Thomas Alsgaard

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.

Thomas Alsgaard
Thomas Alsgaard in April 2013
Country Norway
Full nameThomas Alsgaard
Born (1972-01-10) 10 January 1972
Lørenskog, Norway
Height1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Ski clubEidsvold Værks Skiklub
World Cup career
Seasons1993–2003
Individual wins13
Team wins12
Indiv. podiums29
Team podiums25
Indiv. starts110
Team starts31
Overall titles1 – (1998)
Discipline titles2 – (1 LD, 1 SP)

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 passion 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.[1]

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

He is also known as a sports commentator[2] for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation.

In the Norwegian Championship in January 2011, Alsgaard took a sensational bronze medal at the 15 km classical 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.[3]

Ski Classics 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 assists in coaching.[4] On 21 April 2017, Alsgaard announced that Team LeasePlan had to shut down due to sponsorship problems.[5]

Cross-country skiing results

All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).[6]

Olympic Games
  • 6 medals – (5 gold, 1 silver)
 Year   Age   10 km  15 km  Pursuit  30 km   50 km   4 × 10 km 
 relay 		  Sprint 
19942224N/ADNSGold—SilverN/A
1998265N/AGoldDNF6GoldN/A
200230N/A—Gold12—Gold—

World Championships
  • 9 medals – (6 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze)
 Year   Age   10 km  15 km  Pursuit   30 km   50 km   Sprint   4 × 10 km 
 relay 
199321—N/A——DNFN/A—
19952321N/A8—27N/AGold
19972511N/A4Bronze—N/AGold
19992714N/AGoldSilver—N/ASilver
200129N/A165——12Gold
200331N/A——Gold—41Gold

Season titles
  • 3 titles – (1 overall, long distance, 1 sprint)
Season
Discipline
1998Overall
Long Distance
Sprint

Season standings
 Season   Age 
Overall Long Distance Middle Distance Sprint
19932120N/AN/AN/A
1994227N/AN/AN/A
19952316N/AN/AN/A
1996248N/AN/AN/A
199725176N/A24
199826N/A
1999271318N/A27
200028548—
200129N/AN/A6
200230N/AN/A21
20033146N/AN/A43

Individual podiums
  • 13 victories
  • 29 podiums
No. Season Date Location Race Level Place
11993–9414 February 1994 Lillehammer, Norway30 km Individual FOlympic Games[1]1st
2 1994–95 8 January 1995 Östersund, Sweden30 km Individual FWorld Cup3rd
325 March 1995 Sapporo, Japan15 km Individual FWorld Cup3rd
4 1996–97 21 February 1997 Trondheim, Norway30 km Individual FWorld Championships[1]3rd
5 1997–98 14 December 1997 Val di Fiemme, Italy15 km Pursuit FWorld Cup2nd
616 December 1997 Val di Fiemme, Italy15 km Individual FWorld Cup2nd
720 December 1997 Davos, Switzerland30 km Individual CWorld Cup2nd
83 January 1998 Kavgolovo, Russia30 km Individual FWorld Cup2nd
98 January 1998 Ramsau, Austria15 km Individual CWorld Cup1st
1010 January 1998 Ramsau, Austria30 km Individual FWorld Cup1st
118 March 1998 Lahti, Finland30 km Individual CWorld Cup2nd
1211 March 1998 Falun, Sweden10 km Individual FWorld Cup1st
13 1998–99 19 February 1999 Ramsau, Austria30 km Individual FWorld Championships[1]2nd
1419 February 1999 Ramsau, Austria15 km Pursuit FWorld Championships[1]1st
15 1999–00 27 November 1999 Kiruna, Sweden10 km Individual CWorld Cup2nd
1611 December 1999 Sappada, Italy7.5 km + 15 km Duathlon C/FWorld Cup1st
179 January 2000 Moscow, Russia30 km Individual FWorld Cup2nd
1812 January 2000 Nové Město, Czech Republic15 km Individual CWorld Cup1st
19 2000–01 25 November 2000 Beitostølen, Norway15 km Individual CWorld Cup2nd
2029 November 2000 Beitostølen, Norway10 km Individual FWorld Cup3rd
2117 December 2000 Brusson, Italy1.0 km Sprint FWorld Cup1st
2210 February 2001 Otepää, Estonia10 km Individual CWorld Cup1st
237 March 2001 Oslo, Norway1.0 km Sprint CWorld Cup1st
24 2001–02 25 November 2001 Kuopio, Finland10 km Individual FWorld Cup3rd
255 January 2002 Val di Fiemme, Italy10 km + 10 km Duathlon C/FWorld Cup2nd
262 March 2002 Lahti, Finland15 km Individual FWorld Cup2nd
279 March 2002 Falun, Sweden10 km + 10 km Duathlon C/FWorld Cup1st
2816 March 2002 Oslo, Norway50 km Individual FWorld Cup1st
2923 March 2002 Birkebeinerrennet, Norway58 km Mass Start CWorld Cup1st

Team podiums
  • 12 victories – (12 RL)
  • 25 podiums – (24 RL, 1 TS)
No. Season Date Location Race Level Place Teammate(s)
1 1993–94 22 February 1994 Lillehammer, Norway4 × 10 km Relay C/FOlympic Games[1]2ndSivertsen / Ulvang / Dæhlie
24 March 1994 Lahti, Finland4 × 10 km Relay CWorld Cup2ndSkjeldal / Eide / E. Kristiansen
31994–9518 December 1994 Sappada, Italy4 × 10 km Relay FWorld Cup1stE. Kristiansen / Skjeldal / Dæhlie
45 February 1995 Falun, Sweden4 × 10 km Relay FWorld Cup1stSivertsen / Langli / Dæhlie
512 February 1995 Oslo, Norway4 × 5 km Relay C/FWorld Cup3rdSivertsen / Jevne / B. Kristiansen
617 March 1995 Thunder Bay, Canada4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Championships[1]1stSivertsen / Jevne / Dæhlie
726 March 1995 Sapporo, Japan4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Cup1stUlvang / Dæhlie / Skjeldal
8 1995–96 10 December 1995 Davos, Switzerland4 × 10 km Relay CWorld Cup2ndSivertsen / Jevne / Dæhlie
914 January 1996 Nové Město, Czech Republic4 × 10 km Relay CWorld Cup2ndUlvang / Jevne / Dæhlie
1026 February 1996 Trondheim, Norway4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Cup1stUlvang / Jevne / Dæhlie
111 March 1996 Lahti, Finland4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Cup3rdSkjeldal / Eide / E. Kristiansen
121996–9728 February 1997 Trondheim, Norway4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Championships[1]1stSivertsen / Jevne / Dæhlie
139 March 1997 Falun, Sweden4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Cup2ndHjelmeset / Skaanes / Sørgård
141997–9823 November 1997 Beitostølen, Norway4 × 10 km Relay CWorld Cup1stEide / Jevne / Dæhlie
156 March 1998 Lahti, Finland4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Cup2ndEstil / Sivertsen / Eide
16 1998–99 26 February 1999 Ramsau, Austria4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Championships[1]2ndBjervig / Jevne / Dæhlie
17 1999–00 28 November 1999 Kiruna, Sweden4 × 10 km Relay FWorld Cup2ndBjervig / Skjeldal / Hetland
1813 January 2000 Nové Město, Czech Republic4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Cup1stHjelmeset / Jevne / Skjeldal
192000–019 December 2000 Santa Caterina, Italy4 × 5 km Relay C/FWorld Cup1stEstil / Skjeldal / Hetland
20 2001–02 16 December 2001 Davos, Switzerland4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Cup3rdEstil / Jevne / Hetland
2110 March 2002 Falun, Sweden4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Cup1stEstil / Aukland / Skjeldal
22 2002–03 24 November 2002 Kiruna, Sweden4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Cup2ndSkjeldal / Aukland / Hetland
238 December 2002 Davos, Switzerland4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Cup1stAukland / Bjonviken / Hetland
2419 January 2003 Nové Město, Czech Republic4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Cup1stAukland / Estil / Hofstad
2526 January 2003 Oberhof, Germany10 × 1.5 km Team Sprint FWorld Cup3rdSvartedal

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.

References
  1. http://www.dagbladet.no/sport/denne-jenta-er-helt-spesiell-for-alsgaard-avslorer-motet-som-endret-alt---jeg-var-skeptisk/65297350
  2. Kirkebøen, Stein Erik (5 January 2009). "Ekspert-veldet". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). Retrieved 16 January 2009.
  3. Kvamme, Sigve (26 January 2012). "- Hvorfor var det ikke noen løpere eller trenere som spurte meg?". Dagbladet (in Norwegian). Retrieved 26 January 2012.
  4. http://www.dagbladet.no/sport/denne-jenta-er-helt-spesiell-for-alsgaard-avslorer-motet-som-endret-alt---jeg-var-skeptisk/65297350
  5. "Thomas Alsgaard legger ned Team LeasePlan" (in Norwegian). langrenn.com. 21 April 2017. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  6. "ALSGAARD Thomas". FIS-Ski. International Ski Federation. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
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