- Bente Skari
Bente Skari, nèe Martinsen, (born
September 10 ,1972 inOslo ) is a formercross country skier fromNittedal ,Norway .Career
She won her first Olympic medals in 1998, and won her first gold medal in the 2002 Winter Olympics, coming from behind to beat the favourites
Olga Danilova andJulija Tchepalova in the last kilometers of the 10 km classical event. She also won a bronze medal in 30 km classical as well as a silver medal in the relay.Additionally, she won five gold medals (5 km: 1999, 10 km: 2001, 2003, and 15 km: 2001, 2003) from the
FIS Nordic World Ski Championships , as well as two silver (4 x 5 km: 1997, 2001) medals. She won the overall cross-country skiing World Cup four times before retiring after the 2002/2003 season.Skari also won the women's 30 km event at the
Holmenkollen ski festival in 2003. In 2001 she received theHolmenkollen medal (shared withAdam Malysz andThomas Alsgaard ). Her father,Odd Martinsen , earned theHolmenkollen medal in 1969. They are the only father-daughter combination to ever win this prestigious honour.FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2011
In 2007, Skari was named as the first woman race administator in cross country skiing. She assisted in the
2007-08 Tour de Ski , working as an assistant technical delegate in the events held in theCzech Republic . This is part of theNorwegian Ski Federation 's effort to promote more women in management positions in skiing.Personal life
Bente Skari was named Martinsen before marrying Geir Skari in 1999. She is the mother of two children, Filip and Oda.
References
*FIS|S=CC|ID=56885|name=Bente Skari Martinsen
* [http://www.oslo2011.no/a-comeback-for-the-women-in-cross-country.4459529-96128.html FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2011 February 12, 2008 article on Skari's role in the championships.] - accessed March 12, 2008.
* [http://www.skiforeningen.no/holmenkollen/holmenkollen_historikk Holmenkollen medalists] - click Holmenkollmedaljen for downloadable pdf file no icon
* [http://www.skiforeningen.no/holmenkollen/holmenkollen_historikk Holmenkollen winners since 1892] - click Vinnere for downloadable pdf file no icon
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
