START OF THE SPORTING CAREER

• Like all Norwegians, Marit Bjoergen grew up with Cross-Country skiing and learned it early in her life
• She was active kid and besides skiing she played football and handball
• She started to compete at the age of 7 and was beaten for the first time when she was 13 in a competition in Sweden
• She lived at a farm and had to help her parents

CAREER

• In 1999 she showed up for the first time at the FIS Nordic Junior World Ski Championships in Seefeld where she finished 5th in 5 km
• World Cup debut in December 1999
• In 2000 she started again at the Junior World Ski Championships but did not crack the top 10
• First World Cup win in 2002 in Düsseldorf as she won the season kick off sprint
• The Olympic in 2002 and has been in all Norwegian Olympic teams since then
• First World Championships title in 2003 in sprint free
• Marit Bjoergen has taken part in five FIS Nordic World Ski Championships since 2001 while her first victory came in sprint in Val di Fiemme 2003
• In Oberstdorf in 2005 she captured 5 medals including three golds, in the same season she won the overall World Cup ranking for the first time and was able to defend this title the season after
• At the Olympic Winter Games in Torino 2006 she claimed silver medal in 10 km classic
• Seasons after were marked by inconsistent performance. Turning point at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Liberec 2009 – without a medal
• Bjoergen changed the training, started to work on mental aspects of performance and focused more on balance, technique and strength
• 2009/10 season highlighted with five Olympic medals
• At the home FIS World Ski Championships in Oslo in 2011 she won four gold medals and one silver
• In 2011/12 season Bjoergen won the Overall World Cup
• In December 2012 Bjoergen recognized an irregularity of her hart beat and sit out FIS Tour de Ski 2012/13. Doctors did not find any health problem and Bjoergen could go to the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Val di Fiemme
• At the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Val di Fiemme she won again four gold medals and one silver

PERSONAL

• Marit Bjorgen grew up on a farm with her mother Kristin, father Ola-Ivar and her sister Kari (02.03.1986) and brother Anders (03.03.1979) in a little town called Rognes, which is close to Trondheim
• Her boyfriend is Fred Börre Lundberg, a former Nordic Combined athlete

NATIONAL FIRSTS

• She is the most successful Norwegian female at Winter Olympic Games
• She was awarded the Holmenkollen medal in 2010 – the highest award for a ski sport athlete in Norway

QUICK LINKS

Website: http://www.maritbjoergen.no/