Lauritz Bergendahl won the 50 km five times (1910, 1912, 1913, 1914 and 1915).
Photo: Gabrielsen, ca. 1910 (Oslo Museum / Digitalt Museum)

Oscar Gjøslien photographed during his 50 km winning race in the 1935 edition.
Photo: S. Gran (Oslo Museum / Digitalt Museum)

The Holmenkollen 50 km is an annual cross-country skiing race held at Holmenkollen National Arena in Oslo, Norway. The competition is part of the Holmenkollen Ski Festival. Previous to 2023 The 50 km distance is raced by men only as the women's equivalent is a 30 km race. Starting in 2023 both men and women will race 50k.

History

The first 50 km race in Oslo was planned to be part of Husebyrennet i 1887, but was first held in 1888. Torjus Hemmestveit won the inaugural 50 km race. 17 skiers started the race, 12 finished. The course consisted of two laps of 25 km and started at the velodrome at Majorstuen.

The next long-distance race, a 30 km, was planned to be part of Holmenkollrennene in 1898, but was cancelled due to lack of snow. 30 km races were held in 1900 and 1901, and the winners of these races are widely recognised as Holmenkollen 50 km winners. Also the winner of the 1907 edition is recognised as a winner, even though the course length was only 40 km. The first Holmenkollen 50 km race was held in 1902. The course consisted of two laps of 25 kilometres, both started and finished at Frognerseteren. For safety reasons, all skiers had to stop for a five-minute rest. These required pauses was only mandatory in the 1902 edition.

In 1905, the 50 km race was again cancelled due to lack of snow. Holmenkollrennene (later known as Holmenkollen Ski Festival) were in 1909 a part of a common arrangement with the first Norwegian Championships in cross-country skiing, and since a 30 km race was held at Lillehammer in these championships, the 50 km race in Holmenkollen was not held. The first foreign competitors at the Holmenkollen 50 km were a number of Swedes participating in 1903. The first non-Norwegian to win the race was Finnish skier Anton Collin in 1922. Tapani Niku, also from Finland, finished in second place.

In 1925 was the 50 km cancelled due to lack of snow in the days before Holmenkollrennene. Holmenkollrennene was threatened by lack of snow also in 1932, but was held two weeks after schedule. Holmenkollrennene, including the 50 km were not held during the Second World War.

Oslo arranged the World Championships in 1930, 1966, 1982 and 2011. In all the World Championships held in Oslo, the Holmenkollen 50 km was arranged as a part of the World Championships. In 1952, a separate 50 km race was held two weeks after the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo. The individual races in the 1982 World Championships were a part of the 1981–82 Cross-Country World Cup, the first official World Cup season, and the Holmenkollen 50 km race has since been a part of the World Cup, with the exception in 1985 when the 50 km did not have World Cup status. The cross-country skiing events at the 2011 World Championships were not part of the World Cup, unlike the 1982 World Championships.

In the 1985–86 season, cross-country skiing started to distinguish techniques and arrange separate races in classic style and freestyle (skating). The 50 km in Holmenkollen has since been arranged in both techniques. Lack of snow hindered the Holmenkollrennene again in 1990 and 1992, which caused the 50 km to be moved to Vang. Lillehammer hosted the 1994 Winter Olympics, and no 50 km race was held in Holmenkollen that year. The Holmenkollen National Arena was reconstructed in 2009 to prepare for the 2011 World Championships and the 50 km was therefore replaced by a World Cup race in Trondheim. Since 2010, the Holmenkollen 50 km has been competed with a mass start.

Records

Lauritz Bergendahl has the three biggest winning margins in the Holmenkollen 50 km. In 1914, he won by 22 minutes 39 seconds down to Elling Rønes. The following year, Bergendahl skied 21 minutes 36 seconds faster than second-placed Embret Mellesmo. He won by 17 minutes and 15 seconds down to Truls Braathen in 1912. The smallest winning margin from races held with individual start are the two seconds between winner Veikko Hakulinen and Pavel Kolchin in 1955. In mass starts, where the winning margins often are small, the smallest winning margin is a photo finish in 2015 where Sjur Røthe won ahead of Dario Cologna even though they finished in the same time.^[1]

The longest winning time for 50 km in Holmenkollen is 5 hours 33 minutes 37 seconds, when Elling Rønes won in 1906. The shortest winning time is Sjur Røthe's time in 2015: 1:54.44,9.

Alexander Bolshunov is the youngest winner of the race, aged 22 years and 68 days when winning the 2019 edition.

Thorleif Haug has the most victories with six; in 1918, 1919, 1920, 1921, 1923 and 1924. Lauritz Bergendahl won five times; in 1910, 1912, 1913, 1914 and 1915. Elling Rønes won four times; 1906, 1907, 1908 and 1916. After the Second World War, five skiers have won three times each: Veikko Hakulinen won in 1952 (Olympic Games), 1953 and 1955, Sverre Stensheim won in 1959, 1960 and 1961, Oddvar Brå won in 1975, 1979 and 1981, Thomas Wassberg won in 1980, 1982 and 1987, and Vegard Ulvang won in 1989, 1991 and 1992.

Multiple winners

Thorleif Haug won the 50 km a record six times (1918, 1919, 1920, 1921, 1923 og 1924).

Veikko Hakulinen is the first non-Norwegian to win the 50 km three times.

The following skiers have won the Holmenkollen 50 km at least twice.

Multiple winners of the Holmenkollen 50 km

Skier	Total	Editions
Thorleif Haug (NOR)	6	1918, 1919, 1920, 1921, 1923, 1924
Lauritz Bergendahl (NOR)	5	1910, 1912, 1913, 1914, 1915
Elling Rønes (NOR)	4	1906, 1907, 1908, 1916
Oddvar Brå (NOR)	3	1975, 1979, 1981
Veikko Hakulinen (FIN)	3	1952, 1953, 1955
Sverre Stensheim (NOR)	3	1959, 1960, 1961
Vegard Ulvang (NOR)	3	1989, 1991, 1992
Thomas Wassberg (SWE)	3	1980, 1982, 1987
Alexander Bolshunov (RUS)	2	2019, 2020
Paul Braaten (NOR)	2	1900, 1901
Gerhard Grimmer (GDR)	2	1970, 1971
Karl Hovelsen (NOR)	2	1902, 1903
Nils Karlsson (SWE)	2	1947, 1951
Petter Northug (NOR)	2	2010, 2011
Alexey Prokurorov (RUS)	2	1993, 1998
Assar Rönnlund (SWE)	2	1962, 1968
Anders Södergren (SWE)	2	2006, 2008
Martin Johnsrud Sundby (NOR)	2	2016, 2017
Gunde Svan (SWE)	2	1986, 1990
Arto Tiainen (FIN)	2	1964, 1965
Pål Tyldum (NOR)	2	1969, 1972
Sven Utterström (SWE)	2	1929, 1930
Andrus Veerpalu (EST)	2	2003, 2005

Results

The distance is 50 km unless otherwise noted. The 1888 50 km race was a part of Husebyrennet, but is included in this list for completeness reasons.

Date	Course / technique	Winner	Second	Third	Type
7 February 1888		Torjus Hemmestveit	Peder Eliassen	Nils Kamphaug	Husebyrennet
1898	30 km	Cancelled due to lack of snow			Holmenkollrennene
7 February 1900	30 km	Paul Braaten	Gustav Bye	Johs. Bentzen	Holmenkollrennene
6 February 1901	30 km	Paul Braaten	Halvard Hansen	Thorvald Moestue	Holmenkollrennene
5 February 1902		Karl Hovelsen	Paul Braaten	Halvard Hansen	Holmenkollrennene
4 February 1903	55 km[2]	Karl Hovelsen	Per Andreassen	Karl Sonerud	Holmenkollrennene, the Nordic Games
10 February 1904		Per Bakken	Per Andreassen	Otto Rønningen	Holmenkollrennene
1905		Cancelled due to lack of snow			Holmenkollrennene
8 March 1906		Elling Rønes	Helenus Bakken	Per Bakken	Holmenkollrennene
28 February 1907	40 km	Elling Rønes	Jens Skjærbæk	Andreas Udbye	Holmenkollrennene
20. February 1908	47.8 km	Elling Rønes	Olav Bjaaland	Jens Skjærbæk	Holmenkollrennene
1909		Not held			Holmenkollrennene
17 February 1910		Lauritz Bergendahl	Truls Braathen	Arne Hallén	Holmenkollrennene
2 March 1911		Truls Braathen	Embret Mellesmo	Elling Rønes	Holmenkollrennene
29 February 1912		Lauritz Bergendahl	Truls Braathen	Andreas Vesterhaug	Holmenkollrennene
27 February 1913		Lauritz Bergendahl	Johan Kristoffersen	Embret Mellesmo	Holmenkollrennene
26 February 1914		Lauritz Bergendahl	Elling Rønes	Anders Brännkärr	Holmenkollrennene
25 February 1915		Lauritz Bergendahl	Embret Mellesmo	Anders Brännkärr	Holmenkollrennene
24 February 1916		Elling Rønes	Ingvar Langlien	Johan Skjærbæk	Holmenkollrennene
22 February 1917		Ingvar Langlien	Elling Rønes	Amund Vanvik	Holmenkollrennene
21 February 1918		Thorleif Haug	G. Johanson	Henning Isaksson	Holmenkollrennene
27 February 1919		Thorleif Haug	Ingvar Langlien	Henning Isaksson	Holmenkollrennene
19 February 1920		Thorleif Haug	Johan Grøttumsbråten	Torkel Persson	Holmenkollrennene
17 February 1921		Thorleif Haug	Thoralf Strømstad	Johan Grøttumsbråten	Holmenkollrennene
23 February 1922		Anton Collin	Tapani Niku	Hagbart Haakonsen	Holmenkollrennene
22 February 1923		Thorleif Haug	Harald Økern	Thoralf Strømstad	Holmenkollrennene
21 February 1924		Thorleif Haug	Ole Hegge	Jon Mårdalen	Holmenkollrennene
1925		Cancelled due to lack of snow			Holmenkollrennene
24 February 1926		Olav Kjelbotn	Ole Hegge	Ole Stenen	Holmenkollrennene
2 March 1927		Henry Gjøslien	Ole Hegge	Lars Lørdahl	Holmenkollrennene
29 February 1928		Martti Lappalainen	Kristian Hovde	Hagbart Haakonsen	Holmenkollrennene
27 February 1929		Sven Utterström	Arne Rustadstuen	Per-Erik Hedlund	Holmenkollrennene
3 March 1930		Sven Utterström	Arne Rustadstuen	Adiel Paananen	1930 World Championships
25 February 1931		Ole Stenen	Kolbjørn Sevre	Oscar Aas Haugen	Holmenkollrennene
15 March 1932		Gjermund Muruåsen	Olav Lian	Oscar Gjøslien	Holmenkollrennene
1 March 1933		Sigurd Vestad	Annar Ryen	Konrad Nordfjellmark	Holmenkollrennene
5 March 1934		Kalle Heikkinen	Lars Bergendahl	Trygve Brodahl	Holmenkollrennene
27 February 1935		Oscar Gjøslien	John Johnsen	Per Samuelshaug	Holmenkollrennene
26 February 1936		Per Sætermyrmoen	Andreas Hverven	Valmari Toikka[3]	Holmenkollrennene
24 February 1937		Per Samuelshaug	Nils Englund	Oscar Gjøslien	Holmenkollrennene
7 March 1938		Pekka Niemi	Pekka Vanninen	Oscar Gjøslien	Holmenkollrennene
6 March 1939		Sven Edin	Lars Bergendahl	Mauritz Brännström	Holmenkollrennene
28 February 1940		Lars Bergendahl	Annar Ryen	Arthur Häggblad	Holmenkollrennene
1941–1945		Not held due to World War II			Holmenkollrennene
27 February 1946		Arve Ulseth	Thorleif Vangen	Leif Haugen	Holmenkollrennene
26 February 1947		Nils Karlsson	Arthur Herrdin	Martin Jære	Holmenkollrennene
3 March 1948		Harald Eriksson	Hallvard Eggset	Lennart Berg	Holmenkollrennene
2 March 1949		Nils Östensson	Sigvard Jonsson	Harald Maartmann	Holmenkollrennene
1 March 1950		Anders Törnqvist	Harald Maartmann	Gunnar Karlsson	Holmenkollrennene
24 February 1951		Nils Karlsson	Eero Kolehmainen	Magnar Estenstad	Holmenkollrennene
20 February 1952		Veikko Hakulinen	Eero Kolehmainen	Magnar Estenstad	1952 Winter Olympics
8 March 1952		Magnar Estenstad	Edvin Landsem	Harald Maartmann	Holmenkollrennet
28 February 1953		Veikko Hakulinen	Martti Lautala	Arvo Viitanen	Holmenkollrennet
6 March 1954		Martin Stokken	Sixten Jernberg	Eero Kolehmainen	Holmenkollrennet
5 March 1955		Veikko Hakulinen	Pavel Kolchin	Viktor Baranov	Holmenkollrennet
25 February 1956		Arvo Viitanen	Hallgeir Brenden	Erling Bjørn	Holmenkollrennet
2 March 1957		Eero Kolehmainen	Veikko Hakulinen	Martin Stokken	Holmenkollrennet
15 March 1958		Pavel Kolchin	Eljas Koistinen	Hallgeir Brenden	Holmenkollrennet
7 March 1959		Sverre Stensheim	Eero Kolehmainen	Veikko Räsänen	Holmenkollrennet
19 March 1960		Sverre Stensheim	Oddmund Jensen	Ingmund Holtås	Holmenkollrennet
11 March 1961		Sverre Stensheim	Hallgeir Brenden	Sture Grahn	Holmenkollrennet
17 March 1962		Assar Rönnlund	Reidar Hjermstad	Raimo Hämälainen	Holmenkollrennet
16 March 1963		Ragnar Persson	Einar Østby	Ole Ellefsæter	Holmenkollrennet
14 March 1964		Arto Tiainen	Sixten Jernberg	Gjermund Eggen	Holmenkollrennet
13 March 1965		Arto Tiainen	Ole Ellefsæter	Raimo Hämälainen	Holmenkollrennet
26 February 1966		Gjermund Eggen	Arto Tiainen	Eero Mäntyranta	1966 World Championships
4 March 1967		Ole Ellefsæter	Arto Tiainen	Odd Martinsen	Holmenkollrennene
16 March 1968		Assar Rönnlund	Pål Tyldum	Gjermund Eggen	Holmenkollrennene
15 March 1969		Pål Tyldum	Johs. Harviken	Magne Myrmo	Holmenkollrennene
14 March 1970		Gerhard Grimmer	Pål Tyldum	Hannu Taipale	Holmenkollrennene
13 March 1971		Gerhard Grimmer	Lars-Arne Bölling	Lennart Pettersson	Holmenkollrennene
11 March 1972		Pål Tyldum	Lars-Arne Bölling	Ole Ellefsæter	Holmenkollrennene
17 March 1973		Juha Mieto	Oddvar Brå	Pål Tyldum	Holmenkollrennene
9 March 1974		Magne Myrmo	Ivar Formo	Juha Mieto	Holmenkollrennene
8 March 1975		Oddvar Brå	Ivar Formo	Magne Myrmo	Holmenkollrennene
13 March 1976		Sven-Åke Lundbäck	Juha Mieto	Arto Koivisto	Holmenkollrennene
12 March 1977		Thomas Magnuson	Ivar Formo	Juha Mieto	Holmenkollrennene
11 March 1978		Matti Pitkänen	Magne Myrmo	Juhani Repo	Holmenkollrennene
10 March 1979		Oddvar Brå	Per Knut Aaland	Thomas Wassberg	Holmenkollrennene
15 March 1980		Thomas Wassberg	Per Knut Aaland	Jan Lindvall	Holmenkollrennene
14 March 1981		Oddvar Brå	Alexander Zavyalov	Ove Aunli	Holmenkollrennene
27 February 1982		Thomas Wassberg	Yuriy Burlakov	Lars Erik Eriksen	1982 World Championships/World Cup
12 March 1983		Asko Autio	Per Knut Aaland	Gunde Svan	World Cup
10 March 1984		Tor Håkon Holte	Vladimir Sakhnov	Gunde Svan	World Cup
16 March 1985		Geir Holte	Arild Monsen	Per Knut Aaland	Holmenkollrennene[4]
15 March 1986	Classic	Gunde Svan	Torgny Mogren	Vegard Ulvang	World Cup
21 March 1987	Classic	Thomas Wassberg	Per Knut Aaland	Thomas Eriksson	World Cup
19 March 1988	Freestyle	Pierre Harvey	Silvano Barco	Maurilio De Zolt	World Cup
4 March 1989	Freestyle	Vegard Ulvang	Holger Bauroth	Torgny Mogren	World Cup
17 March 1990	Freestyle	Gunde Svan	Torgny Mogren	Alfred Runggaldier	World Cup, held at Vang
16 March 1991	Classic	Vegard Ulvang	Harri Kirvesniemi	Sture Sivertsen	World Cup
14 March 1992	Classic	Vegard Ulvang	Mikhail Botvinov	Luboš Buchta	World Cup, held at Vang
13 March 1993	Classic	Alexey Prokurorov	Gudmund Skjeldal	Sture Sivertsen	World Cup
1994		Not held (1994 Winter Olympics at Lillehammer)
11 February 1995	Classic	Vladimir Smirnov	Alexey Prokurorov	Mikhail Botvinov	World Cup
16 March 1996	Classic	Erling Jevne	Krister Sørgård	Anders Bergström	World Cup
15 March 1997	Freestyle	Pietro Piller Cottrer	Tor-Arne Hetland	Bjørn Dæhlie	World Cup
14 March 1998	Classic	Alexey Prokurorov	Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset	Bjørn Dæhlie	World Cup
20 March 1999	Freestyle	Mikhail Botvinov	Bjørn Dæhlie	Christian Hoffmann	World Cup
11 March 2000	Classic	Harri Kirvesniemi	Mikhail Ivanov	Mikhail Botvinov	World Cup
10 March 2001	Classic	Per Elofsson	Anders Aukland	Frode Estil	World Cup
16 March 2002	Freestyle	Thomas Alsgaard	Kristen Skjeldal	Pietro Piller Cottrer	World Cup
8 March 2003	Classic	Andrus Veerpalu	Anders Aukland	Andrey Nutrikhin	World Cup
28 February 2004	Freestyle	René Sommerfeldt	Fulvio Valbusa	Lukáš Bauer	World Cup
12 March 2005	Classic	Andrus Veerpalu	Jens Filbrich	Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset	World Cup
11 March 2006	Freestyle	Anders Södergren	Giorgio Di Centa	Tom Reichelt	World Cup
17 March 2007	Classic	Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset	Tobias Angerer	Frode Estil	World Cup
8 March 2008	Freestyle	Anders Södergren	Lukáš Bauer	Remo Fischer	World Cup
2009		Not held, reconstruction of the Holmenkollen National Arena
13 March 2010	Freestyle, mass start	Petter Northug	Pietro Piller Cottrer	Vincent Vittoz	World Cup
6. March 2011	Freestyle, mass start	Petter Northug	Maxim Vylegzhanin	Tord Asle Gjerdalen	2011 World Championships
10 March 2012	Classic, mass start	Eldar Rønning	Dario Cologna	Martin Johnsrud Sundby	World Cup
16 March 2013	Freestyle, mass start	Alexander Legkov	Martin Johnsrud Sundby	Ilia Chernousov	World Cup
8 March 2014	Classic, mass start	Daniel Rickardsson	Martin Johnsrud Sundby	Alexander Legkov	World Cup
14 March 2015	Freestyle, mass start	Sjur Røthe	Dario Cologna	Martin Johnsrud Sundby	World Cup
6 February 2016	Classic, mass start	Martin Johnsrud Sundby	Niklas Dyrhaug	Maxim Vylegzhanin	World Cup
11 March 2017	Classic, mass start	Martin Johnsrud Sundby	Iivo Niskanen	Alexander Bessmertnykh	World Cup
10 March 2018	Freestyle, mass start	Dario Cologna	Martin Johnsrud Sundby	Maxim Vylegzhanin	World Cup
9 March 2019	Classic, mass start	Alexander Bolshunov	Maxim Vylegzhanin	Andrey Larkov	World Cup
8 March 2020	Classic, mass start	Alexander Bolshunov	Simen Hegstad Krüger	Emil Iversen	World Cup
6 March 2022	Classic, mass start	Martin Løwstrøm Nyenget	Sjur Røthe	Didrik Tønseth	World Cup
11 March 2023	Freestyle, mass start	Simen Hegstad Krüger	Hans Christer Holund	Martin Løwstrøm Nyenget	World Cup

See also

• List of multiple winners at the Holmenkollen Ski Festival

Sources

• Jakob Vaage, Tom Kristensen: Holmenkollen – Historien og resultatene. De norske Bokklubbene, Stabekk 1992. ISBN 82-525-1678-5 (p. 191-205 og 247-259, digitalised by Nasjonalbiblioteket)
• Foreningen til Ski-Idrættens Fremme gjennem 50 år 1883-1933. Dybwad, Oslo 1933 (s. 32-34, 52, 54-86, 236-238, digitalised by Nasjonalbiblioteket)
• Erling Ranheim (red.): Norske skiløpere - Skihistorisk oppslagsverk i 5 bind - Østlandet Sør. Skiforlaget - Erling Ranheim, Oslo 1956 (p. 38-39 og 120, digitalised by Nasjonalbiblioteket)
• FIS: Resultater (accessed 15 March 2015)

References