Sixten Jernberg

Who was Sixten Jernberg?

Edy Sixten Jernberg was a Swedish cross-country skier.

Jernberg was born in Lima, Dalarna County. He was a blacksmith and a lumberjack before beginning his career as a cross-country distance skier. Through a career lasting from the 1954 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Falun to the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, he won four World Championships gold medals and nine Olympic medals. Among his unique feats are that, in 12 starts, over three consecutive Winter Games, he never finished worse than fifth.

Jernberg specialised in the longer distances, with four of his eight gold medals coming in the 50 km distance, one was over 30 km and three in 4 x 10 km. He also won Vasaloppet twice, 1955 and 1960. He won the 15 km at the Holmenkollen ski festival in 1954.

For his cross-country skiing successes, Jernberg was awarded the Holmenkollen medal in 1960. He was also awarded the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal in 1956.

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.