Inger Bjørnbakken (28 December 1933 – 13 February 2021) was a Norwegian

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

She was born in

Bærum Bærum () is a list of municipalities of Norway, municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Akershus County, Norway. It forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on the west coast of the city. Bærum is Norway's fifth largest municipality with a populatio ...

and represented the club

Bærums SK Bærums Skiklub is a Norwegian multi sports club founded in 1885. It has sections for cross-country skiing, alpine skiing, freestyle skiing, snowboarding, biathlon and orienteering. Venues include Solbergbakken, Skuibakken and . Notable club ...

. She finished tied for sixth place (with fellow Norwegian

Astrid Sandvik Astrid Sandvik (born 1 October 1939) is a Norwegian Alpine skier who finished tied for sixth place (with fellow Norwegian and 1958 Holmenkollen medalist Inger Bjørnbakken) in the women's slalom at the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo. ...

) in the women's slalom at the

1956 Winter Olympics The 1956 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VII Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Cortina d'Ampezzo 1956 ( or ), were a multi-sport event held in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, from 26 January to 5 February 1956. Cortina, which ...

Cortina d'Ampezzo Cortina d'Ampezzo (; , ; historical ) sometimes abbreviated to simply Cortina, is a town and ''comune'' in the heart of the southern (Dolomites, Dolomitic) Alps in the province of Belluno, in the Veneto region of Northern Italy. Situated on the ...

. She also finished fourteenth in the

giant slalom Giant slalom (GS) is an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding competitive discipline. It involves racing between sets of poles ("gates") spaced at a greater distance from each other than in Slalom skiing, slalom but less than in Super-G. Giant sl ...

. Two years later, Bjørnbakken won the women's slalom at the 1958 World Championships in

Bad Gastein Bad Gastein ( is a spa town in the St. Johann im Pongau District. Picturesquely situated in a high valley of the Hohe Tauern mountain range, it is known for the Gastein waterfall and a variety of grand hotel buildings. Geography Bad Gastein i ...

. To date, she is the only Norwegian female world champion in alpine skiing. She later finished fourteenth in the slalom and 20th in the giant slalom of the

1960 Winter Olympics The 1960 Winter Olympics (officially the VIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Squaw Valley 1960) were a winter multi-sport event held from February 18 to 28, 1960, at the Squaw Valley Resort (now known as Palisades Tahoe) in Squaw Valley ...

. In the Holmenkollen Kandahar event she won seven races between 1955 and 1959. She also took seven national championship titles between 1956 and 1959. For her alpine world championship, Bjørnbakken earned the Holmenkollen Medal that same year (shared with Håkon Brusveen). Bjørnbakken is one of only eleven non- Nordic skiers to ever win the Holmenkollen medal (

Stein Eriksen Stein Eriksen (11 December 1927 – 27 December 2015) was an alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medalist from Norway. Following his racing career, he was a ski school director and ambassador at various resorts in the United States. Background ...

King Haakon VII Haakon VII (; 3 August 187221 September 1957) was King of Norway from 18 November 1905 until his death in 1957. The future Haakon VII was born in Copenhagen as Prince Carl of Denmark. He was the second son of the Crown Prince and Crown Princess ...

, Boghild Niskin, Sandvik,

King Olav V Olav V (, ; born Prince Alexander of Denmark; 2 July 1903 – 17 January 1991) was King of Norway from 1957 until his death in 1991. Olav was born at Sandringham House in England, the only child of Prince Carl of Denmark and Princess Maud of Wa ...

Erik Håker Erik Håker (born 4 March 1952) was the first Norwegian alpine skier to win a World Cup event. He has done that in 1971, and won four more events in 1972–1978. In 1979 he was awarded the Holmenkollen medal. Håker competed at the 1972, 1976 ...

Jacob Vaage Jakob Vaage (9 February 1905 – 29 January 1994) was a Norwegian educator, author and historian. He served as secretary of the Association for the Promotion of Skiing and curator of the Holmenkollen Ski Museum. Biography Vaage was born in Aker, ...

King Harald V Harald V (, ; born 21 February 1937) has been King of Norway since 1991. A member of the House of Glücksburg, Harald was the third child and only son of King Olav V of Norway and Princess Märtha of Sweden. He was second in the line of succ ...

Queen Sonja Sonja (born Sonja Haraldsen; 4 July 1937) is Queen of Norway as the wife of King Harald V. Sonja and the then Crown Prince Harald had dated for nine years prior to their marriage in 1968. They had kept their relationship a secret due to the ...

, and

Ingemar Stenmark Jan Ingemar Stenmark (; born 18 March 1956) is a Swedish former FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, World Cup Alpine skiing, alpine ski racer. He is regarded as a legendary skier and one of the most prominent Swedish athletes ever, having won several Oly ...

. All were from

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

except Stenmark, who is from

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

). Bjørnbakken died in a fire in her hometown on 13 February 2021, at the age of 87.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bjornbakken, Inger 1933 births 2021 deaths Alpine skiers at the 1956 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 1960 Winter Olympics Deaths from fire Holmenkollen medalists Norwegian female alpine skiers Olympic alpine skiers for Norway Skiers from Bærum 20th-century Norwegian sportswomen