Aino-Kaisa Saarinen (born 1 February 1979) is a retired Finnish

cross-country skier Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...

who competed in the

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 ...

between 1998 and 2018. With 354 individual World Cup starts, Saarinen is the current record holder for both men and women, with

Stefanie Böhler Stefanie Böhler (born 27 February 1981) is a German former cross-country skier who competed between 1999 and 2018. She won a silver medal in the 4 × 5 km relay at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. Her best individual finish was 20th in b ...

in second place with 343.

Career

Competing in two

Winter Olympics 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 won three bronze medals with one in

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

(Team sprint) and two in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

(30 km, 4 × 5 km relay). Saarinen also won six 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 e ...

with four golds (Team sprint:

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, 10 km: 2009, 4 × 5 km relay:

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, 2009) and two bronze (7.5 km + 7.5 km double pursuit: 2009, 10 km: 2011). She has six individual victories in FIS races since 2002, but did not win her first

event until she won the 30 km classical event at the

Holmenkollen ski festival The Holmenkollen Ski Festival ( no, Holmenkollen skifestival 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 ...

on March 17, 2007. Saarinen finished second in the 2008/09 Tour de Ski behind

Virpi Kuitunen Virpi Katriina Sarasvuo (née Kuitunen, born 20 May 1976) is a Finnish former cross-country skier who competed from 1995 to 2010. She won a bronze medal in the team sprint event (with Aino-Kaisa Saarinen) at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin and ...

Cross-country skiing results

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

Olympic Games

* 5 medals – (2 silver, 3 bronze)

World Championships

* 10 medals – (4 gold, 1 silver, 5 bronze) :'a.' Cancelled due to extremely cold weather.

World Cup

Season standings

Individual podiums

*4 victories – (3 , 1 ) *35 podiums – (24 , 11 )

Team podiums

*3 victories – (2 , 1 ) *26 podiums – (20 , 6 )

References

External links

*
Official website

Holmenkollen winners since 1892
– click Vinnere for downloadable pdf file {{DEFAULTSORT:Saarinen, Aino Kaisa 1979 births Living people People from Hollola Cross-country skiers at the 2006 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 2010 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 2014 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 2018 Winter Olympics Finnish female cross-country skiers Holmenkollen Ski Festival winners Olympic cross-country skiers of Finland Olympic silver medalists for Finland Olympic bronze medalists for Finland Olympic medalists in cross-country skiing FIS Nordic World Ski Championships medalists in cross-country skiing Tour de Ski skiers Medalists at the 2006 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2010 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2014 Winter Olympics Sportspeople from Päijät-Häme 21st-century Finnish women