Petter Northug

Petter Northug Jr. (born 6 January 1986) is a Norwegian former cross-country skier and double Olympic champion.

He won a total of 13 World Championship and two Winter Olympic gold medals with 20 medals overall (two gold, one silver and one bronze at the Olympics, 13 gold and three silver at the World Ski Championships), and 18 individual FIS Cross-Country World Cup wins with 13 podium places.

He is also the record holder for most stage wins (13) in Tour de Ski.

His first two gold medals came in 2004/05 in the pursuit and the 10 km freestyle in Rovaniemi, then in 2005/06 in Kranj he won gold in the 10 km classic, the pursuit, the sprint, and the relay.

He also has two silver medals (one in the sprint, and one in the relay, both in 2004/05).

His victories made him the first athlete ever to win five individual gold medals at the FIS Junior Nordic World Ski Championships.

During his Scandinavian Cup career (2004/05 & 2005/06) he had seven podium finishes, he came second once in 2004/05, and in 2005/06 he scored four victories, and two second places.

Whilst he was still a junior Verdens Gang newspaper reported in November 2005 that "the ski manufacturers are fighting to get Northug".

During 2005/06 he also took part in the Norwegian National Championships, and won the double pursuit race, beating Frode Estil by 1.9 seconds, and became the first junior to ever win a Norwegian National Championship.

Before he joined the World Cup he competed in a few Continental Cup meetings, but mostly in the Scandinavian Cup.

The 2005/06 season was Northug's first in the World Cup, although he competed in one race the season before, a sprint in Drammen, he came 35th.

During the 2005/06 season he shared his time equally between the World Cup and the Scandinavian Cup, although in early May 2006 it was announced that Northug would be in the senior national team for the 2006/07 season.

Northug also claimed his first World Cup victory in the 2005/06 season, in a pursuit race in Falun, beating 2005/06 World Cup winner Tobias Angerer, who came second, and 2004/05 overall champion Axel Teichmann was third.

Then in the last race of the year, a pursuit in Sapporo he claimed another podium place, coming second.

He lost to Mathias Fredriksson by 3.8 seconds.

He also came seventh, tenth, and twelfth in sprint races, and fifteenth in the 50 km freestyle in Holmenkollen.

Northug finished the 2005/06 World Cup season in 14th place overall.

Fischer won his signature, and his contract included a base salary (the first time ever for a junior), which would be multiplied by five if he made the Norwegian elite team for 2006/07, a goal in which he was successful.

The contract also offered bonuses if he won medals in the junior World Championships.

Northug has six gold medals from junior World Championships.

After Norway's disappointing display at the 2006 Winter Olympics, the Norwegian press questioned why Northug was not taken to the Games.

Northug himself admitted he was disappointed after not getting selected, especially as he had won the double pursuit in the National Championships earlier in the year.

The day after the 2006 Olympics Team was announced, Northug was on the team winning the Norwegian Championships in 3x10 kilometer relay.

As he crossed the finish line, he shouted "And I am not going to the Olympics?".

Northug won his first gold medal at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Sapporo as a member of the 4 x 10 km relay in 2007.

Northug completed the last leg of the relay, beating Sweden and Russia on the sprint for the finish line.

He was also in a good position to compete for the silver in the 30 kilometer duathlon, but he fell in the last part of the race and was disappointed to finish fifth.

Northug was the runner up to the overall World Cup in the 2008/2009 season, losing to the Swiss Dario Cologna after leading before the final races.

He was far more successful at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 in Liberec, where he earned three golds in the 15 km + 15 km double pursuit, 4 x 10 km relay and 50 km freestyle mass start.

In all three events he sprinted away from the rest of the pack to win the race.

Northug finished in an extremely disappointing 41st place in the first Cross Country event during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

A day later, Northug responded with a bronze medal in the Sprint Event.

This success was short-lived however, as he broke his pole in the end of the 30 km pursuit, where he was one of the biggest favourites to win.

He then won his first Olympic gold, in the Team Sprint, alongside Øystein Pettersen.

Days later he was skiing the anchor leg in the 4 x 10 km relay.

By winning his ninth gold medal in the Nordic World Ski Championships in 4 × 10 km relay in Val di Fiemme 2013 he leveled the achievement of Bjørn Dæhlie who had been the most successful World Champion male skier up to that point.

He is considered by many as the greatest cross country skier of all time.

He is expected to work as a commentator of skiing, on channel TV 2 during the winter of 2021/2022.

During his early years, Northug was generally considered a star of the future.

He also finished 14th in the distance standings, and 24th in the sprint.