Knut APELAND

Knut Tore Apeland qualified for the Norwegian World Cup team in Nordic combined in December 1988, as a 20-year-old, and won in only his second World Cup start, at Oberwiesenthal on 29 December 1988. Later in the season Apeland placed third at both the Norwegian Championships and Holmenkollen, In 1990 he won in Lahtis, and later in his career he won five more World Cup events, three of them in 1996, when he topped the overall World Cup standings. At the 1992 Albertville Games Apeland was a member of the silver medal winning Norwegian team, and he repeated that at Lillehammer in 1994. In the World Championships he won silver both individually and in the team event at Falun in 1993, and had another team silver two years later in Steamboat Springs. In Trondheim in 1997 Apeland finally got his international gold medal when Norway won the team event. He did not qualify for the 1998 Winter Olympics, but continued to compete until 2000. He was never able to win a Norwegian Championship, but did win one silver and five bronze medals domestically. Apeland settled in Haukeli and later managed the family firm producing houses and cabins in traditional lumber style.