Vegard Ulvang (born October 10, 1963 in Kirkenes

Kirkenes

is a town in the municipality of Sør-Varanger in the county of Finnmark in the far northeast of Norway...

) is 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...

 former cross-country skier

Cross-country skiing

Cross-country skiing is a winter sport in which participants propel themselves across snow-covered terrain using skis and poles...

 who won three Olympic

Olympic Games

The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...

 gold medals. At the opening ceremony of the 1994 Winter Olympic Games, he took the ceremonial Olympic Oath

Olympic Oath

The Olympic Oath is a solemn promise made by one athlete -- as a representative of each of the participating Olympic competitors; and by one judge -- as a representative of each officiating Olympic referee or other official, at the opening ceremonies of each Olympic Games...

 on part of all the athletes. In addition to his Olympic achievements, he received the Holmenkollen medal

Holmenkollen medal

The Holmenkollen medal is Norwegian skiing's highest award for competitors. It signifies top placings in international championships and other international events, including the Holmenkollen events....

 in 1991 (shared with Trond Einar Elden

Trond Einar Elden

Trond Einar Elden is a former Norwegian Nordic combined skier who represented Namdalseid I.L. in Trondheim....

, Ernst Vettori

Ernst Vettori

Ernst Vettori is an Austrian former ski jumper. He won the Four Hills Tournament twice...

, and Jens Weißflog), and won the World Cup

FIS Cross-Country World Cup

The FIS Cross-Country World Cup is an annual cross-country skiing competition, arranged by the International Ski Federation since 1981. The competition was arranged unofficially between 1973 and 1981, although it received provisional recognition on the 31...

 in 1990. He has also won nine gold, six silver, and two bronze medals in the Norwegian Championships. He earned nine World Cup race victories. Ulvang also won the 50 km at the Holmenkollen ski festival

Holmenkollen ski festival

The Holmenkollen Ski Festival is a traditional annual Nordic skiing event in Holmenkollen, Oslo, Norway. The full official name of the event is Holmenkollen FIS World Cup Nordic. It takes place in March and has been arranged every year since 1892, except for 1898 and during World War II...

 in 1989, 1991 and 1992.

After retiring from professional skiing, he started his own clothing line which has made him a multimillionaire.

On May 25, 2006, Ulvang was named chairman of the executive board of the International Ski Federation

International Ski Federation

The International Ski Federation, known by its name in French, Fédération Internationale de Ski is the main international organisation for ski sports...

's cross-country committee, taking over from Peter Petricek of Slovenia

Slovenia

Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...

, who decided to step down after four years in the job. Ulvang was given the position without election after the board of the FIS decided unanimously that Ulvang was the best man for the job.

Ulvang is also a part of Norwegian TV 2

TV 2 (Norway)

TV 2 is the largest commercial television station in Norway. Over 30% of the time Norwegians spend watching TV is spent watching TV 2. The station has 65% of the market for TV commercials in Norway....

's television travel-series Gutta på tur, together with fellow skier Bjørn Dæhlie

Bjørn Dæhlie

Bjørn Erlend Dæhlie is a Norwegian businessman and retired cross-country skier. With 8 olympic gold medals, Dæhlie is the most winning winter olympic champion of all time. With nine gold medals in the Nord World Ski Championships he is in addition the most winning World Champion skier...

, TV personality Arne Hjeltnes

Arne Hjeltnes

Arne Hjeltnes is a Norwegian writer, television personality, marketer and politician.He was born in Kristiansand, but grew up in Voss. He now lives in Snarøya in Bærum together with former television host Cathrine Gehrken and three female children. He first moved to Bærum in 1982 to attend the BI...

 and chef Arne Brimi

Arne Brimi

Arne Brimi, born 1957, is a famous Norwegian chef and food writer. He is also known for his appearance on the TV-series "Gutta på tur" with Olympic gold medalists Vegard Ulvang, Bjørn Dæhlie, and host Arne Hjeltnes....

. He is also the creator and organizer of the Tour de Ski

Tour de Ski

Tour de Ski is a cross-country skiing event held annually since 2007 in Central Europe, modeled on the Tour de France of cycling. Races have been held in the Czech Republic, Germany and Italy over eight days. The prize money for the event amounted to 1,055,000 Swiss francs , shared out on both men...

.

World Championship medals

• 1987
  • Bronze relay
• 1989
  • Silver 30 km
  • Bronze 15 km classical
• 1991
  • Gold relay
  • Bronze 30 km
• 1993
  • Gold relay
  • Silver 30 km
  • Bronze 10 km