Sixten Jernberg

Sixten Jernberg
Jernberg in 1958
Country	Sweden
Full name	Edy Sixten Jernberg
Born	(1929-02-06)6 February 1929 Lima, Sweden
Died	14 July 2012(2012-07-14) (aged 83) Mora, Sweden
Height	177 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Ski club	Lima IF
Medal record Men's cross-country skiing Representing  Sweden Olympic Games 1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo 50 km 1960 Squaw Valley 30 km 1964 Innsbruck 50 km 1964 Innsbruck 4 × 10 km relay 1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo 15 km 1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo 30 km 1960 Squaw Valley 15 km 1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo 4 × 10 km relay 1964 Innsbruck 15 km World Championships 1958 Lahti 50 km 1958 Lahti 4 × 10 km relay 1962 Zakopane 50 km 1962 Zakopane 4 × 10 km relay 1954 Falun 4 × 10 km relay 1958 Lahti 30 km

Edy Sixten Jernberg, known as "Sixten", (6 February 1929 – 14 July 2012) was a Swedish cross-country skier and one of the most successful cross-country skiers of all time.^[1][2] Between 1952 and 1964 he took part in 363 ski races, finishing within the podium in 263 and winning 134 of them; during this period he won four world titles and nine Olympic medals. In 12 starts over three consecutive Winter Games he never finished worse than fifth place, and between 1955 and 1960, he won 86 out of 161 competitions.^[3][4]

Jernberg was a blacksmith and a lumberjack before beginning his career as a cross-country skier.^[3] He specialized in the longer distances, with four of his eight gold medals coming over 50 km, one over 30 km and three in the 4 × 10 km relay. He also won Vasaloppet twice, 1955 and 1960.^[5] He won the 15 km at the Holmenkollen ski festival in 1954.

At one competition, Jernberg had a fever and coughed up blood, but still finished the 50 km event.^[6] Gunde Svan said: "It was almost like [Sixten] didn't like his own body and tried to punish it in different ways."^[7]

For his cross-country skiing successes, Jernberg was awarded the Holmenkollen medal in 1960 (shared with Helmut Recknagel, Sverre Stensheim and Tormod Knutsen). He was also awarded the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal in 1956 (shared with pentathlete Lars Hall).^[4][5]

Jernberg retired after the Olympic Winter Games of 1964. In 1965, the International Olympic Committee awarded Jernberg the Mohammed Taher Trophy for his contributions to Nordic skiing.^[3] He died of stroke at the age of 83.^[8] His nephew Ingemar became an Olympic pole vaulter.^[3]

All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).^[9]

• 9 medals – (4 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze)

• 6 medals – (4 gold, 2 bronze)

• List of multiple Winter Olympic medalists
• List of multiple Olympic gold medalists
• List of multiple Olympic medalists

• Sixten Jernberg at the International Ski and Snowboard Federation
• Sixten Jernberg at IMDb
• Holmenkollen medalists – click Holmenkollmedaljen for downloadable pdf file (in Norwegian)
• Holmenkollen winners since 1892 – click Vinnere for downloadable pdf file (in Norwegian)
• Sixten Jernberg at Olympedia
• Sixten Jernberg at Olympics.com
• Sixten Jernberg at the Sveriges Olympiska Kommitté (in Swedish) (English translation)

Records
Preceded by Himself	Athlete with the most medals at Winter Olympics 25 February 1988 – 17 February 1992 With: Raisa Smetanina	Succeeded by Raisa Smetanina
Preceded by Himself with Clas Thunberg and Ivar Ballangrud	Athlete with the most medals at Winter Olympics 5 February 1964 – 25 February 1988	Succeeded by Himself with Raisa Smetanina
Preceded by Clas Thunberg and Ivar Ballangrud	Athlete with the most medals at Winter Olympics 2 February 1964 – 5 February 1964 With: Clas Thunberg Ivar Ballangrud	Succeeded by Himself
Awards
Preceded by Sigvard Ericsson	Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal with Lars Hall 1956	Succeeded by Dan Waern