Bjørn Wirkola

Bjørn Tore Wirkola (* August 4, 1943 in Alta, Norway ) is a former Norwegian Nordic combined, ski jumping and soccer players.

Wirkola began his career as a Nordic skier and launched it in the singles at the Olympic Winter Games in Innsbruck. He reached the 11th place. In ski jumping competition he reached the 16th place.

As a ski jumper Wirkola won for the first time at the Norwegian Championships in 1965 in Bærum the gold medal of the normal and the silver medal on the large hill. A year later he was able to win in Rena from the wholesale as well as the normal hill title. In the Nordic World Ski Championships 1966 in Oslo, he won two gold medals shortly thereafter. Between 1967 and 1969 he won three times in succession the Four Hills Tournament, he won a total of ten jumping this tour. Wirkola three times improved the world record in ski jumping: 1966 on the hill of Vikersund (146 m ), 1969 in Planica with initially 156 m and 160 m. At the Olympic Games in Grenoble 1968 he finished fourth in jumping from the 70 meter hill. In the same year he was honored for his achievements with the Holmenkollen medal.

After his skiing career Wirkola played football. As a striker Rosenborg Trondheim in 1971 he won the Norwegian Double. In the same year he was awarded the Egebergs Ærespris, the highest award for Norwegian athletes. As early as 1967 he had won the election Norway's Sportsman of the Year.