Bente Skari, née Martinsen, (born 10 September 1972) is a Norwegian former cross-country skier. She is one of the most successful cross-country skiers ever.

Career

She won her first Olympic medals in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, and won her first gold medal in the

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 (; Gosiute dialect, Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; ; Shoshoni language, Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), were an international wi ...

, coming from behind to beat the favourites Olga Danilova and Julija Tchepalova in the last kilometers of the 10 km classical event. Skari was the first Norwegian woman to win an individual gold medal in cross-country skiing. She also won a bronze medal in 30 km classical as well as a silver medal in the relay. Additionally, she won five gold medals (5 km: 1999, 10 km: 2001, 2003, and 15 km: 2001, 2003) from the

FIS Nordic World Ski Championships The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships is a biennial Nordic skiing event organized by the International Ski Federation (FIS). The World Championships was started in 1925 for men and opened for women's participation in 1954. World Championship eve ...

, as well as two silver (4 × 5 km relay: 1997, 2001) medals. She won the overall cross-country skiing World Cup four times before retiring after the 2003 season. Skari also won the women's 30 km event at the

Holmenkollen ski festival The Holmenkollen Ski Festival ( or ) is a traditional annual Nordic skiing event in Holmenkollen, Oslo, Norway. The full official name of the event is Holmenkollen FIS World Cup Nordic. History It takes place in March and has been arranged every ...

in 2003. In 2001, she received the Holmenkollen medal (shared with

Adam Małysz Adam Henryk Małysz (; born 3 December 1977) is a Polish former ski jumper and rally driver. He competed in ski jumping from 1995 to 2011 and is one of the most successful athletes in the history of the sport. His many accomplishments include ...

and

Thomas Alsgaard Thomas Alsgaard (born 10 January 1972) is a Norwegian former professional cross-country skier. Alsgaard is regarded by many as the best performer of the freestyle technique (skating) in cross-country skiing and many of today's best skiers have st ...

). Her father,

Odd Martinsen Odd-Willy Martinsen (born 20 December 1942) is a retired Norwegian cross-country skier who competed during the 1960s and 1970s. He won three medals at the Winter Olympics, a gold in the 4 × 10 km relay (1968) and silvers in the 30 ...

, earned the Holmenkollen medal in 1969. They are the only father-daughter combination to ever win this prestigious honour. In 1998, she won Tjejvasan.

After retirement

In 2007, Skari was named as the first female race administrator in cross-country skiing. She assisted in the 2007-08 Tour de Ski, working as an assistant technical delegate in the events held in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. This is part of the Norwegian Ski Federation's effort to promote more women in management positions in skiing.

Cross-country skiing results

All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).

Olympic Games

* 5 medals – (1 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze)

World Championships

* 7 medals – (5 gold, 2 silver) :a. Cancelled due to extremely cold weather.

World Cup

Season titles

* 9 titles – (4 overall, 5 sprint)

Season standings

:a. 5th in the Long Distance World Cup.
6th in the Middle Distance World Cup.

Individual podiums

* 42 victories * 60 podiums

Team podiums

*5 victories – (4 , 1 ) *23 podiums – (22 , 1 ) Note: Until the 1999 World Championships, World Championship races were included in the World Cup scoring system.

Overall record

:a. Classification is made according to FIS classification. :b. Includes individual and mass start races. :c. Includes pursuit and double pursuit races. :d. May be incomplete due to lack of appropriate sources for some relay races prior to 1995/96 World Cup season. Note: Until 1999 World Championships and 1994 Olympics, World Championship and Olympic races are part of the World Cup. Hence results from those races are included in the World Cup overall record.

Personal life

Bente Skari was named Martinsen before marrying Geir Skari in 1999. She is the mother of three children, Filip, Oda and Selma.

References

*
FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2011 February 12, 2008 article on Skari's role in the championships.
- accessed March 12, 2008.
Holmenkollen medalists
- click Holmenkollmedaljen for downloadable pdf file
Holmenkollen winners since 1892
- click Vinnere for downloadable pdf file ;Notes {{DEFAULTSORT:Skari, Bente 1972 births Living people Holmenkollen medalists Holmenkollen Ski Festival winners Norwegian female cross-country skiers Cross-country skiers at the 1994 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 1998 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 2002 Winter Olympics Olympic cross-country skiers for Norway Olympic gold medalists for Norway Olympic silver medalists for Norway Olympic bronze medalists for Norway People from Nittedal Skiers from Akershus Olympic medalists in cross-country skiing FIS Nordic World Ski Championships medalists in cross-country skiing FIS Cross-Country World Cup champions Medalists at the 2002 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1998 Winter Olympics