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Petter Northug
Personal information
Full name	Petter Northug Jr.
Date of birth	January 6, 1986 (1986-01-06) (age 24)
Place of birth	Levanger, Norway
Height	185 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Professional information
Club	Strindheim
Skis	Fischer
World Cup
Seasons	2005-
Wins	8
Additional podiums	8
Total podiums	16
Infobox last updated on: {{{updated}}}

Medal record
Men's cross country skiing
Competitor for  Norway
Olympic Games
Gold	2010 Vancouver	50 km classical
Gold	2010 Vancouver	Team sprint
Silver	2010 Vancouver	4x10 km relay
Bronze	2010 Vancouver	Individual sprint
World Championships
Gold	2007 Sapporo	4x10 km
Gold	2009 Liberec	15 km + 15 km double pursuit
Gold	2009 Liberec	50 km
Gold	2009 Liberec	4x10 km

Petter Northug Jr. (born January 6, 1986 in Levanger but raised in Mosvik in Nord-Trøndelag), is a Norwegian cross country skier and Olympic Champion. He trains with Strindheim IL, based in Trondheim, where he is coached by Thomas Alsgaard. Northug has 8 individual World Cup wins with an additional 8 podiums. He has two brothers, Even and Tomas.^[1] Northug finished school in 2006, but during the summer of 2005 he changed schools from Steinkjer to Meråker and moved into a cabin next to the ski trails to optimize his training conditions.^[2]

Biography

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

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.^[3] 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.^[4] Then in the last race of the year, a pursuit in Sapporo he claimed another podium place, coming second.^[5] He lost to Mathias Fredriksson by 3.8 seconds. He also came seventh, tenth, and twelfth in sprint races, and fifteenth in the 50km freestyle in Holmenkollen. Northug finished the 2005/06 World Cup season in 14th place overall. He also finished 14th in the distance standings, and 24th in the sprint.^[6]

Northug has six gold medals from junior World Championships. His first two gold medals came in 2004/05 in the pursuit and the 10km freestyle in Rovaniemi, then in 2005/06 in Kranj he won gold in the 10km 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 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.

During his first years, Northug was generally considered a star of the future. Whilst he was still a junior Verdens Gang newspaper reported in November 2005 that "the ski manufacturers are fighting to get Northug".^[7] 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, which he did. The contract also offered bonuses if he won medals in the junior World Championships, he won four gold.^[8]

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.^[9]

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. He added three more golds at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 in Liberec, earning them in the 15 km + 15 km double pursuit, 4 x 10 km relay and 50 km freestyle mass start.

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.

Northug finished in an extremely disappointing 41st place in the first Cross Country event during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, 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. 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. When he took over from Lars Berger who was skiing the 3rd leg, he was 37.5 seconds behind the lead group. Despite this he managed to perform his incredibly fast finish to catch and overtake France and the Czech Republic to win Norway a silver medal.

Northug won the Men's 50 kilometre classic at the 2010 Winter Olympics. Less than two weeks later, he won the 50 km event at the Holmenkollen, becoming the first skier to win the 50 km at the Winter Olympics, World Championships, and Holmenkollen since Sweden's Gunde Svan reached that triple crown in 1988.

Career highlights

Notes and references

External links

• Petter Northug, jr. at the International Ski Federation
• Official website (Norwegian)