Lydia Wideman (later ''Wideman-Lehtonen'', 17 May 1920 – 13 April 2019) was a cross-country skier from

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bo ...

and the first female Olympic medalist in cross-country skiing. In 1952 she competed in thirteen 10 km races and won all of them, including the

1952 Winter Olympics The 1952 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VI Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 6. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 6. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Oslo 1952, was a winter multi-sport event held from 14 to 25 February 195 ...

, national championships and

Lahti Ski Games Lahti Ski Games is an annual international Nordic skiing tournament. The games last for three days, during which participants compete in cross-country skiing, ski jumping, and Nordic combined. In the nearly 90-year history of the Lahti Ski Games, ...

. Wideman and her twin sister Tyyne were born in a family of ten siblings. Many members of her family were skilled cross-country skiers. In particular, Tyyne won the national 10 km title in 1949–1951, beating Lydia in 1951, but retiring the same year. In February 2018, following the death of

Durward Knowles Sir Durward Randolph Knowles (2 November 1917 – 24 February 2018) was a sailor and Olympic champion from the Bahamas. He won the gold medal in the Star class at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, together with Cecil Cooke.

, she became the oldest living Olympic champion. She died on 13 April 2019, aged 98.

Cross-country skiing results

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

Olympic Games

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wideman, Lydia 1920 births 2019 deaths Cross-country skiers at the 1952 Winter Olympics Finnish female cross-country skiers Medalists at the 1952 Winter Olympics Olympic cross-country skiers of Finland Olympic medalists in cross-country skiing Olympic gold medalists for Finland People from Mänttä-Vilppula Sportspeople from Pirkanmaa 20th-century Finnish women