Overview
- The Norwegian men’s team left their World Cup stop to attend the service at Lillehammer’s Nordre-Ål church and planned to return to Germany the same evening.
- The church was full for an emotional ceremony marked by a white coffin, many wreaths, photographs and long lines outside.
- A parallel memorial was held in a chapel in Ruhpolding for teammates and others who could not travel as World Cup events resume this week.
- Teammates, including Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen and Sturla Holm Lægreid, offered tributes and said Bakken will live on in their hearts.
- The family requested no live TV coverage and no press presence inside the church, and officials said the cause of death remains under investigation after his Dec. 23 discovery in a South Tyrol training camp.