Arthur E. Tokle
Encyclopedia
Arthur Emil Tokle was a Norwegian
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

-born American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 ski jumper who competed for the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 at the 1952 Winter Olympics
1952 Winter Olympics
The 1952 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VI Olympic Winter Games, took place in Oslo, Norway, from 14 to 25 February 1952. Discussions about Oslo hosting the Winter Olympic Games began as early as 1935; the city wanted to host the 1948 Games, but World War II made that impossible...

 in Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...

, finishing 18th in the individual large hill event.

Biography

Tokle was born in Løkken Verk
Løkken Verk
Løkken Verk is a village in the municipality of Meldal in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located south of Svorkmo , east of Bjørnli, and north of the municipal center of Meldal....

, a village in Meldal
Meldal
Meldal is a village and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Orkdalen region.The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Meldal. The village of Meldal has a population of 609. Other villages include Løkken Verk, Bjørnli, and Storås...

, Sør-Trøndelag
Sør-Trøndelag
- References :...

 county, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

. His father was a Norwegian mining official, who raised every one of his 20 children in the sport, and skied himself until he was well past 70. Torger Tokle, Art's older brother, came to the U.S. in 1939 and gained sudden fame before he was killed in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 as a ski trooper in 1945. Kyrre Tokle, another older brother, was still jumping in informal meets in the U.S. at the age of 55. The brothers represented the club SK Fjell
Løkken IF
Løkken Idrettsforening is a Norwegian sports club from Løkken Verk, Sør-Trøndelag. It has sections for association football, speed skating and Nordic skiing....

.

Arthur Tokle won his first national championship as a teenager and served in the Kings Guard before immigrating to America in 1947. He was US national ski jumping
Ski jumping
Ski jumping is a sport in which skiers go down a take-off ramp, jump and attempt to land as far as possible down the hill below. In addition to the length of the jump, judges give points for style. The skis used for ski jumping are wide and long...

 champion in 1951 and 1953. Tokle carried the American flag during the opening ceremonies of the 1958 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships
1958 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships
The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1958 took place February 4-9 and March 1 , 1958 in Lahti, Finland. This marked the third time the city hosted this event having done so in 1926 and 1938. Germany returned to the FIS Nordic Ski Championships for the first time officially since 1939, albeit as...

 in Lahti
Lahti
Lahti is a city and municipality in Finland.Lahti is the capital of the Päijänne Tavastia region. It is situated on a bay at the southern end of lake Vesijärvi about north-east of the capital Helsinki...

, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 and competed in the 1960 Winter Olympics
1960 Winter Olympics
The 1960 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VIII Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event held between February 18 and 28, 1960 in Squaw Valley, California, United States. In 1955 at the 50th IOC meeting, the organizing committee made the surprise choice to award Squaw Valley as...

 in Squaw Valley. He later coached the American ski jumping team at the 1964
1964 Winter Olympics
The 1964 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IX Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Innsbruck, Austria, from January 29 to February 9, 1964...

 and 1968 Winter Olympics
1968 Winter Olympics
The 1968 Winter Olympics, officially known as the X Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1968 in Grenoble, France and opened on 6 February. Thirty-seven countries participated...

. Tokle was inducted in the National Ski Hall of Fame
National Ski Hall of Fame
The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame and Museum is located in the City of Ishpeming in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, the birthplace of organized skiing in the United States...

 in 1970. He was a technical director for the US team at the 1980 Winter Olympics
1980 Winter Olympics
The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIII Olympic Winter Games, was a multi-sport event which was celebrated from 13 February through 24 February 1980 in Lake Placid, New York, United States of America. This was the second time the Upstate New York village hosted the Games, after 1932...

. He co-authored The Complete Guide to Cross Country Skiing and Touring with Martin Luray (New York, NY Holt, Rinehart & Winston: 1973).

Personal life

In 1948, he married Oddfrid Larsen and settled in Lake Telemark, New Jersey
Lake Telemark, New Jersey
As of the census of 2000, there were 1,202 people, 414 households, and 344 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 209.1/km2 . There were 425 housing units at an average density of 73.9/km2...

, a semi-rural community favored by Scandinavian immigrants. Together they had two children Arthur Tokle Jr. and Vivian Lynch.

External links

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