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
Seasons11 – (1993–2003)
Individual wins13
Team wins12
Indiv. podiums29
Team podiums25
Indiv. starts110
Team starts31
Overall titles1 – (1998)
Discipline titles2 – (1 LD, 1 SP)
Medal record
Men's cross-country skiing
Representing  Norway
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 5 1 0
World Championships 6 2 1
Total 11 3 1
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place1994 Lillehammer30 km freestyle
Gold medal – first place1998 Nagano4 × 10 km relay
Gold medal – first place1998 Nagano10 km + 15 km
combined pursuit
Gold medal – first place2002 Salt Lake City10 km + 10 km
combined pursuit
Gold medal – first place2002 Salt Lake City4 × 10 km relay
Silver medal – second place1994 Lillehammer4 × 10 km relay
World Championships
Gold medal – first place1995 Thunder Bay4 × 10 km relay
Gold medal – first place1997 Trondheim4 × 10 km relay
Gold medal – first place1999 Ramsau10 km + 15 km
combined pursuit
Gold medal – first place2001 Lahti4 × 10 km relay
Gold medal – first place2003 Val di Fiemme30 km classical
Gold medal – first place2003 Val di Fiemme4 × 10 km relay
Silver medal – second place1999 Ramsau30 km freestyle
Silver medal – second place1999 Ramsau4 × 10 km relay
Bronze medal – third place1997 Trondheim30 km freestyle
Junior World Championships
Gold medal – first place1991 Reit im Winkl10 km classical
Gold medal – first place1991 Reit im Winkl30 km freestyle
Gold medal – first place1991 Reit im Winkl4 × 10 km relay
Silver medal – second place1992 Vuokatti10 km classical

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. Excluding his World Championships debut in 1993, Alsgaard won at least one gold medal at every Olympic Games and World Championships that he participated from 1994 to 2003. 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 
19942224—DNSGold—Silver—
1998265—GoldDNF6Gold—
200230——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————DNF——
19952321—8—27—Gold
19972511—4Bronze——Gold
19992714—GoldSilver——Silver
200129—165——12Gold
200331———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
19932120———
1994227———
19952316———
1996248———
199725176—24
1998261st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)—1st place, gold medalist(s)
1999271318—27
200028548—
2001293rd place, bronze medalist(s)——6
2002302nd place, silver medalist(s)——21
20033146——43

Individual podiums
  • 13 victories
  • 29 podiums
No. Season Date Location Race Level Place
11993–9414 February 1994Norway Lillehammer, Norway30 km Individual FOlympic Games[1]1st
2 1994–95 8 January 1995Sweden Östersund, Sweden30 km Individual FWorld Cup3rd
325 March 1995Japan Sapporo, Japan15 km Individual FWorld Cup3rd
4 1996–97 21 February 1997Norway Trondheim, Norway30 km Individual FWorld Championships[1]3rd
5 1997–98 14 December 1997Italy Val di Fiemme, Italy15 km Pursuit FWorld Cup2nd
616 December 199715 km Individual FWorld Cup2nd
720 December 1997Switzerland Davos, Switzerland30 km Individual CWorld Cup2nd
83 January 1998Russia Kavgolovo, Russia30 km Individual FWorld Cup2nd
98 January 1998Austria Ramsau, Austria15 km Individual CWorld Cup1st
1010 January 199830 km Individual FWorld Cup1st
118 March 1998Finland Lahti, Finland30 km Individual CWorld Cup2nd
1211 March 1998Sweden Falun, Sweden10 km Individual FWorld Cup1st
13 1998–99 19 February 1999Austria Ramsau, Austria30 km Individual FWorld Championships[1]2nd
1419 February 199915 km Pursuit FWorld Championships[1]1st
15 1999–00 27 November 1999Sweden Kiruna, Sweden10 km Individual CWorld Cup2nd
1611 December 1999Italy Sappada, Italy7.5 km + 15 km Duathlon C/FWorld Cup1st
179 January 2000Russia Moscow, Russia30 km Individual FWorld Cup2nd
1812 January 2000Czech Republic Nové Město, Czech Republic15 km Individual CWorld Cup1st
19 2000–01 25 November 2000Norway Beitostølen, Norway15 km Individual CWorld Cup2nd
2029 November 200010 km Individual FWorld Cup3rd
2117 December 2000Italy Brusson, Italy1.0 km Sprint FWorld Cup1st
2210 February 2001Estonia Otepää, Estonia10 km Individual CWorld Cup1st
237 March 2001Norway Oslo, Norway1.0 km Sprint CWorld Cup1st
24 2001–02 25 November 2001Finland Kuopio, Finland10 km Individual FWorld Cup3rd
255 January 2002Italy Val di Fiemme, Italy10 km + 10 km Duathlon C/FWorld Cup2nd
262 March 2002Finland Lahti, Finland15 km Individual FWorld Cup2nd
279 March 2002Sweden Falun, Sweden10 km + 10 km Duathlon C/FWorld Cup1st
2816 March 2002Norway Oslo, Norway50 km Individual FWorld Cup1st
2923 March 2002Norway 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 1994Norway Lillehammer, Norway4 × 10 km Relay C/FOlympic Games[1]2ndSivertsen / Ulvang / Dæhlie
24 March 1994Finland Lahti, Finland4 × 10 km Relay CWorld Cup2ndSkjeldal / Eide / E. Kristiansen
31994–9518 December 1994Italy Sappada, Italy4 × 10 km Relay FWorld Cup1stE. Kristiansen / Skjeldal / Dæhlie
45 February 1995Sweden Falun, Sweden4 × 10 km Relay FWorld Cup1stSivertsen / Langli / Dæhlie
512 February 1995Norway Oslo, Norway4 × 5 km Relay C/FWorld Cup3rdSivertsen / Jevne / B. Kristiansen
617 March 1995Canada Thunder Bay, Canada4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Championships[1]1stSivertsen / Jevne / Dæhlie
726 March 1995Japan Sapporo, Japan4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Cup1stUlvang / Dæhlie / Skjeldal
8 1995–96 10 December 1995Switzerland Davos, Switzerland4 × 10 km Relay CWorld Cup2ndSivertsen / Jevne / Dæhlie
914 January 1996Czech Republic Nové Město, Czech Republic4 × 10 km Relay CWorld Cup2ndUlvang / Jevne / Dæhlie
1026 February 1996Norway Trondheim, Norway4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Cup1stUlvang / Jevne / Dæhlie
111 March 1996Finland Lahti, Finland4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Cup3rdSkjeldal / Eide / E. Kristiansen
121996–9728 February 1997Norway Trondheim, Norway4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Championships[1]1stSivertsen / Jevne / Dæhlie
139 March 1997Sweden Falun, Sweden4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Cup2ndHjelmeset / Skaanes / Sørgård
141997–9823 November 1997Norway Beitostølen, Norway4 × 10 km Relay CWorld Cup1stEide / Jevne / Dæhlie
156 March 1998Finland Lahti, Finland4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Cup2ndEstil / Sivertsen / Eide
16 1998–99 26 February 1999Austria Ramsau, Austria4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Championships[1]2ndBjervig / Jevne / Dæhlie
17 1999–00 28 November 1999Sweden Kiruna, Sweden4 × 10 km Relay FWorld Cup2ndBjervig / Skjeldal / Hetland
1813 January 2000Czech Republic Nové Město, Czech Republic4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Cup1stHjelmeset / Jevne / Skjeldal
192000–019 December 2000Italy Santa Caterina, Italy4 × 5 km Relay C/FWorld Cup1stEstil / Skjeldal / Hetland
20 2001–02 16 December 2001Switzerland Davos, Switzerland4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Cup3rdEstil / Jevne / Hetland
2110 March 2002Sweden Falun, Sweden4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Cup1stEstil / Aukland / Skjeldal
22 2002–03 24 November 2002Sweden Kiruna, Sweden4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Cup2ndSkjeldal / Aukland / Hetland
238 December 2002Switzerland Davos, Switzerland4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Cup1stAukland / Bjonviken / Hetland
2419 January 2003Czech Republic Nové Město, Czech Republic4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Cup1stAukland / Estil / Hofstad
2526 January 2003Germany 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.

See also

References
  1. "Thomas Alsgaard og Lina Korsgren - Denne jenta er helt spesiell for Alsgaard. Avslører møtet som endret alt: - Jeg var skeptisk".
  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. "Thomas Alsgaard og Lina Korsgren - Denne jenta er helt spesiell for Alsgaard. Avslører møtet som endret alt: - Jeg var skeptisk".
  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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