Therese Johaug

Therese Johaug (born 25 June 1988) is a Norwegian former cross-country skier from the village of Dalsbygda in Os Municipality.^[2][3] In World Ski Championships she won ten individual gold medals along with four gold medals in relays, and she is a four-time Olympic gold medallist.

After skiing some domestic races in the 2006 season, Johaug took part at the Norwegian Championships in 2007, winning a bronze at the 7.5 km + 7.5 km double pursuit event.^[4] She was selected for two World Cup races before the World Championships, finishing eighth and 33rd in two interval start races over 10 km, which was enough to be selected for competition in the 30 km distance at the 2007 Sapporo World Championships where she won a surprising bronze medal.

At the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, she won gold in the 4 × 5 km relay, came sixth in the 15 km pursuit and seventh in the 30 km mass start (classic) race.

Johaug won her first individual gold medal in the 30 km mass start race at the 2011 World Championships in Oslo. She also won gold in the 4 x 5 km relay, bronze in the 7.5 km + 7.5 km double pursuit and fourth in the 10 km individual start. At the 2013 World Championships, she won her second individual gold medal in the 10 km freestyle race.

At the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, she won the silver medal in the 30 km mass start (free), the bronze medal in the 10 km classical, and finished fourth in the 15 km skiathlon.

Johaug and compatriot Martin Johnsrud Sundby became the first Norwegians to win the Tour de Ski when they won the women's and men's competitions in the 2013–14 edition of the race.^[5] Johaug subsequently won the overall and distance competitions in the 2013–14 FIS Cross-Country World Cup.^[6]

She won the Birkebeinerrennet ski marathon in 2015 with a time of 2.41.46. That year she also enjoyed her most successful World Championship performance in Falun, where she took three gold medals: two in individual events (the 15km skiathlon and the 30km classic mass start) and one as part of the Norwegian women's team in the 4x5km relay.^[7][8][9]

Johaug followed her World Championship success with her best-ever World Cup season in 2015–16, winning a second Tour de Ski by overturning a 39-second deficit to Ingvild Flugstad Østberg on the final stage to complete the climb up Alpe Cermis with a lead of 2 minutes 21 seconds over runner-up Østberg.^[10] She went on to capture the overall and distance World Cups, rounding off her season by winning the inaugural Ski Tour Canada in a similar fashion to her Tour de Ski win, eradicating Heidi Weng's 30-second lead on the final stage pursuit to take victory by over a minute.^[11]

Until 2016 Egil Kristiansen coached Johaug, and was described (by media) as "in reality her best coach ... [and he had] helped her master freestyle" skiing.^[12]

In August 2019, Johaug competed in the Norwegian national athletics championship and won the 10,000 metres on 32:20.87.^[13] She followed this up with a time of 31:33.15 in May 2021 falling just 8 seconds short of an Olympic berth.^[14]

Johaug served an 18-month competition ban from October 2016 to April 2018 for an anti-doping rule violation after testing positive for unintentional use of clostebol.^[15][16] An initial suspension of 13-months was overturned and extended by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) following an appeal by the International Ski Federation (FIS). The ruling accepted Johaug's explanation that the source of the clostebol was an ointment provided by the team physician, Fredrik Bendiksen, but it was deemed that Johaug to have "failed to conduct a basic check of [the treatment's] packaging".^{[17][18][19][20][21]}

All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).^[22]

• 6 medals – (4 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze)

• 23 medals – (14 gold, 5 silver, 4 bronze)

• 8 titles – (3 Overall, 5 Distance)

• 89 victories – (50 WC, 39 SWC)
• 160 podiums – (89 WC, 71 SWC)

• 18 victories – (18 RL)
• 22 podiums – (22 RL)

As of 13 October 2016, her sponsors were Tag Heuer, Huawei, Isklar and Eger.^[23]

The sponsorship with Huawei ended in December 2020.^[24]

Media related to Therese Johaug at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website Archived 5 August 2021 at the Wayback Machine
• Therese Johaug at the International Ski and Snowboard Federation
• Therese Johaug at World Athletics
• Therese Johaug at Olympics.com
• Therese Johaug at Olympedia
• Therese Johaug at Team Norway (in Norwegian)