Thomas Alsgaard

Template:Short description Template:Infobox skier 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.

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.<ref>Template:Cite web </ref>

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

He is also known as a sports commentator<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

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.<ref>Template:Cite web </ref> On 21 April 2017, Alsgaard announced that Team LeasePlan had to shut down due to sponsorship problems.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Cross-country skiing results

All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).<ref name="FISprofile">Template:Cite web</ref>

Olympic Games

• 6 medals – (5 gold, 1 silver)

Year	Age	10 km	15 km	Pursuit	30 km	50 km	4 × 10 km   relay	Sprint
1994	22	24	Template:N/a	[[Cross-country skiing at the 1994 Winter Olympics – Men's 15 kilometre freestyle pursuit|Template:Abbr]]	Gold	—	Silver	Template:N/a
1998	26	5	Template:N/a	Gold	[[Cross-country skiing at the 1998 Winter Olympics – Men's 30 kilometre classical|Template:Abbr]]	6	Gold	Template:N/a
2002	30	Template:N/a	—	Gold	12	—	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
1993	21	—	Template:N/a	—	—	Template:Abbr	Template:N/a	—
1995	23	21	Template:N/a	8	—	27	Template:N/a	Gold
1997	25	11	Template:N/a	4	Bronze	—	Template:N/a	Gold
1999	27	14	Template:N/a	Gold	Silver	—	Template:N/a	Silver
2001	29	Template:N/a	16	5	—	—	12	Gold
2003	31	Template:N/a	—	—	Gold	—	41	Gold

World Cup

Season titles

• 3 titles – (1 overall, long distance, 1 sprint)

Season
	Discipline
1998	Overall
	Long Distance
	Sprint

Season standings

Season	Age
		Overall	Long Distance	Middle Distance	Sprint
1993	21	20	Template:N/a	Template:N/a	Template:N/a
1994	22	7	Template:N/a	Template:N/a	Template:N/a
1995	23	16	Template:N/a	Template:N/a	Template:N/a
1996	24	8	Template:N/a	Template:N/a	Template:N/a
1997	25	17	6	Template:N/a	24
1998	26	Template:Gold01	Template:Gold01	Template:N/a	Template:Gold01
1999	27	13	18	Template:N/a	27
2000	28	5	4	8	—
2001	29	Template:Bronze03	Template:N/a	Template:N/a	6
2002	30	Template:Silver02	Template:N/a	Template:N/a	21
2003	31	46	Template:N/a	Template:N/a	43

Individual podiums

• 13 victories
• 29 podiums

No.	Season	Date	Location	Race	Level	Place
1	1993–94	14 February 1994	Template:Flagicon Lillehammer, Norway	30 km Individual F	Olympic GamesTemplate:Ref label	1st
2	1994–95	8 January 1995	Template:Flagicon Östersund, Sweden	30 km Individual F	World Cup	3rd
3		25 March 1995	Template:Flagicon Sapporo, Japan	15 km Individual F	World Cup	3rd
4	1996–97	21 February 1997	Template:Flagicon Trondheim, Norway	30 km Individual F	World ChampionshipsTemplate:Ref label	3rd
5	1997–98	14 December 1997	Template:Flagicon Val di Fiemme, Italy	15 km Pursuit F	World Cup	2nd
6		16 December 1997		15 km Individual F	World Cup	2nd
7		20 December 1997	Template:Flagicon Davos, Switzerland	30 km Individual C	World Cup	2nd
8		3 January 1998	Template:Flagicon Kavgolovo, Russia	30 km Individual F	World Cup	2nd
9		8 January 1998	Template:Flagicon Ramsau, Austria	15 km Individual C	World Cup	1st
10		10 January 1998		30 km Individual F	World Cup	1st
11		8 March 1998	Template:Flagicon Lahti, Finland	30 km Individual C	World Cup	2nd
12		11 March 1998	Template:Flagicon Falun, Sweden	10 km Individual F	World Cup	1st
13	1998–99	19 February 1999	Template:Flagicon Ramsau am Dachstein, Austria	30 km Individual F	World ChampionshipsTemplate:Ref label	2nd
14		19 February 1999		15 km Pursuit F	World ChampionshipsTemplate:Ref label	1st
15	1999–00	27 November 1999	Template:Flagicon Kiruna, Sweden	10 km Individual C	World Cup	2nd
16		11 December 1999	Template:Flagicon Sappada, Italy	7.5 km + 15 km Duathlon C/F	World Cup	1st
17		9 January 2000	Template:Flagicon Moscow, Russia	30 km Individual F	World Cup	2nd
18		12 January 2000	Template:Flagicon Nové Město na Moravě, Czech Republic	15 km Individual C	World Cup	1st
19	2000–01	25 November 2000	Template:Flagicon Beitostølen, Norway	15 km Individual C	World Cup	2nd
20		29 November 2000		10 km Individual F	World Cup	3rd
21		17 December 2000	Template:Flagicon Brusson, Italy	1.0 km Sprint F	World Cup	1st
22		10 February 2001	Template:Flagicon Otepää, Estonia	10 km Individual C	World Cup	1st
23		7 March 2001	Template:Flagicon Oslo, Norway	1.0 km Sprint C	World Cup	1st
24	2001–02	25 November 2001	Template:Flagicon Kuopio, Finland	10 km Individual F	World Cup	3rd
25		5 January 2002	Template:Flagicon Val di Fiemme, Italy	10 km + 10 km Duathlon C/F	World Cup	2nd
26		2 March 2002	Template:Flagicon Lahti, Finland	15 km Individual F	World Cup	2nd
27		9 March 2002	Template:Flagicon Falun, Sweden	10 km + 10 km Duathlon C/F	World Cup	1st
28		16 March 2002	Template:Flagicon Oslo, Norway	50 km Individual F	World Cup	1st
29		23 March 2002	Template:Flagicon Birkebeinerrennet, Norway	58 km Mass Start C	World Cup	1st

Team podiums

• 12 victories – (12 Template:Abbr)
• 25 podiums – (24 Template:Abbr, 1 Template:Abbr)

No.	Season	Date	Location	Race	Level	Place	Teammate(s)
1	1993–94	22 February 1994	Template:Flagicon Lillehammer, Norway	4 × 10 km Relay C/F	Olympic GamesTemplate:Ref label	2nd	Sivertsen / Ulvang / Dæhlie
2		4 March 1994	Template:Flagicon Lahti, Finland	4 × 10 km Relay C	World Cup	2nd	Skjeldal / Eide / E. Kristiansen
3	1994–95	18 December 1994	Template:Flagicon Sappada, Italy	4 × 10 km Relay F	World Cup	1st	E. Kristiansen / Skjeldal / Dæhlie
4		5 February 1995	Template:Flagicon Falun, Sweden	4 × 10 km Relay F	World Cup	1st	Sivertsen / Langli / Dæhlie
5		12 February 1995	Template:Flagicon Oslo, Norway	4 × 5 km Relay C/F	World Cup	3rd	Sivertsen / Jevne / B. Kristiansen
6		17 March 1995	Template:Flagicon Thunder Bay, Canada	4 × 10 km Relay C/F	World ChampionshipsTemplate:Ref label	1st	Sivertsen / Jevne / Dæhlie
7		26 March 1995	Template:Flagicon Sapporo, Japan	4 × 10 km Relay C/F	World Cup	1st	Ulvang / Dæhlie / Skjeldal
8	1995–96	10 December 1995	Template:Flagicon Davos, Switzerland	4 × 10 km Relay C	World Cup	2nd	Sivertsen / Jevne / Dæhlie
9		14 January 1996	Template:Flagicon Nové Město, Czech Republic	4 × 10 km Relay C	World Cup	2nd	Ulvang / Jevne / Dæhlie
10		26 February 1996	Template:Flagicon Trondheim, Norway	4 × 10 km Relay C/F	World Cup	1st	Ulvang / Jevne / Dæhlie
11		1 March 1996	Template:Flagicon Lahti, Finland	4 × 10 km Relay C/F	World Cup	3rd	Skjeldal / Eide / E. Kristiansen
12	1996–97	28 February 1997	Template:Flagicon Trondheim, Norway	4 × 10 km Relay C/F	World ChampionshipsTemplate:Ref label	1st	Sivertsen / Jevne / Dæhlie
13		9 March 1997	Template:Flagicon Falun, Sweden	4 × 10 km Relay C/F	World Cup	2nd	Hjelmeset / Skaanes / Sørgård
14	1997–98	23 November 1997	Template:Flagicon Beitostølen, Norway	4 × 10 km Relay C	World Cup	1st	Eide / Jevne / Dæhlie
15		6 March 1998	Template:Flagicon Lahti, Finland	4 × 10 km Relay C/F	World Cup	2nd	Estil / Sivertsen / Eide
16	1998–99	26 February 1999	Template:Flagicon Ramsau, Austria	4 × 10 km Relay C/F	World ChampionshipsTemplate:Ref label	2nd	Bjervig / Jevne / Dæhlie
17	1999–00	28 November 1999	Template:Flagicon Kiruna, Sweden	4 × 10 km Relay F	World Cup	2nd	Bjervig / Skjeldal / Hetland
18		13 January 2000	Template:Flagicon Nové Město, Czech Republic	4 × 10 km Relay C/F	World Cup	1st	Hjelmeset / Jevne / Skjeldal
19	2000–01	9 December 2000	Template:Flagicon Santa Caterina, Italy	4 × 5 km Relay C/F	World Cup	1st	Estil / Skjeldal / Hetland
20	2001–02	16 December 2001	Template:Flagicon Davos, Switzerland	4 × 10 km Relay C/F	World Cup	3rd	Estil / Jevne / Hetland
21		10 March 2002	Template:Flagicon Falun, Sweden	4 × 10 km Relay C/F	World Cup	1st	Estil / Aukland / Skjeldal
22	2002–03	24 November 2002	Template:Flagicon Kiruna, Sweden	4 × 10 km Relay C/F	World Cup	2nd	Skjeldal / Aukland / Hetland
23		8 December 2002	Template:Flagicon Davos, Switzerland	4 × 10 km Relay C/F	World Cup	1st	Aukland / Bjonviken / Hetland
24		19 January 2003	Template:Flagicon Nové Město, Czech Republic	4 × 10 km Relay C/F	World Cup	1st	Aukland / Estil / Hofstad
25		26 January 2003	Template:Flagicon Oberhof, Germany	10 × 1.5 km Team Sprint F	World Cup	3rd	Svartedal

Template:Refbegin Note: Template:Note label Until the 1999 World Championships and the 1994 Olympics, World Championship and Olympic races were included in the World Cup scoring system. Template:Refend

Equipment

Alsgaard used skis from Madshus, one of Alpina's partners, with Alpina boots and Rottefella bindings.

See also

• List of multiple Olympic gold medalists

References

• Template:FIS cross-country skier
• Holmenkollen medalists – click Holmenkollmedaljen for downloadable pdf file Template:In lang
• Holmenkollen winners since 1892 – click Vinnere for downloadable pdf file Template:In lang