Petter Northug won a total of 13 World Championship and two Winter Olympic gold medals with 20 medals overall, and 18 individual FIS Cross-Country World Cup wins with 13 podium places.
27 Facts About Petter Northug
2.
Petter Northug is the record holder for most stage wins in Tour de Ski.
3.
Petter Northug is considered by many as the greatest cross country skier of all time.
4.
Petter Northug's victories made him the first athlete ever to win five individual gold medals at the FIS Junior Nordic World Ski Championships.
5.
Petter Northug finished 14th in the distance standings, and 24th in the sprint.
6.
Petter Northug himself admitted he was disappointed after not getting selected, especially as he had won the double pursuit in the National Championships earlier in the year.
7.
The day after the 2006 Olympics Team was announced, Petter Northug was on the team winning the Norwegian Championships in 3x10 kilometer relay.
8.
Petter Northug completed the last leg of the relay, beating Sweden and Russia on the sprint for the finish line.
9.
Petter Northug was in a good position to compete for the silver in the 30 kilometer duathlon, but he fell in the last part of the race and was disappointed to finish fifth.
10.
Petter Northug finished in an extremely disappointing 41st place in the first Cross Country event during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
11.
Petter Northug then won his first individual medal at the Olympics when he won gold at the Men's 50 kilometre classic.
12.
For four years, until after the 2014 Winter Olympics, Petter Northug was slated to receive a minimum of NOK 1 million annually with a prospect of getting twice that amount if his performances equalled those of his recent previous seasons.
13.
Petter Northug again beat the Swedes on the sprint of the 4x10 km relay, securing Norway's 7th World Championship gold medal in a row in the relay.
14.
Petter Northug was less successful on the team sprint, where he and his teammate, Pal Golberg, went out in the semifinal.
15.
Petter Northug gave the winner, Johan Olsson, his jersey after the race as a gesture of respect.
16.
At the 2015 World Championships in Falun, Petter Northug secured his 10th WC gold medal by narrowly beating Canada's Alex Harvey in a bunch sprint to the finish line in the men's classic sprint event.
17.
Petter Northug then proceeded to contribute to Norway's victory in both the team sprint and 4x10km relay.
18.
Petter Northug announced his retirement from cross-country skiing on 12 December 2018.
19.
Petter Northug finished school in 2006, but during the summer of 2005 he changed schools from Steinkjer to Meraker and moved into a cabin next to the ski trails to optimize his training conditions.
20.
Petter Northug is an active poker player, and has openly supported the legalization of poker in Norway, which is currently illegal when prizes are involved under Norwegian gambling laws.
21.
Petter Northug participated and cashed in the 2010 World Series of Poker main event which he played with skiing rival Marcus Hellner.
22.
Petter Northug is featured in the music video "Rise Again" by Jack Taylor, featuring Mo of Norway.
23.
On 15 September 2014, Petter Northug was charged by the Norwegian public prosecutor with five counts of violation of the Norwegian Road Traffic Act and one count of violation of the general civil penal code.
24.
The latter charge stemmed from Petter Northug having claimed, in three separate police interrogations on the day of the crash, that his passenger had actually been driving the vehicle at the time of the accident.
25.
Petter Northug was sentenced to 50 days of prison, ten days less than requested by the prosecutor.
26.
Petter Northug had already served two days of the sentence in police custody after his initial arrest.
27.
Petter Northug pleaded guilty on all counts; in a summary trial on 21 December 2020 he testified via videolink, at Oslo District Court, he was sentenced to seven months in prison and his driving license was revoked [indefinitely, or] at least for five years.