Ulrich Wehling (born 8 July 1952 in Halle) is a retired

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

skier who won the

nordic combined Nordic combined is a winter sport in which athletes compete in cross-country skiing (sport), cross-country skiing and ski jumping. The Nordic combined at the Winter Olympics has been held since the first 1924 Winter Olympics, Winter Olympics in ...

event in the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held i ...

three consecutive times, in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

, and

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

. Wehling was the first man to win three consecutive gold medals in the same event at Winter Olympics but not the first Olympian to win three Gold in a winter discipline as

Gillis Grafström Gillis Emanuel Grafström (7 June 1893 – 14 April 1938) was a Swedish Figure skating, figure skater. He was born in Stockholm, Sweden. He won three successive Olympic gold medals in Men's Figure Skating (1920, 1924, 1928) as well as an Olympic ...

had won a figure skating title at the Summer Olympics 1920 before winning twice at the first two Winter

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

. At 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 ...

, Wehling won two Nordic combined medals with a gold in 1974 and a bronze in 1978. Wehling also won the Nordic combined 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 ...

three straight years (1975–1977). For his successes in the Nordic combined, he received the Holmenkollen medal in 1976. He was a

Stasi The Ministry for State Security (, ; abbreviated MfS), commonly known as the (, an abbreviation of ), was the Intelligence agency, state security service and secret police of East Germany from 1950 to 1990. It was one of the most repressive pol ...

informer under the codename "Springer". Wehling is currently FIS Race Director for the Nordic combined, a role he also did for the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics (), officially the XX Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February in Turin, Italy. This marked the second time Italy had hosted the Winter O ...

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

and the

FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2007 The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2007 took place 22 February – 4 March 2007 in Sapporo, Japan. It was the second time this city has hosted these championships, having previously done so in the 1972 Winter Olympics. Sapporo was selected ...

Sapporo is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in Hokkaido, Japan. Located in the southwest of Hokkaido, it lies within the alluvial fan of the Toyohira River, a tributary of the Ishikari River. Sapporo is the capital ...

. He now lives in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

Other successes

* 1971 junior European champion * 1975 GDR masters * 1976 GDR master * 1977 GDR master * 1978 GDR master * 1979 GDR master

Citations

References

FIS Official listings
*
Holmenkollen medalists
- click Holmenkollmedaljen for downloadable pdf file
Holmenkollen winners since 1892
- click Vinnere for downloadable pdf file 1952 births Living people Nordic combined skiers at the 1972 Winter Olympics Nordic combined skiers at the 1976 Winter Olympics Nordic combined skiers at the 1980 Winter Olympics German male Nordic combined skiers Holmenkollen medalists Holmenkollen Ski Festival winners Olympic Nordic combined skiers for East Germany East German male Nordic combined skiers Olympic gold medalists for East Germany Sportspeople from Halle (Saale) Skiers from Saxony-Anhalt Olympic medalists in Nordic combined FIS Nordic World Ski Championships medalists in Nordic combined Medalists at the 1976 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1980 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1972 Winter Olympics Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit Sportspeople from Bezirk Halle {{Nordic-skiing-bio-stub Stasi informants