Kjetil André Aamodt

Kjetil André Aamodt (born 2 September 1971) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from Norway, a champion in the Olympics, World Championships, and World Cup. He is one of the most successful alpine ski racers from Norway.

Kjetil André Aamodt
Alpine skier
Aamodt in June 2009
DisciplinesDownhill, super-G, giant slalom, slalom,
combined
ClubSK Nordstrand IF
Born (1971-09-02) 2 September 1971
Oslo, Norway
Height1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
World Cup debut22 March 1988
(age 16)
RetiredJanuary 2007 (age 35)
Websitekaaa.no
Olympics
Teams5 – (19922006)
Medals8 (4 gold)
World Championships
Teams8 – (19912005)
Medals12 (5 gold)
World Cup
Seasons16 – (1990–2003, 2005–2006)
Wins21
Podiums64
Overall titles1 – (1994)
Discipline titles3 – (1 SG, 1 GS, 1 SL)

Biography

Born in Oslo, Aamodt is the only alpine skier to win 8 Olympic medals, and has won 5 World Championship gold medals as well as 21 individual World Cup events. Described as an all-round alpine skier, Aamodt participated in all alpine skiing disciplines in the World Cup and World Championships, and is one of only five male alpine skiers to have won a World Cup race in all five disciplines.

Aamodt's combined career total of twenty World Championship and Olympic medals is an all-time best. He is the second-youngest male alpine skier to win an Olympic gold medal (age 20 in 1992; Toni Sailer was two months younger in 1956). Until 2014, he was also the oldest alpine skier to win an Olympic gold medal. For almost six years, Aamodt led the all-time Marathon World Cup ranking, with a total of 13,252 points earned from 1989 to 2006 – until 14 March 2012, when Austrian Benjamin Raich overtook him with a fifth place in the downhill at the 2012 World Cup final in Schladming to total 13,281 points, earned from 1998. Another all-time best is his 231 World Cup top-ten results, 9 ahead of Benjamin Raich.

By winning the super-G race at the 2006 Olympics, Aamodt became the first male alpine skier to win four gold medals in the Olympics. (Toni Sailer and Jean-Claude Killy both swept the three alpine events at a single Olympics, and Alberto Tomba won three gold medals over two Olympics.)

Aamodt had 19 Olympic and World Championship medals stolen from him. The medals were taken in August 2003 by burglars who broke into a safe in his father's home. The five-time world champion and winner of four Olympic gold medals later revealed they were recovered by an anonymous helper over the internet.[1]

Aamodt announced the conclusion of his career on live television on 6 January 2007, with hundreds of fellow athletes in attendance, at the Norwegian Sports Gala (Idrettsgallaen) where he had been selected as awardee of the year for 2006.[2]

Aamodt now runs a ski race camp in Gaustablikk, Norway, and does public speaking.[3]

Legacy

In February 2015 Aamodt (and Lasse Kjus) were selected as recipients of the Legends of Honor by the Vail Valley Foundation, and inducted into the International Ski Racing Hall of Fame.[4]

World Cup results

Season standings

SeasonAgeOverallSlalomGiant
slalom
Super-GDownhillCombined
199018391419
1991191720108
199220132611517
1993212511283
1994221924101
199523514419134
1996241018148447
19972526212241
199826413921122
199927244951
20002821913131
200129771610363
2002302916661
20033132314472
200432broken ankle in October 2003, out for season
20053326401428
2006348565

Season titles

1 overall, 1 super-G, 1 giant slalom, 1 slalom

SeasonDiscipline
1993Super-G
Giant slalom
1994Overall
Combined^
1997Combined^
1999Combined^
2000Slalom
Combined^
2002Combined^

^official season title in the combined discipline
was not awarded until the 2007 season

Race victories

  • 21 wins (1 downhill, 5 super-G, 6 giant slalom, 1 slalom, 8 combined)
  • 63 podiums, 231 top tens (first skier of all-time in this ranking).[5]
Aamodt at Kitzbühel in January 2000
Season Date Location Race
199215 Mar 1992Aspen, USASuper-G
199328 Nov 1992Sestriere, ItalyGiant slalom
7 Mar 1993Aspen, USASuper-G
21 Mar 1993Kvitfjell, NorwaySuper-G
23 Mar 1993Oppdal, NorwayGiant slalom
26 Mar 1993Åre, SwedenSuper-G
27 Mar 1993Giant slalom
199411 Jan 1994Hinterstoder, AustriaGiant slalom
29 Jan 1994Chamonix, FranceDownhill
30 Jan 1994Combined
19 Mar 1994Vail, USAGiant slalom
19967 Mar 1996Kvitfjell, NorwaySuper-G
199714 Jan 1997   Adelboden, Switzerland  Giant slalom
199825 Jan 1998Kitzbühel, AustriaCombined
199924 Jan 1999Kitzbühel, AustriaCombined
20009 Jan 2000Chamonix, FranceCombined
16 Jan 2000   Wengen, SwitzerlandSlalom
23 Jan 2000Kitzbühel, AustriaCombined
200213 Jan 2002   Wengen, SwitzerlandCombined
20 Jan 2002Kitzbühel, AustriaCombined
200319 Jan 2003   Wengen, SwitzerlandCombined

World Championships results

  Year   Age  Slalom  Giant 
 slalom 
Super-GDownhillCombined
199119122
19932111cancelled2
1996248113276
199725DNF26891
1999277DNF2931
2001297218DNS1
200331924523
200533142223DSQ

Olympic results

  Year   Age  Slalom  Giant 
 slalom 
Super-GDownhillCombined
199220DNF23126
199422DNF212322
199826DNF1513
20023067141
20063414DNS

References

  1. "Aamodts stjålne medaljer returnert| Nettavisen.no". Archived from the original on 9 October 2012. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
  2. "Aamodt la opp på direkten – Alpint – NRK Sport". www.nrksport.no. Retrieved 29 October 2008.
  3. Kjetil André Aamodts Rennskole
  4. "Norway's dynamic duo Aamodt and Kjus named 2015 Legends Of Honor". FIS. 5 February 2015. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
  5. "COMPETITORS HAVING MORE THAN ONE TOP 10 POSITION - ALPINE SKIING MEN". fis-ski.com. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.