Ole Christian FURUSETH

Ole Kristian Furuseth was in many ways the man who started the Norwegian Alpine skiing fairy tale, to make Norway the leading nation in the men’s alpine skiing during the 1990s. He grew up in the town of Jessheim, north of Oslo, and after trying different sports, concentrated on Alpine skiing when he was a teenager. Furuseth won his first World Cup competition in Japan in March 1989 and his last of nine in Italy in March 2000, becoming the first ever Alpine skier with World Cup wins in three different decades. Six of his World Cup wins came in slalom, and three in Giant Slalom. In the period 1989-2000 he was Norwegian champion nine times, with five wins in slalom, three in giant slalom and one in Super-G. Furuseth won the Giant Slalom World Cup in 1989/90, together with Günther Mader, to become the first Norwegian Alpine skier to win an event World Cup, and in the same season placed second in the overall World Cup. He won the slalom bronze medal at the 1991 World Championships, and seven years later earned an Olympic silver in the same event at Nagano. Furuseth was often hampered with injuries during his career. After the 1992 season he had surgery for a jumper’s knee, and a few years later had the same surgery on his other knee. Marrying in 1992, Furuseth settled with his family in Oslo, where he worked as a property developer.