Lasse Kjus
Encyclopedia
Lasse Kjus (born 14 January 1971) is a retired Norwegian alpine skier who has won the overall World Cup
twice, an Olympic gold medal, and several World Championships. His combined career total of 16 Olympic and World Championship medals ranks 2nd all-time behind fellow Norwegian Kjetil André Aamodt
, third is Austrian Benjamin Raich
with 13 medals.
, but represented the club Bærums SK.
In February 1999, Kjus pulled off one of the most remarkable feats in the history of alpine skiing
when he medaled in all five events at the FIS Alpine World Championships in Vail, Colorado
. Five skiers had previously earned four medals at a single World Championship (until 1980 the Alpine Ski World Championships were held together with the Olympic Winter Games): Toni Sailer
of Austria in 1956 at Cortina
and in 1958 at Bad Gastein
, Marielle Goitschel
of France in 1966 at Portillo, Chile
, Jean-Claude Killy
of France in 1968 at Grenoble
, Rosi Mittermaier
of Germany in 1976 at Innsbruck
, and Pirmin Zurbriggen
of Switzerland in 1987 at Crans-Montana
; the first four did so when only four medal events were contested, but no one before or since has medaled in all five alpine disciplines, downhill
, super G, giant slalom, slalom
, and combined, at a single championship.
He started off on February 2 by tying Austrian great Hermann Maier
for gold in super G. Four days later, in the downhill at nearby Beaver Creek
, Kjus settled for silver, 0.31 seconds behind Maier. On February 9 in the combined event, he narrowly missed his second gold, finishing in silver-medal position only 0.16 seconds behind compatriot Kjetil André Aamodt
. With momentum building, Kjus captured gold in the giant slalom on February 12, and then finished off his remarkable run two days later with silver in his weakest event, slalom. He had the lead after the first of two runs of slalom, but skied conservatively to assure he would win a fifth medal. He finished a scant 0.11 seconds behind Kalle Palander
of Finland over two runs. Reflecting on his performance that day and the entire fortnight in Colorado, Kjus said "I always try my best, but I could never have dreamed ... maybe I could have skied faster in the second run, but I didn't want to be too aggressive. I knew I could get a podium, and that's all I wanted." He missed winning all five gold medals by a combined total of slightly more than half a second (0.58 seconds). Most impressively, he performed the feat while suffering from a chest infection which had dogged him all winter and often left him coughing and wheezing at the bottom of courses.
Those who have seen the live-broadcasting of his slalom at the Lauberhorn race in Wengen, Switzerland, on Jan. 17, 1999, will never forget how he got out of the starting gate, got cought with the tip of his right ski, went backwards through the first gate and finished third in the end - his best World Cup slalom result ever. Nicely documented on a YouTube video
, 2 in Super-G
, 2 in Giant Slalom
and 4 in the Combined Event.
His first World Cup race was in January 1990 in Alta Badia
, and his last World Cup race was in March 2006 in Åre
.
Alpine skiing World Cup
The FIS Alpine Ski World Cup is the top international circuit of alpine skiing competitions, launched in 1966 by a group of ski racing friends and experts which included French journalist Serge Lang and the alpine ski team directors from France and the USA...
twice, an Olympic gold medal, and several World Championships. His combined career total of 16 Olympic and World Championship medals ranks 2nd all-time behind fellow Norwegian Kjetil André Aamodt
Kjetil André Aamodt
Kjetil André Aamodt is a Norwegian former alpine ski racer, and is the most decorated in history....
, third is Austrian Benjamin Raich
Benjamin Raich
Benjamin Raich is a champion alpine ski racer who won gold medals in the giant slalom and slalom at the 2006 Winter Olympics of Turin, Italy...
with 13 medals.
Career
Kjus grew up in SiggerudSiggerud
Siggerud is a village in the municipality of Ski, Norway, just a few kilometres away from the border of the municipality of Oslo where most of Siggerud's population work. Its population is 1,353, but probably over 2000 if you count the area around....
, but represented the club Bærums SK.
In February 1999, Kjus pulled off one of the most remarkable feats in the history of alpine skiing
Alpine skiing
Alpine skiing is the sport of sliding down snow-covered hills on skis with fixed-heel bindings. Alpine skiing can be contrasted with skiing using free-heel bindings: Ski mountaineering and nordic skiing – such as cross-country; ski jumping; and Telemark. In competitive alpine skiing races four...
when he medaled in all five events at the FIS Alpine World Championships in Vail, Colorado
FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1999
The FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1999 were held in Vail and Beaver Creek, Colorado, U.S.A., from February 2-14, 1999.Lasse Kjus of Norway placed in the top two in all five events, winning two gold medals and taking three silvers. Hermann Maier of Austria won gold medals in the two speed...
. Five skiers had previously earned four medals at a single World Championship (until 1980 the Alpine Ski World Championships were held together with the Olympic Winter Games): Toni Sailer
Toni Sailer
Anton Engelbert "Toni" Sailer was an Austrian alpine ski racer, who is considered among the best the in the sport. He won three gold medals in alphine skiing at the 1956 Winter Olympics, becoming the only triple gold medalist from that Games and thus the most successful athlete in 1956...
of Austria in 1956 at Cortina
Alpine skiing at the 1956 Winter Olympics
At the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, the six alpine skiing events were held from Friday, January 27 to Friday, February 3, 1956.Toni Sailer of Austria won all three men's events to become the first alpine ski racer to win three gold medals in a single Olympics...
and in 1958 at Bad Gastein
FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1958
The FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1958 were held in Bad Gastein, Austria, between February 2–9, 1958.*Toni Sailer, 22, of Austria, won three gold medals and a silver.*Lucille Wheeler, 23, of Canada, won two gold medals and a silver.-External links:...
, Marielle Goitschel
Marielle Goitschel
Marielle Goitschel is a former French alpine skier. Marielle is the younger sister of Christine Goitschel, another champion skier of the time, and the aunt of current speed skier Philippe Goitschel....
of France in 1966 at Portillo, Chile
FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1966
The FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1966 were held in Portillo, Chile, from August 4–14, 1966.To this day, it remains as the only alpine world championship contested in the southern hemisphere...
, Jean-Claude Killy
Jean-Claude Killy
Jean-Claude Killy was an alpine ski racer, who dominated the sport in the late 1960s. He was a triple Olympic champion, winning the three alpine events at the 1968 Winter Olympics, becoming the most successful athlete there...
of France in 1968 at Grenoble
Alpine skiing at the 1976 Winter Olympics
Alpine skiing at the 1976 Winter Olympics consisted of six events, held near Innsbruck, Austria, from February 5–13, 1976.Similar to the 1964 games, the men's downhill was held on Patscherkofel , the other five events at Axamer Lizum....
, Rosi Mittermaier
Rosi Mittermaier
Rosemarie "Rosi" Mittermaier-Neureuther is a former alpine ski racer. She won two gold medals and one silver at the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, becoming the most successful athlete there along with Raisa Smetanina of Soviet Union, and earning her the nickname of Gold-Rosi within...
of Germany in 1976 at Innsbruck
Alpine skiing at the 1976 Winter Olympics
Alpine skiing at the 1976 Winter Olympics consisted of six events, held near Innsbruck, Austria, from February 5–13, 1976.Similar to the 1964 games, the men's downhill was held on Patscherkofel , the other five events at Axamer Lizum....
, and Pirmin Zurbriggen
Pirmin Zurbriggen
Pirmin Zurbriggen is a former champion alpine ski racer. He won the overall World Cup title four times, an Olympic gold medal in 1988 in Downhill, and 9 World Championships medals ....
of Switzerland in 1987 at Crans-Montana
FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1987
The FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1987 were held in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, between January 27 and February 8, 1987.The world championships included Super-G for the first time; it was first run on the World Cup level four seasons earlier, in December 1982.-Medals table:...
; the first four did so when only four medal events were contested, but no one before or since has medaled in all five alpine disciplines, downhill
Downhill
Downhill is an alpine skiing discipline. The rules for the Downhill were originally developed by Sir Arnold Lunn for the 1921 British National Ski Championships....
, super G, giant slalom, slalom
Slalom skiing
Slalom is an alpine skiing discipline, involving skiing between poles spaced much closer together than in Giant Slalom, Super-G or Downhill, thereby causing quicker and shorter turns.- Origins :...
, and combined, at a single championship.
He started off on February 2 by tying Austrian great Hermann Maier
Hermann Maier
Hermann Maier is an Austrian former alpine ski racer. Maier ranks among the finest alpine ski racers in history, having won four overall World Cup titles , two Olympic gold medals , and three World Championship titles...
for gold in super G. Four days later, in the downhill at nearby Beaver Creek
Beaver Creek Resort
Beaver Creek Resort is a major United States ski resort near Avon, Colorado, run by Vail Resorts. The resort comprises three villages, the main Beaver Creek Village, Bachelor Gulch, and Arrowhead to the west...
, Kjus settled for silver, 0.31 seconds behind Maier. On February 9 in the combined event, he narrowly missed his second gold, finishing in silver-medal position only 0.16 seconds behind compatriot Kjetil André Aamodt
Kjetil André Aamodt
Kjetil André Aamodt is a Norwegian former alpine ski racer, and is the most decorated in history....
. With momentum building, Kjus captured gold in the giant slalom on February 12, and then finished off his remarkable run two days later with silver in his weakest event, slalom. He had the lead after the first of two runs of slalom, but skied conservatively to assure he would win a fifth medal. He finished a scant 0.11 seconds behind Kalle Palander
Kalle Palander
Kalle Markus Palander is a Finnish alpine skier, the most successful male Finn ever in the sport.In 1999 Palander won the world championship in slalom. He also won the Alpine skiing World Cup in slalom during the 2002–2003 season, and was fourth in the overall standings. Palander has also...
of Finland over two runs. Reflecting on his performance that day and the entire fortnight in Colorado, Kjus said "I always try my best, but I could never have dreamed ... maybe I could have skied faster in the second run, but I didn't want to be too aggressive. I knew I could get a podium, and that's all I wanted." He missed winning all five gold medals by a combined total of slightly more than half a second (0.58 seconds). Most impressively, he performed the feat while suffering from a chest infection which had dogged him all winter and often left him coughing and wheezing at the bottom of courses.
Those who have seen the live-broadcasting of his slalom at the Lauberhorn race in Wengen, Switzerland, on Jan. 17, 1999, will never forget how he got out of the starting gate, got cought with the tip of his right ski, went backwards through the first gate and finished third in the end - his best World Cup slalom result ever. Nicely documented on a YouTube video
World Cup victories
Lasse Kjus has won 18 World Cup events: 10 in DownhillDownhill
Downhill is an alpine skiing discipline. The rules for the Downhill were originally developed by Sir Arnold Lunn for the 1921 British National Ski Championships....
, 2 in Super-G
Super Giant Slalom skiing
The Super Giant Slalom is an Alpine skiing discipline. It is usually referred to as Super G and is a "speed" event, along with the faster Downhill event; the Giant Slalom and Slalom events are known as the "technical" disciplines.-History:...
, 2 in Giant Slalom
Giant Slalom skiing
Giant slalom is an alpine skiing discipline. It involves skiing between sets of poles spaced at a greater distance to each other than in slalom but less than in super G....
and 4 in the Combined Event.
His first World Cup race was in January 1990 in Alta Badia
Alta Badia
Alta Badia is a ski resort in the upper part of the Val Badia in South Tyrol, northern Italy. It is included in the territories of the municipalities' of Corvara, Badia and La Val. It is a regular stop on the World Cup schedule, usually by the men in mid-December...
, and his last World Cup race was in March 2006 in Åre
Åre
Åre is a locality and one of the leading Scandinavian ski resorts situated in Åre Municipality, Jämtland County, Sweden with 1,260 inhabitants in 2005. It is however, not the seat of the municipality, which is Järpen. 25% of the municipal industry is based on tourism, most notably the downhill...
.
Overall
| Season | Discipline |
|---|---|
| 2001 2001 Alpine Skiing World Cup The 35th World Cup season began in October 2000 in Sölden, Austria, and concluded in March 2001 at the World Cup finals at Åre, Sweden. The overall winners were Hermann Maier of Austria and Janica Kostelić of Croatia.... |
Combined |
| 1999 1999 Alpine Skiing World Cup The 33rd World Cup season began in October 1998 in Sölden, Austria, and concluded at the World Cup finals at Sierra Nevada, Spain, in March 1999. The overall winners were Lasse Kjus of Norway and Alexandra Meissnitzer of Austria.... |
Overall |
| 1999 1999 Alpine Skiing World Cup The 33rd World Cup season began in October 1998 in Sölden, Austria, and concluded at the World Cup finals at Sierra Nevada, Spain, in March 1999. The overall winners were Lasse Kjus of Norway and Alexandra Meissnitzer of Austria.... |
Downhill |
| 1999 1999 Alpine Skiing World Cup The 33rd World Cup season began in October 1998 in Sölden, Austria, and concluded at the World Cup finals at Sierra Nevada, Spain, in March 1999. The overall winners were Lasse Kjus of Norway and Alexandra Meissnitzer of Austria.... |
Combined |
| 1996 1996 Alpine Skiing World Cup The 30th World Cup season began in November 1995 in Tignes, France, and concluded in March 1996 at the World Cup finals in Lillehammer, Norway. The overall champions were Lasse Kjus of Norway and Katja Seizinger of Germany.... |
Overall |
| 1994 1994 Alpine Skiing World Cup The 28th World Cup season began in October 1993 in Austria, and concluded in March 1994 at the World Cup finals in the United States. The overall champions were Kjetil André Aamodt of Norway and Vreni Schneider of Switzerland.... |
Combined |
Individual victories
| Date | Location | Race |
|---|---|---|
| January 16, 1994 |  KitzbühelKitzbühel -Demographic evolution:-Personalities:*Karl Wilhelm von Dalla Torre , entomologist and botanist*Alfons Walde , expressionist painter and architect*Peter Aufschnaiter , mountaineer and geographer... |
Combined |
| February 2, 1995 |  VailVail, Colorado The Town of Vail is a Home Rule Municipality in Eagle County, Colorado, United States. The population of the town was 4,589 in 2005. The town was established and built as the base village to Vail Ski Resort, with which it was originally conceived... |
Super-G |
| December 21, 1995 |  Kranjska GoraKranjska Gora Kranjska Gora is a town and a municipality on the Sava Dolinka River in the Upper Carniola region of northwest Slovenia, close to the Austrian and Italian borders.Kranjska Gora is best known as a winter sports town, being situated in the Julian Alps... |
Giant Slalom |
| December 29, 1995 |  BormioBormio Bormio is a town and comune located in the province of Sondrio, Lombardy region of the Alps in northern Italy. It has a population of 4,200... |
Downhill |
| March 6, 1996 |  KvitfjellKvitfjell Kvitfjell is a ski resort in the municipality of Ringebu, Norway. Kvitfjell is one of the most modern resorts in the world, with 85% of the alpine skiing pistes covered in artificial snow. Based near the river Gudbrandsdalslågen, the resort offers 23 pistes: 5 green , 9 blue , 6 red , and 3 black... |
Downhill |
| January 26, 1997 | Kitzbühel |
Combined |
| March 2, 1997 | Kvitfjell |
Downhill |
| December 12, 1998 |  Val-d'Isère |
Downhill |
| December 18, 1998 | Val Gardena |
Downhill |
| January 16, 1999 |  WengenWengen, Switzerland Wengen is a village in the Bernese Oberland in the canton of Bern, located in central Switzerland at an elevation of 1274 m above sea level, and is part of the Jungfrauregion. Wengen has approximately 1,300 year-round residents... |
Downhill |
| January 17, 1999 | Wengen |
Combined |
| January 22, 1999 | Kitzbühel |
Downhill |
| March 10, 1999 |  Sierra Nevada |
Downhill |
| January 21, 2001 | Kitzbühel |
Combined |
| December 19, 2003 | Val Gardena |
Super-G |
| January 22, 2004 | Kitzbühel |
Downhill |
| December 4, 2004 | Beaver Creek Beaver Creek Resort Beaver Creek Resort is a major United States ski resort near Avon, Colorado, run by Vail Resorts. The resort comprises three villages, the main Beaver Creek Village, Bachelor Gulch, and Arrowhead to the west... |
Giant Slalom |
| March 10, 2005 | Lenzerheide Lenzerheide Lenzerheide is a mountain resort in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It lies at the foot of the Parpaner Rothorn. The village belongs to the municipality Vaz/Obervaz in the district of Albula, sub-district Alvaschein.... |
Downhill |
External links
- Pictures of Lasse Kjus
- Ski-DB.com - Results - Lasse Kjus