Ole Gunnar Fidjestøl

Ole Gunnar Fidjestøl had his international breakthrough in the 1984 season, when he placed fifth in the Four Hill Tournament in Germany/Austria at the beginning of the season, and competed on the large hill at the 1984 games, placing a modest 31st. He was a member of the silver medal winning Norwegian ski jumping team at the World Championships in 1987 and 1989, and at the 1988 Calgary Games won an Olympic bronze in the team event. Fidjestøl’s greatest international moment came in 1988 when he was crowned World Champion in ski flying in Oberstdorf. He won four national championships titles in ski jumping in the period 1987-90, and also had four World Cup victories from 1985-89.

Fidjestøl was selected to jump with the Olympic Flame at the Opening Ceremony of the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics, but was severely injured in a test jump, and the task was given to his substitute, Stein Gruben. Fidjestøl lives with his family in Vikersund, where Norway’s only ski flying hill is located, and is head manager of the ski flying competitions on the hill.