The Most Famous

SKIERS from Norway

This page contains a list of the greatest Norwegian Skiers. The pantheon dataset contains 540 Skiers, 80 of which were born in Norway. This makes Norway the birth place of the most number of Skiers.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Norwegian Skiers of all time. This list of famous Norwegian Skiers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Norwegian Skiers.

1. Birger Ruud (1911 - 1998)

With an HPI of 63.98, Birger Ruud is the most famous Norwegian Skier. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages on wikipedia.

Birger Ruud (23 August 1911 – 13 June 1998) was a Norwegian ski jumper and alpine skier.

2. Bjørn Dæhlie (1967 - )

With an HPI of 63.37, Bjørn Dæhlie is the 2nd most famous Norwegian Skier. His biography has been translated into 39 different languages.

Bjørn Erlend Dæhlie (born 19 June 1967) is a Norwegian businessman and retired cross-country skier. From 1992 to 1999, Dæhlie won the Nordic World Cup six times, finishing second in 1994 and 1998. Dæhlie won a total of 29 medals in the Olympics and World Championships between 1991 and 1999, making him the most successful male cross-country skier in history. During his career, Dæhlie measured a VO2 max of 96 ml/kg/min. Dæhlie's result was achieved out of season, and physiologist Erlend Hem who was responsible for the testing stated that he would not discount the possibility of the skier passing 100 ml/kg/min at his absolute peak.In addition to being an athletic figurehead, Dæhlie is a cultural icon in Norway. Since retiring, Dæhlie has become a successful businessman in real estate and fashion. His real estate investments have produced a fortune of more than half a billion kroner. Dæhlie has been featured in advertising campaigns, he started a brand of signature ski apparel, and he co-hosted a television show called Gutta på tur. Dæhlie also invented the Salomon Nordic System Pilot Bindings.In 2020 he reported his moving to Bø, Nordland.

3. Finn Christian Jagge (1966 - 2020)

With an HPI of 60.66, Finn Christian Jagge is the 3rd most famous Norwegian Skier. His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Finn Christian "Finken" Jagge (4 April 1966 – 8 July 2020) was a Norwegian alpine skier. He was the son of alpine skier Liv Jagge-Christiansen and tennis player Finn Dag Jagge. In the World Cup he won seven slalom victories. He also won the Norwegian Championship eight times. His career highlight came with the gold medal in the slalom competition at the 1992 Olympics in Albertville. He retired in 2000. He trained the Norwegian women ski team from 2005 to 2007. He worked for the Norwegian telecom company Ludo and later as a Partner Headhunter for Dynamic People Headhunting in Oslo. Jagge won the Norwegian reality TV show Mesternes Mester in 2011. He was 54 years old, when he died after a short illness in July 2020. He was married to Trine-Lise Jagge and had two children.

4. Marit Bjørgen (1980 - )

With an HPI of 60.25, Marit Bjørgen is the 4th most famous Norwegian Skier. Her biography has been translated into 39 different languages.

Marit Bjørgen (born 21 March 1980) is a Norwegian cross-country skier. She is ranked first in the all-time Cross-Country World Cup rankings with 114 individual victories. Bjørgen is also the most successful sprinter in Cross-Country World Cup history, with 29 victories. She headed the medal table at the 2010 Winter Olympics by winning five medals, including three gold. A five-time Olympian, her five Olympic medals at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games brought her total number of medals up to a record 15, the most by any athlete in Winter Olympics history.On 6 April 2018, Bjørgen announced her retirement from cross–country skiing following the 2017–18 season. In May 2020, she announced that she would return to competition with long-distance cross-country ski squad Team Ragde Eiendom, with a focus on competing in Vasaloppet in March 2021.

5. Sigmund Ruud (1907 - 1994)

With an HPI of 60.21, Sigmund Ruud is the 5th most famous Norwegian Skier. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Sigmund Ruud (30 December 1907 – 7 April 1994) was a Norwegian ski jumper. Together with his brothers Birger and Asbjørn, he dominated ski jumping in the 1920s and 1930s.

6. Torbjørn Falkanger (1927 - 2013)

With an HPI of 60.04, Torbjørn Falkanger is the 6th most famous Norwegian Skier. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Torbjørn Falkanger (8 October 1927 in Trondheim – 16 July 2013) was a Norwegian ski jumper who was active in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Falkanger earned a silver medal at the 1952 Winter Olympics in ski jumping and also won the Holmenkollen ski festival ski jumping competition twice (1949 and 1950). For his ski jumping efforts, Falkanger was awarded the Holmenkollen medal in 1952 (Shared with Stein Eriksen, Heikki Hasu and Nils Karlsson.) Falkanger also took the Olympic Oath at the 1952 games in Oslo. His career ended a few months ahead of the 1956 Winter Olympics, due to a fall in the ski jumping hill.

7. Alf Andersen (1906 - 1975)

With an HPI of 59.87, Alf Andersen is the 7th most famous Norwegian Skier. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Alf Steen Andersen (15 May 1906 – 12 April 1975) was a Norwegian ski jumper. He was born in Drammen, but represented the Oslo clubs Sandaker, Skeid and Lyn. He won the gold medal in the individual large hill at the 1928 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz. He also won a bronze medal in the individual large hill at the 1935 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Vysoké Tatry.He died in 1975 in Frogn.

8. Anders Haugen (1888 - 1984)

With an HPI of 59.82, Anders Haugen is the 8th most famous Norwegian Skier. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Anders Olsen Haugen (October 24, 1888 – April 14, 1984) was a Norwegian-American ski jumper who won four national ski jumping championships. He competed in the 1924 Winter Olympics in Chamonix and the 1928 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz. Anders Haugen was the first and, as of 2016, only American to win an Olympic medal for ski jumping.

Pantheon has 80 people classified as skiers born between 1888 and 1997. Of these 80, 71 (88.75%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living skiers include Bjørn Dæhlie, Marit Bjørgen, and Kjetil André Aamodt. The most famous deceased skiers include Birger Ruud, Finn Christian Jagge, and Sigmund Ruud. As of October 2020, 27 new skiers have been added to Pantheon including Sigmund Ruud, Anders Haugen, and Bjørn Wirkola.