historical importance of when the Birkebeiners carried the to-be-King Haakon from Lillehammer to Rena on skis.
Kate Gulbrandsen (born 6 August 1965, Slemmestad) is a Norwegian singer. In 1986 she represented Norway at the Yamaha Song Festival in Tokyo with the song "Carnival". She won the Norwegian national final Melodi Grand Prix 1987 in a very close regional vote, giving her the opportunity to compete for Norway at the Eurovision Song Contest 1987 with the song "Mitt liv" (My Life), written by Rolf Løvland and Hanne Krogh. There, in Brussels, she came a respectable ninth.
Kate tried to represent Norway again in 1989, singing "Nærhet" (Closeness) at the Melodi Grand Prix, although was unplaced. The song was rerecorded by Gulbrandsen in 1991, with a slightly different arrangement.
Her version of Jørn Hansen's "Med gullet for øyet" was the official song of the 1998 Winter Paralympics in Nagano, Japan.
In 2004, after more than ten years away from the Norwegian popular music scene, Kate made a musical comeback in country style with two new tracks reaching Norsktoppen, Norway's main pop chart. These included a new version of the Dolly Parton hit "Jolene", which was included on her 2005 album release "Vi to" (We Two). Kate's "Jolene" spent 11 weeks in Norsktoppen, and was cited as the 8th most popular song of Norsktoppen in 2004.
Bonnie Kathleen Blair (born March 18, 1964 in Cornwall, New York) is a retired American speedskater. She is one of the top skaters of her time, and one of the most decorated athletes in Olympic history. Blair competed for the United States in four Olympics, and in her Olympic career won five gold medals and one bronze medal.
Blair was raised in Champaign, Illinois. She attended Jefferson Middle School. After graduation from Centennial High School in Champaign, she moved to the Milwaukee area to train with the United States national speed skating team.
Blair appeared at her first Olympic games in Sarajevo in 1984. She failed to medal but finished eighth in the 500 meters. At the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta, Blair won gold in the 500 meters and bronze in the 1000 meters. In the 500 meters race, Blair set a world record by completing the event in 39.10 seconds. She won both the 500 and 1000 meters (1:21.90) again at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France.
Blair took advantage of a change of Olympic rules. In 1986, the International Olympic Committee voted to stage the Winter Olympics and Summer Olympics in alternating four year cycles. Thus, the next Winter Games would be held in February 1994 rather than in February 1996. The 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, were a coronation of sorts for Blair: She again won gold in the 500 meters (39.25) and 1000 (1:18.74) meters races, in dominating fashion. Blair finished 0.36 seconds ahead of the second best time in the 500 meters, and her 1.38 second margin in the 1000 meters race is the largest margin of victory in the history of the event. In the process she became the first American woman to win five gold medals. She also was the only American to have 6 medals at any Winter olympics, which record stood until Apolo Ohno tied it and then surpassed it at the 2010 Winter Olympics when he won a silver and two bronze medals in short track speed skating for eight career medals.
Piotr Żyła (born January 16, 1987 in Cieszyn) is a Polish ski jumper who has competed since 2004. At the 2007 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Sapporo, he finished fifth in the team large hill and 35th in the individual large hill events.
Żyła's best individual World Cup finish was 19th in an individual large hill event in Germany in 2007.
His only individual victory was at a Continental Cup event in the individual normal hill event in Austria in 2006.