Martin Stokken (16 January 1923 – 25 March 1984) was a

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 at the 1948 and 1952 Summer and 1952 and 1956 Winter Olympics. At the Summer Olympics he ran 5000 m and 10,000 m, finishing fourth in the latter event in 1948. At the Winter Games he won a silver medal in the 4 × 10 km relay in 1952, placing fourth in 1956. His best individual result was six place in the 18 km in 1952 and in 15 km in 1956. At the world skiing championships Stokken won a bronze medal in the 4 × 10 km relay event in 1950 and placed fourth over 50 km in 1954. In 1954 he also won the 50 km race 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 ...

and won the Holmenkollen medal. Earlier in 1949 he was awarded the

Egebergs Ærespris The Egebergs Ærespris ("Honorary Prize of Egeberg") is a prize awarded to Norwegian athletes who excel in more than one sport. The prize was created by Ferdinand Julian Egeberg, and consists of a bronze statuette modelled by sculptor Magnus Vigr ...

. Stokken was born as the youngest of four siblings on a desolate farm. In 1934 the farm burned down and his father died soon after that. In his teens Stokken worked as a shepherd, and earned enough money to buy a pair of decent skis for his training. In 1939 he and his mother moved to

Fåvang Fåvang is a village in Ringebu Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The village is located in the Gudbrandsdal valley, along the Gudbrandsdalslågen river, about north of the town of Lillehammer. The European route E6 highway runs through ...

, where he joined the local ski club. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, in 1943, he fled to Sweden and joined the

Norwegian resistance movement The Norwegian resistance (Norwegian: ''Motstandsbevegelsen'') to the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany began after Operation Weserübung in 1940 and ended in 1945. It took several forms: *Asserting the legitimacy of the exiled governmen ...

. He returned to Norway in 1945, and in 1946 won the national title and placed eighth in 10,000 m running at the 1946 European Championships. From then on and until 1951 he was the best Norwegian 5000 m and 10,000 m runner. He also excelled in the 3000 m steeplechase, placing fourth at the 1950 European Championships. He retired from athletics in 1955, after setting his personal best over 5000 m, and having won 19 national titles over his athletic career. In the late 1940s Stokken trained in cross-country skiing merely to stay fit in winters, but since 1951 he began competing and was included into the national team. Besides his international achievements in skiing, between 1951 and 1957 he won five national titles. He retired in 1960 after winning the Birkebeiner race from Rena to Lillehammer. In retirement he continued working as police officer in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

(he held that position from 1950 to 1980) and eventually became a skiing and

biathlon The biathlon is a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. It is treated as a race, with contestants skiing through a cross-country trail whose distance is divided into shooting rounds. The shooting rounds are not time ...

coach.

Cross-country skiing results

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

Olympic Games

* 1 medal – (1 silver)

World Championships

* 1 medal – (1 bronze)

References

External links

* * – click Holmenkollmedaljen for downloadable pdf file * – click Vinnere for downloadable pdf file
Norwegian international athletes – S
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stokken, Martin 1923 births 1984 deaths Norwegian male cross-country skiers Olympic cross-country skiers of Norway Cross-country skiers at the 1952 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 1956 Winter Olympics Holmenkollen medalists Holmenkollen Ski Festival winners Olympic silver medalists for Norway Olympic athletes of Norway Norwegian male long-distance runners Norwegian male steeplechase runners Athletes (track and field) at the 1948 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1952 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in cross-country skiing FIS Nordic World Ski Championships medalists in cross-country skiing Medalists at the 1952 Winter Olympics Sportspeople from Trøndelag