Maiken Caspersen Falla (born 13 August 1990) is a Norwegian former cross-country skier who specialized in sprint and short-distance races. She is the 2014 Olympic champion in the individual sprint and three-time Olympic medalist. She became the individual sprint World champion at the 2017 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships and successfully defended her World title in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

. Falla won a total of five gold, one silver and four bronze medals at the

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 her career and she is the most medalled skier in the individual sprint discipline in the Championship history with five medals. Winner of three consecutive Sprint World Cup crystal globes, Falla's highest finish in the overall World Cup standings was sixth-place which she achieved in 2014–15 and 2015–16 World Cup seasons. With 22 World Cup sprint victories, Falla is the second-most successful female World Cup sprinter of all time, only behind

Marit Bjørgen Marit Bjørgen (born 21 March 1980) is a former Norwegian cross-country skier. She is ranked first in the all-time Cross-Country World Cup rankings with 114 individual victories. Bjørgen is also the most successful sprinter in Cross-Country Wo ...

. She also shares the record of most sprint victories in a single season with

Petra Majdič Petra Majdič (born 22 December 1979) is a Slovenian former cross-country skier. Her best results came in classic style races. She won twenty-four World Cup races, twenty in sprint races, but she also won a marathon (30 km race) in Trondh ...

at eight victories. She announced her retirement from cross-country skiing in April 2022.

Career

Falla made her

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

debut with a classical sprint race in

Kuusamo Kuusamo (; ; ; ) is a List of cities and towns in Finland, town and municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland. It is located in Koillismaa, the northeastern part of the Northern Ostrobothnia regions of Finland, region. The municipality h ...

on 29 November 2008, where she finished in 22nd place. She reached her first

podium in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

in her second ever World Cup race. With that promising start, Falla was given a spot in the individual sprint race at the

2009 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 () took place 18 February – 1 March 2009 in Liberec, Czech Republic. This was the fourth time these championships were hosted either in the Czech Republic or in Czechoslovakia, having done so at Ja ...

Liberec Liberec (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 108,000 inhabitants, making it the fifth largest city in the country. It lies on the Lusatian Neisse River, in a basin surrounded by mountains. The city centre is well preserved and is pr ...

, but she failed to qualify for the quarter-finals by finishing 39th in qualifying round. After a podium appearance in her rookie season, Falla could not make the World Cup podium for more than two years. During that span, her sixth-place finish at the classical sprint in

helped her to secure a spot in the Norwegian Olympic team for the

2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...

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. At the Olympics, she finished 20th in the individual sprint event. Falla returned to World Cup podium in 2010/11 season with a third place at the classical sprint in

Otepää Otepää (formerly Nuustaku) is a town in Valga County, southern Estonia. It is the administrative centre of Otepää Parish. Otepää is a popular skiing resort, popularly known as the "winter capital" of Estonia (in contrast to the "summer ca ...

, then she backed up that performance with a second-place finish in

Drammen Drammen () is a city and municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the south-eastern and most populated part of Norway. Drammen municipality also includes smaller towns and villages such ...

. With two podiums in the last two sprints prior to the

2011 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2011 took place from 23 February to 6 March 2011
— accessed 12 Marc ...

, she became one of the medal favorites in the upcoming home

in Oslo Holmenkollen. At the World Championships, after setting the third fastest time in the qualification Falla took a fall in her quarter final heat and eliminated from the competition in that stage after finishing third in the heat. After the disappointment in the individual sprint, Falla was not initially considered for the

team sprint The team sprint (also sometimes known as the Olympic sprint) is a track cycling event. Despite its name, it is not a conventional cycling sprint event – it is a three-rider team time trial held over three laps of a velodrome. The riders use a ...

but after the withdrawal of

, she was selected for the event alongside

Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen (born 22 January 1987) is a Norwegian former cross-country skier and a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). She skied with the IL Heming club in Oslo, near Holmenkollen. Her greatest achievement is win ...

and the pair went on to take a bronze medal behind the Swedish and Finnish teams. In 2011/12 season, Falla won her first World Cup victory in a freestyle sprint race in

Rogla Rogla () is a peak on Zreče Pohorje () in the Municipality of Zreče in northeastern Slovenia. The area is part of the traditional region of Styria. It is now included in the Savinja Statistical Region. Name Rogla was attested in written sour ...

, Slovenia. She also reached four more podiums during the season and finished the season in second place in sprint rankings behind

Kikkan Randall Kikkan Randall (born December 31, 1982) is an American Olympic champion Cross-country skiing (sport), cross-country skier. She has won 17 U.S. National titles, made 29 podiums on the World Cup, made five trips to the Winter Olympic Games and had ...

. Falla started 2012/13 season in very good form with one victory and three podiums from her first three sprint races. She also reached a podium in a distance race for the first time, a 10 km mass start race in

Canmore Canmore may refer to: *Canmore (database), a Scottish national online database of ancient monuments; *Canmore, Alberta, a town in Canada; *the House of Dunkeld, a royal house that ruled Scotland in the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries, including **Malc ...

, but her level dropped after mid-January, and she could not make a single top 10 in the remainder of the World Cup season. Despite the decrease in performance, at the 2013 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in

Val di Fiemme 300px, Location of the Fiemme Valley in Trentino. 300px, The Passo_Lusia.html" ;"title="Lagorai seen from Passo Lusia">Lagorai seen from Passo Lusia. Fiemme Valley (, ) is a valley in the Trentino Provinces of Italy, province, i.e. the southern ...

, Falla won her first individual World Championship medal with a bronze medal in the individual sprint event. For the

race she teamed up with

Ingvild Flugstad Østberg Ingvild Flugstad Østberg (born 9 November 1990) is a Norwegian Cross-country skiing (sport), cross-country skier who has competed since 2008. Career She won her first competition in the sprint event in the Tour de Ski on 31 December 2013. Her ...

but the pair missed the medals and finished in fourth place mainly due to Østberg’s fall in the penultimate leg of the race. Falla has not started well to 2013/14 season and she managed to reach only one podium in World Cup sprints before the Olympics. At the

2014 Winter Olympics The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXII Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Sochi 2014 (), were an international winter multi-sport event that was held from 7 to 23 February 2014 in Sochi, Russia. Opening ro ...

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...

Falla won the gold medal in individual sprint despite more than one year without a victory in the World Cup. She dominated the event from start to finish by setting the fastest time in the qualifying round and winning every heat she competed. She was left out in the team sprint since her teammates

and

has shown better performance in classical discipline throughout the season. Although the reason was understandable for many, some people – including

Bente Skari 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, and won her first gold medal in the 2 ...

– criticized the decision of putting Bjørgen into the team instead of Olympic champion Falla. After the Olympics, Falla earned her sole World Cup victory of the season in the prestigious classical sprint race in

. In 2014/15 season, Falla recorded four World Cup podiums and her only victory of the season once again came in

. She finished the season in third place in sprint rankings behind her teammates Bjørgen and Østberg. At the 2015 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in

Falun Falun () is a city and the seat of Falun Municipality in Dalarna County, Sweden, with 37,291 inhabitants in 2010. It is also the capital of Dalarna County. Falun forms, together with Borlänge, a metropolitan area with just over 100,000 inhabit ...

, Falla earned her first World Championship gold medal in the

event with Østberg, but once again she had to settle for bronze medal in the individual sprint behind

and Stina Nilsson. Falla's best season to date in terms of wins came in 2015/16 season. She was the dominant force in sprint races of the World cup throughout the season by winning eight of eleven sprint races, she participated in and missed the podium only once in the entire season. That came 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 ...

where she was dealing with illness. With eight sprint victories, Falla equaled the

’s record of most World Cup sprint victories in a single season. At the end of the season she clinched the seasonal sprint World Cup title for the first time in her career. In 2016/17 season, Falla defended her sprint World Cup title despite being outsprinted by Sweden's Stina Nilsson in most of the sprint races. Although Falla has only one sprint victory compared to

Nilsson Nilsson is a Swedish surname and the fourth most common surname in Sweden. The name is a patronymic meaning " Nils's son". Nils was a very common name, especially in 19th century Sweden. People with the surname * Anders Nilsson (disambiguation) ...

's six, she took the advantage in sprint rankings when

opted not to ski in

Toblach Toblach (; ) is a ''comune''/''Gemeinde'' (municipality) in South Tyrol in Northern Italy, located in the Puster Valley about northeast of the city of Bolzano, on the border with Austria. Geography As of November 30, 2010, it had a population ...

and she maintained it until the end of the season. At the 2017 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in

Lahti Lahti (; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Päijät-Häme. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Lahti is approximately , while the Lahti sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately . It is the mo ...

, Falla took the gold medal in the individual sprint in a similar fashion to her Olympic title and won the only sprint title that has eluded her in her career. She set the fastest time in the qualification and won every heat she competed during the process, while her archrival

was disqualified in the semifinal. By winning the gold medal, she became the second female skier to win

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

World The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that Existence, exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk ...

and

sprint title after her compatriot

who reached that triple crown in 2010 but Falla has the distinction of holding those three honours at the same time. During the championships, Falla added two more gold medals to her medal tally and finished the championships with three gold medals. Along with

Heidi Weng Heidi Weng (born 20 July 1991) is a Norwegian cross-country skier and fell runner. Career In cross-country skiing her best individual World Cup finish is her victories in Tour de Ski both 2016–17 and 2017–18. She has won three gold medals ...

, she once again brought the World

title to Norway. She was also the member of the Norwegian relay team that won the gold medal in 4 × 5 km relay, running the opening classical leg.

Personal life

Falla resides in

Lillehammer Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the munici ...

along with her partner Kristian Hågensen Aune, a former football player who has served as a captain for the Norwegian club

Levanger FK Levanger Fotballklubb is a Norwegian football club located in Levanger Municipality. The club currently plays in the 2. divisjon, the third tier of the Norwegian football league system The Norwegian football league system, or pyramid, is a seri ...

. Her twin brother Marius Caspersen Falla is also a cross-country skier.

Cross-country skiing results

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

Olympic Games

* 3 medals – (1 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze)

World Championships

* 10 medals – (5 gold, 1 silver, 4 bronze)

World Cup

Season titles

* 3 titles – (3 sprint)

Season standings

Individual podiums

* 22 victories – (16 , 6 ) * 55 podiums – (39 , 15 )

Team podiums

* 6 victories – (2 , 4 ) * 15 podiums – (2 , 13 )

Overall record

:a. Classification is made according to FIS classification. :b. Includes individual and mass start races.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Falla, Maiken Caspersen 1990 births Cross-country skiers at the 2010 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 2014 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 2018 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 2022 Winter Olympics Living people Norwegian female cross-country skiers Olympic cross-country skiers for Norway Skiers from Akershus FIS Nordic World Ski Championships medalists in cross-country skiing Tour de Ski skiers Medalists at the 2014 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2018 Winter Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Norway Olympic silver medalists for Norway Olympic bronze medalists for Norway Olympic medalists in cross-country skiing People from Fet, Norway 21st-century Norwegian sportswomen