Birger Johannes Ruud (23 August 1911 – 13 June 1998) was a Norwegian

ski jumper Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along with jump length, competitor's aerial style and other factors also affect the fin ...

and

alpine skier Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike other types of skiing ( cross-country, Telemark, or ski jumping), which use skis with free-heel bindings. Whether ...

Career

Born in

Kongsberg Kongsberg () is a historical mining town and municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. The city is located on the river Numedalslågen at the entrance to the valley of Numedal. Kongsberg has been a centre of silver mining, arms production and fo ...

, Birger Ruud, with his brothers

Sigmund In Germanic mythology, Sigmund ( , ) is a hero whose story is told in the Völsunga saga. He and his sister, Signý, are the children of Völsung and his wife Hljod. Sigmund is best known as the father of Sigurð the dragon-slayer, though Sigu ...

and

Asbjørn Asbjørn is a Norwegian and Danish male given name. In 2013, there were more than 7,000 men in Norway with this name. In Norway it reached the peak of its popularity between 1910 and 1930, during which period approximately 1% of children were gi ...

, dominated international jumping in the 1930s, winning three

world championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

in 1931, 1935 and 1937. Ruud also won the Olympic gold medal in

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

and

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...

, the first repeat winner of ski jumping gold. He also was an accomplished

, winning a bronze medal in the combined at the 1935

. Ruud won the Holmenkollen ski jumping competition in 1934 and shared the Holmenkollen medal in 1937 with Olaf Hoffsbakken and Martin P. Vangsli. In 1943, during the

German occupation of Norway The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until th ...

, Ruud was incarcerated at

Grini concentration camp Grini prison camp (, ) was a Nazi concentration camp in Bærum, Norway, which operated between 1941 and May 1945. Ila Detention and Security Prison is now located here. History Grini was originally built as a women's prison, near an old croft ...

for expressing his anti-

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

sentiments. After his release in 1944, he joined the

Norwegian resistance movement The Norwegian resistance (Norwegian language, Norwegian: ''Motstandsbevegelsen'') to the German occupation of Norway, occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany began after Operation Weserübung in 1940 and ended in 1945. It took several forms: *As ...

. He also competed in the 1948 Olympics, winning the ski jumping silver medal at age 36, though he was initially only at the Games as assistant coach of Norway’s ski jumping team. This accomplishment he personally held in the highest regard; it made him the first ski jumper to medal in three different Olympics. Ruud is also the only ski jumper to have won Olympic medals before and after the war and furthermore the one with the longest time period between winning medals at the Olympics (twelve years). Twice he set ski jumping world records: 76.5 m (250.98 ft) in

Odnesbakken Flubergbakken (also ''Odnesbakken'') was a HS117 ski jumping hill located between Fluberg and Odnes in Norway, opened in 1926. It was part of Odnes Ski Senter and owned by Fluberg IL Ski Club. Hill was renovated in 1955, 1985, 2002, then demoli ...

in 1931, and 92 m (301.84 ft) in

Planica Planica () is an Alpine valley in northwestern Slovenia, extending south from the border village of Rateče, not far from another well-known ski resort, Kranjska Gora. Further south, the valley extends into the Tamar Valley, a popular hikin ...

in 1934. Later in life, Birger Ruud, with his friend Petter Hugsted, the 1948 gold medalist, participated in the creation of the Kongsberg Skiing Museum. In 1987, a bronze sculpture of Birger Ruud, by the Norwegian sculptor Per Ung, was set up in Ruud’s native town of Kongsberg, and in 1991 he was awarded the

Egebergs Ærespris The Egebergs Ærespris ("Honorary Prize of Egeberg") is a prize awarded to Norway, Norwegian athletes who excel in more than one sport. The prize was created by Ferdinand Julian Egeberg, and consists of a bronze statuette modelled by sculptor Magnu ...

for his achievements in ski jumping and alpine skiing. Ruud was selected to

light Light, visible light, or visible radiation is electromagnetic radiation that can be visual perception, perceived by the human eye. Visible light spans the visible spectrum and is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400– ...

the

Olympic Flame The Olympic flame is a Olympic symbols, symbol used in the Olympic movement. It is also a symbol of continuity between ancient and modern games. The Olympic flame is lit at Olympia, Greece, several months before the Olympic Games. This ceremony s ...

at the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics in Norway, but had to withdraw due to heart complications immediately before the event. He died in 1998, aged 86.

Ski jumping world records

Not recognized! Crash at world record distance.

References

External links

* . Alpine skiing profile * . Ski jumping profile * * * * * *
Birger Ruud's Memorial Fund

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruud, Birger 1911 births 1998 deaths Ski jumpers at the 1932 Winter Olympics Ski jumpers at the 1936 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 1936 Winter Olympics Ski jumpers at the 1948 Winter Olympics Holmenkollen medalists Holmenkollen Ski Festival winners Norwegian male alpine skiers Olympic alpine skiers for Norway Norwegian male ski jumpers Olympic ski jumpers for Norway Olympic gold medalists for Norway Olympic silver medalists for Norway Grini concentration camp survivors Norwegian resistance members Olympic medalists in ski jumping FIS Nordic World Ski Championships medalists in ski jumping Medalists at the 1932 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1936 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1948 Winter Olympics Kongsberg IF ski jumpers Skiers from Kongsberg 20th-century Norwegian sportsmen