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TALKING: Sindri Jakobsson talks about the fateful minutes in Room 227 in Flagstaff in 2012. Photo: PRIVATE
Sindri Thor Jakobsson (28) tells on the VG podcast “Ekstraomgang” how it bothers him that his roommate Alexander Dale Oen (1985-2012) could have been saved from death before the London Olympics.
Along with Sverre Næss, he shared a room with the world champion when they were at a high altitude camp in American Flagstaff, Arizona, before the 2012 Olympics.
It was the two roommates who found Dale Oen. Jakobsson says on the podcast:
– We sat and talked for a long time in the room about everything possible between heaven and earth. We had a nice conversation with Alex. We were going to eat and Alex was going to take a shower, like a system man.
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– Sverre and I sat and waited for Alex, and then I remember asking him “Hasn’t Alex showered in a long time?” We worry more and more. We turned the light on and off in the bathroom, without any reaction, we yelled, but still without reaction.
ROOM 227: Alexander Dale Oen, Sverre Næss and Sindri Jakobsson stayed in this room at the Embassy Suites Hotel in April 2012. Photo: Lars Joakim Skarvøy
Sindri Thor Jakobsson tells how Sverre Næss used a knife he had bought to open the lock.
– There we found Alex unconscious. Sverre tried to wake him up, while I ran for a doctor and trainers. It was a shock and disbelief. I am not a very religious person, but I took it upon myself to pray to God that everything would go well.
Here you can listen to the full episode of the podcast (as well as on Spotify and Apple Podcasts):
Alexander Dale Oen had played a round of golf earlier that day with another colleague from the national team, Aleksander Hetland, later known as the “Skal vi danse” winner.
– We had a good day at the golf course, but it was a bit cold, despite the good weather, because it was a bit windy. We said “see you at dinner” when we said goodbye.
Hetland describes how the entire national team sat together after they found Dale Oen.
THE HOTEL: Alexander Dale Oen died here. On the VG Ekstraomgang podcast, national team manager Petter Løvberg, Dale Oen’s teammates Sindri Jakobsson and Alexander Hetland, and his brother Robin Dale Oen discuss the tragic day. Photo: Thomas Nilsson
– Although we basically knew that the race had been run, we told ourselves that “this should go well”.
After being informed that Alexander Dale Oen was dead, Hetland walked down the hotel corridor, was in his own thoughts and looked down.
– A cleaning assistant asked me how I was doing. There and then I collapsed, fell to the ground and began to cry. There and then it hit me “like a ton of bricks,” describes Aleksander Hetland.
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Sindri Thor Jakobsson describes on the podcast how what happened has followed him in hindsight.
– It is a question that bothers me a lot, that has occurred to me. I don’t know if I’ll ever walk away from that question and those thoughts; If we had reacted earlier, could Alex have survived?
BACK: Alexander Dale Oen passed away in 2012. Photograph: CHRISTINNE MUSCHI / X01320
