Norwegian · Oslo, Norway · Born 11 December 1927 · Died 2015-12-27Norwegian skiing pioneer and the first male ski racer from outside the Alps to win Olympic gold, later a founding figure of American ski culture.
Ski races were banned outright during the Nazi occupation of Norway, so Stein Eriksen trained in secret — and emerged from the war as the country's top slalom racer by 1949. Born 11 December 1927 in Oslo into a sporting family, he was the son of a 1912 Olympic gymnastics bronze medalist and brother to a fighter ace who also skied. He trained secretly during the Nazi occupation of Norway, when large gatherings including ski races were forbidden, and became Norway's top slalom racer by 1949, adding bronze in slalom at the 1950 World Championships in Aspen. At the 1952 Winter Olympics in his home city of Oslo, Eriksen won gold in the giant slalom by nearly two seconds and silver in the slalom, becoming the first alpine skier from outside the European Alps to win an Olympic gold medal. Two years later he swept all three gold medals - slalom, giant slalom, and combined - at the 1954 World Championships in Åre, Sweden, a clean sweep no other skier of his era managed. After ending his amateur career in 1954, Eriksen moved to the United States, where he became one of skiing's first true celebrities, serving as ski school director at a string of resorts including Sun Valley, Boyne Mountain, Sugarbush, Heavenly Valley, and ultimately Deer Valley, Utah, where the Stein Eriksen Lodge was built in his honor. Renowned for his graceful 'reverse-shoulder' technique and spectacular acrobatic ski jumps performed as promotional entertainment, he is credited with devising the aerial tricks that became the foundation of freestyle skiing, earning him the lasting nickname 'the Father of Freestyle.' He died in Utah on 27 December 2015, aged 88.
First alpine skiing Olympic gold medalist from outside the Alps
How They Played
Elegant, gymnastics-influenced technical skier known for a distinctive graceful 'reverse-shoulder' turn and spectacular showmanship
Lasting Impact
Remembered as one of skiing's first global superstars and a pioneering figure who helped popularize the sport across the United States for decades after his own racing career ended
Career Honours
- Olympic gold, Giant Slalom (1952)
- 4 World Championship golds (1954)
- credited with devising freestyle skiing's aerial tricks
Norwegian Athletes