Magne Gunnbjørn Myrmo (born 30 July 1943) is a former

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

cross-country skier who competed during the 1970s. He won a silver medal at the

1972 Winter Olympics The 1972 Winter Olympics, officially the and commonly known as Sapporo 1972 ( ja, 札幌1972), was a winter multi-sport event held from February 3 to 13, 1972, in Sapporo, Japan. It was the first Winter Olympic Games to take place outside Euro ...

in the 50 km. Myrmo won two medals at the 1974 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in

Falun Falun () is a city and the seat of Falun Municipality in Dalarna County, Sweden, with 37,291 inhabitants in 2010. It is also the capital of Dalarna County. Falun forms, together with Borlänge, a metropolitan area with just over 100,000 inhabitan ...

with a gold in the 15 km and a bronze in the 4 × 10 km relay. A major equipment revolution in cross-country skiing took place during 1973-74 where

fiberglass Fiberglass ( American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cl ...

skis A ski is a narrow strip of semi-rigid material worn underfoot to glide over snow. Substantially longer than wide and characteristically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partial ...

(and later from more complex

composite material A composite material (also called a composition material or shortened to composite, which is the common name) is a material which is produced from two or more constituent materials. These constituent materials have notably dissimilar chemical or ...

s) replaced a nearly 3,000 year tradition of skis constructed of

wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin ...

. The Norwegians were behind their competitors in this transition, which caught up with them at the 1974 championships in

. Myrmo's won the 15 km less than a second ahead of

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In t ...

Gerhard Grimmer Gerhard Grimmer (born 6 April 1943 in Hora Svaté Kateřiny) is known as an East German cross-country skier who competed during the 1960s and 1970s. He won several medals at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, including golds in the 50 ...

, who was using fiberglass skis, and it became historic, as the ''last world champion on wooden skis''. His biggest successes were at the Holmenkollen ski festival where Myrmo won twice at 15 km (1970 and 1972) and once at the 50 km (1974). Myrmo earned the Holmenkollen medal in 1972 (shared with

Rauno Miettinen Rauno Miettinen (born 25 May 1949 in Kuopio) is a Finnish former Nordic combined skier. He earned a silver in the individual event at the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo. Miettinen also won three Nordic combined silver medals in the FIS Nordic ...

), and was named the 1974 Norwegian Athlete of the Year. After retiring from competitions he coached the national women's cross country team from 1978 to 1980.

Cross-country skiing results

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

Olympic Games

* 1 medal – (1 silver)

World Championships

* 2 medals – (1 gold, 1 bronze)

References

External links

* * - click Holmenkollmedaljen for downloadable pdf file * - click Vinnere for downloadable pdf file
Magne Myrmo, the last winner on wooden skis
{{DEFAULTSORT:Myrmo, Magne 1943 births Living people Cross-country skiers at the 1972 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 1976 Winter Olympics Holmenkollen medalists Holmenkollen Ski Festival winners Norwegian male cross-country skiers Olympic cross-country skiers of Norway Olympic silver medalists for Norway People from Rennebu Olympic medalists in cross-country skiing FIS Nordic World Ski Championships medalists in cross-country skiing Medalists at the 1972 Winter Olympics Sportspeople from Trøndelag