Lasse Kjus

Lasse Kjus was one of the most successful skiiers in Alpine history. He had 18 World Cup victories, 10 in downhill, and won 4 gold, 11 silver and 1 bronze medal in the Winter Olympics or World Championships in the period from 1993-2005. The only male alpine skier with more international championships medals is his friend Kjetil André Aamodt. Kjus won six national titles, and was an excellent all-rounder, with international medals in all Alpine disciplines. His international breakthrough at the senior level came in 1993 when he was World Champion in combined at Morioka, Japan, although in 1990 he had won medals in all five events at the World Junior Championships. He again won the combined at the 1994 Lillehammmer Olympics, heading a Norwegian medal sweep. At the 1999 World Championships in Vail, Colorado, Kjus medalled in every event, winning giant slalom and Super-G, and taking silver in downhill, slalom and the combined, making him, through 2013, the only alpine skier to medal in all five events at an international championship.

Kjus was twice the overall World Cup champion, in 1996 and 1999, and won four event seasonal World Cups, adding downhill and combined in 1999, and winning the combined in 1994 and 2001. In all he had 60 podiums in World Cup races. One of his most famous races came in the 1999 Lauberhorn slalom at Wengen when he caught a tip coming out of the gate, spun around and went through the first gate backwards, but corrected himself and still finished third in the race, a feat seen often on youtube.

The “Dream Team” of Kjus and Aamodt ended their career after the 2006 Olympics, but just for fun Kjus made a comeback at the 2008 Norwegian Championships, winning a silver medal in downhill at the 1994 Olympic venue in Kvitfjell, Lillehammer. After his retirement Kjus became a very successful businessman, and in 2012 sold the rights to his brand Kjus to the Swiss firm LK Internatonal for 56 million Norwegian Kroner.