Norwegian cross-country skierOlympic Games1994:Lillehammer30:km:freestyle1998:Nagano4:×:10:km:relay1998:Nagano10:km:+:15:km
combined:pursuit2002 Salt Lake City10:km:+:10:km
combined:pursuit2002:Salt:Lake:City4:×:10:km:relay1994:Lillehammer4:×:10:km:relayWorld Championships1995:Thunder:Bay4:×:10:km:relay1997:Trondheim4:×:10:km:relay1999:Ramsau10:km:+:15:km
combined:pursuit2001:Lahti4:×:10:km:relay2003:Val:di:Fiemme30:km:cl*ical2003:Val:di:Fiemme4:×:10:km:relay1999:Ramsau30:km:freestyle1999:Ramsau4:×:10:km:relay1997:Trondheim30:km:freestyleJunior World Championships1991:Reit:im:Winkl10:km:cl*ical1991:Reit:im:Winkl30:km:freestyle1991:Reit:im:Winkl4:×:10:km:relay1992:Vuokatti10:km:cl*ical

Thomas Alsgaard (born 10 January 1972) is a Norwegian former professional cross-country skier. Alsgaard is regarded by many as the best performer of the freestyle technique (skating) in cross-country skiing and many of today's best skiers have studied his technique. In total, Alsgaard won 15 medals in the Winter Olympics and FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, making him one of the most successful skiers of all time.

Contents

• 1 Early life
• 2 Athletic career
• 3 After his career as a professional skier
• 4 Ski Cl*ics team owner
• 5 Cross-country skiing results
  • 5.1 Olympic Games
  • 5.2 World Championships
  • 5.3 World Cup
    • 5.3.1 Season *les
    • 5.3.2 Season standings
    • 5.3.3 Individual podiums
    • 5.3.4 Team podiums
• 6 Equipment
• 7 See also
• 8 References

Early life

Born in Flateby, Enebakk, Alsgaard began cross-country ski racing at the age of three. That was when he was entered into a race against many 5-year-olds. He beat all of them. A year later, it was rumored that he was lost in the village the family lived in. In fact, he was found at the local ski area, just about to start his third time around a 9-kilometer loop. Alsgaard says that his p*ion for skiing comes from liking to be outdoors.

Athletic career

Alsgaard got his international breakthrough in the Lillehammer 1994 Winter Olympics winning the 30 kilometre freestyle event. In total, Alsgaard won 15 medals in the Winter Olympics and FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, making him one of the most successful skiers of all time. Alsgaard won at least one gold medal at every Olympic Games and World Championships that he participated. Alsgaard retired from racing after the 2003 World Championships.

He won the Holmenkollen medal in 2001 (shared with Adam Małysz and Bente Skari).

After his career as a professional skier

Alsgaard retired from racing in 2003. Between 2013 and 2017 he was the owner and manager of a ski team, Team LeasePlan.

He now works as a technical advisor for Alpina Sports, working in the Nordic boot department.

He is also known as a sports commentator for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation.

In the Norwegian Championship in January 2011, Alsgaard took a sensational bronze medal at the 15:km cl*ical individual race, defeating many skiers on the Norwegian World Cup team. He was only beaten by Eldar Rønning (gold) and Martin Johnsrud Sundby (silver). He repeated the feat in 2012, expressing frustration with the lack of aggressiveness and initiative in both the younger elite athletes and the team surrounding them.

Ski Cl*ics team owner

As of December 2016 the team consists of four "allround" skiers and six skiers with langløp (or long races) as their specialty; Swede Lina Korsgren is the team's only female (as of 2016); Hans Kristian Stadheim *ists in coaching. On 21 April 2017, Alsgaard announced that Team LeasePlan had to shut down due to sponsorship problems.

Cross-country skiing results

All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).

Olympic Games

• 6 medals – (5 gold, 1 silver)

World Championships

• 9 medals – (6 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze)

World Cup

Season *les

• 3 *les:– (1 overall, long distance, 1 sprint)

Season standings

Individual podiums

• 13 victories
• 29 podiums

Team podiums

• 12 victories – (12 RL)
• 25 podiums – (24 RL, 1 TS)

Note: 1 Until the 1999 World Championships and the 1994 Olympics, World Championship and Olympic races were included in the World Cup scoring system.

Equipment

Alsgaard used skis from Madshus, one of Alpina's partners, with Alpina boots and Rottefella bindings.

See also

• List of multiple Olympic gold medalists

References

• Thomas Alsgaard at the International Ski Federation
• Holmenkollen medalists – click Holmenkollmedaljen for downloadable pdf file (in Norwegian)
• Holmenkollen winners since 1892 – click Vinnere for downloadable pdf file (in Norwegian)