Kristin Størmer Steira (born 30 April 1981) is a retired Norwegian cross-country skier. She competed from 2002 to 2015, and won six individual

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 concept i ...

victories and five individual medals 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 ...

and

Winter Olympic Games The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) 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 h ...

. She also won four gold medals with the Norway relay team. In Norwegian media, Steira was dubbed "the eternal fourth" due to her many finishes in fourth place.

Career

At the

, she has seven medals with two gold (4 × 5 km relay: 2005, 2011), two silvers (7.5 km + 7.5 km double pursuit: 2009, 30 km: 2007), and three bronzes (7.5 km + 7,5 km double pursuit: 2005, 2007; 4 × 5 km relay: 2007). Steira finished fourth in three individual events (10 km, 7.5 km + 7.5 km double pursuit, 30 km) at the

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

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) 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 ...

. She has four individual career victories at various levels from 2002 to 2006. In 2009 Steira extended her interests to track athletics and announced her ambition to compete in the 5000 metres at the

2010 European Athletics Championships The 2010 European Athletics Championships were the 20th edition of the European Athletics Championships, organised under the supervision of the European Athletic Association. They were held at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Barcelona, C ...

after achieving a time of 16.02 in Norway. She never did. In the

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gret ...

in Vancouver, she came eighth in the 10 km pursuit. More agonisingly, she achieved her fourth fourth-place Olympic finish in the 15 km pursuit, losing out on a medal by 0.1 seconds in a photo finish with

Justyna Kowalczyk Justyna Maria Kowalczyk-Tekieli (born 19 January 1983) is a Polish cross-country skier who has been competing since 2000. Kowalczyk is a double Olympic Champion and a double World Champion. She is also the only skier to win the Tour de Ski four ...

. This, along with her many fourth places previously, led to Norwegian media jokingly labelling her as "the eternal fourth". On 25 February 2010 Steira became an Olympic champion in the 4 × 5 km relay, racing in the third leg after

Vibeke Skofterud Vibeke Westbye Skofterud (20 April 1980 – 29 July 2018) was a Norwegian cross-country skier. She won gold in the 4 × 5 km relay at Vancouver in 2010. Her best individual finish at the Winter Olympics was eighth in the 30 km event at ...

and

Therese Johaug Therese Johaug (born 25 June 1988) is a Norwegian cross-country skier from the village of Dalsbygda in Os municipality who has competed for the clubs Tynset IF and IL Nansen. In World Ski Championships she has won ten individual gold medals ...

and before

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 W ...

. She qualified for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, where she became 23rd in 15 kilometre skiathlon. In the last event, 30 km mass start freestyle, she finally won the bronze, her only individual medal of the Winter Olympics. On 20 April 2015, Steira announced her retirement from professional skiing.

Cross-country skiing results

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

Olympic Games

* 2 medals – (1 gold, 1 bronze)

World Championships

* 8 medals – (3 gold, 2 silver, 3 bronze)

World Cup

Season standings

Individual podiums

* 6 victories – (3 , 3 ) * 22 podiums – (10 , 12 )

Team podiums

* 13 victories – (13 ) * 18 podiums – (18 )

Personal life

Steira lives in

Drøbak Drøbak is a town and the centre of the municipality of Frogn, in Viken county, Norway. The city is located along the Oslofjord, and has 13,409 inhabitants. History Drøbak and Frogn was established as a parish on its own through a royal decre ...

, near Oslo, in Norway. She married

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

skier

Devon Kershaw Devon Kershaw (born December 20, 1982) is a Canadian retired cross-country skier who competed from 2005 to 2018. Growing up in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, he split his time between several sports before choosing to focus on his cross-country ski ...

, her boyfriend since December 2012, on 25 July 2015.VG.no (Norwegian)
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References

External links

* *
Unofficial Kristin Steira pages
(in English) {{DEFAULTSORT:Steira, Kristin Stormer 1981 births People from Rana, Norway Cross-country skiers at the 2006 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 2010 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 2014 Winter Olympics Living people Norwegian female cross-country skiers Olympic cross-country skiers of Norway Olympic gold medalists for Norway Olympic bronze medalists for Norway Olympic medalists in cross-country skiing FIS Nordic World Ski Championships medalists in cross-country skiing Tour de Ski skiers Medalists at the 2010 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2014 Winter Olympics People from Frogn Sportspeople from Nordland