Birger Ruud (23 August 1911 – 13 June 1998) was a Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 ski jumper.

Born in Kongsberg

Kongsberg

is a town and municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. It is located at the southern end of the traditional region of Numedal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Kongsberg....

, Birger Ruud, with his brothers Sigmund

Sigmund Ruud

Sigmund Ruud was a Norwegian ski jumper.Born in Kongsberg, Norway, Sigmund Ruud, with his brothers Birger and Asbjørn, dominated ski jumping in the 1920s and 1930s. At the 1928 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Sigmund earned a silver medal in the ski jumping competition...

 and Asbjørn

Asbjørn Ruud

Asbjørn Ruud was a Norwegian ski jumper.Born in Kongsberg, Asbjørn Ruud, with his brothers Birger and Sigmund, dominated international ski jumping in the 1930s. Ruud won the gold in the ski jump at the 1938 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships...

, dominated international jumping in the 1930s, winning three world championships

FIS Nordic World Ski Championships

The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships have been held in various numbers and types of events since 1925 for men and since 1954 for women. Championship events include nordic skiing's three disciplines: cross-country skiing, ski jumping, and nordic combined...

 in 1931, 1935 and 1937. Ruud also won the Olympic gold medal in 1932

1932 Winter Olympics

The 1932 Winter Olympics, officially known as the III Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1932 in Lake Placid, New York, United States. The games opened on February 4 and closed on February 15. It would be the first winter olympics held in the United...

 and 1936

1936 Winter Olympics

The 1936 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IV Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1936 in the market town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria, Germany. Germany also hosted the Summer Olympics the same year in Berlin...

. He also was an accomplished alpine skier

Alpine skiing

Alpine skiing is the sport of sliding down snow-covered hills on skis with fixed-heel bindings. Alpine skiing can be contrasted with skiing using free-heel bindings: Ski mountaineering and nordic skiing – such as cross-country; ski jumping; and Telemark. In competitive alpine skiing races four...

, winning a bronze medal in the combined

Alpine skiing combined

Combined is an alpine skiing event. Although not technically a discipline of its own, it is sometimes referred to as a fifth alpine discipline, along with downhill, super G, giant slalom, and slalom.-Traditional & Super-Combined:...

 at the 1935 world championships. Ruud won the Holmenkollen ski jump

Holmenkollen ski jump

Holmenkollbakken is a large ski jumping hill located at Holmenkollen in Oslo, Norway. It has a hill size of HS134, a construction point of K-120, and a capacity for 30,000 spectators. Holmenkollen has hosted the Holmenkollen Ski Festival since 1892, which since 1980 have been part of the FIS Ski...

ing competition in 1934 and shared the Holmenkollen medal

Holmenkollen medal

The Holmenkollen medal is Norwegian skiing's highest award for competitors. It signifies top placings in international championships and other international events, including the Holmenkollen events....

 in 1937 with Olaf Hoffsbakken

Olaf Hoffsbakken

Olaf Hoffsbakken was a Norwegian Nordic skier who competed in the 1930s. He won two silver medals at the 1936 Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in both the Nordic combined and the 4 x 10 km....

 and Martin P. Vangsli

Martin P. Vangsli

Martin P. Vangsli was a Norwegian cross country skier who was awarded the Holmenkollen medal in 1937 . At the 1931 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, Vangsli earned a silver in the 50 km.-References:* - click Holmenkollmedaljen for downloadable pdf file...

.

In 1943, during the German occupation of Norway

Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany

The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany started with the German invasion of Norway on April 9, 1940, and ended on May 8, 1945, after the capitulation of German forces in Europe. Throughout this period, Norway was continuously occupied by the Wehrmacht...

, Ruud was committed to Grini concentration camp for expressing his anti-Nazi

Nazism

Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...

 sentiments. After his release in 1944, he joined the Norwegian resistance movement

Norwegian resistance movement

The Norwegian resistance to the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany began after Operation Weserübung in 1940 and ended in 1945. It took several forms:...

. Impressively, he competed also in the 1948 Olympics

1948 Winter Olympics

The 1948 Winter Olympics, officially known as the V Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event celebrated in 1948 in St. Moritz, Switzerland. The Games were the first to be celebrated after World War II; it had been twelve years since the last Winter Games in 1936...

, at age 36, winning the silver medal in ski jumping. This accomplishment he personally held in the highest regard. Twice he set ski jumping world records: 76.5 m (250.98 ft) in Odnesbakken in 1931, and 92 m (301.84 ft) in Planica

Planica

Planica is an alpine valley in northwestern Slovenia, extending south from the border village of Rateče, not far from another well-known ski resort, Kranjska Gora. Further south, the valley extends into the Tamar Valley, a popular hiking destination in Triglav National Park.Planica is famous for...

 in 1934.

Later in life, Birger Ruud, with his friend Petter Hugsted

Petter Hugsted

Petter Hugsted was a champion Norwegian ski jumper. Born in Kongsberg, he won the Olympic gold medal in Ski Jumping in 1948 Winter Olympics at St. Moritz. This was impressive, especially after being held in the Grini concentration camp during the German occupation of Norway...

, participated in the creation of the Kongsberg Skiing Museum

Kongsberg Skiing Museum

Kongsberg Skiing Museum is a museum of skiing, located in Kongsberg, Norway. It was initially created by the two friends and well known ski jumpers, Birger Ruud and Petter Hugsted...

.

In 1987, a bronze sculpture of Birger Ruud, by the Norwegian sculptor Per Ung

Per Ung

Per Ung is a Norwegian sculptor. His first large public commission was the bronze statue of actress Johanne Dybwad, located on Johanne Dybwads plass outside the National Theatre in Oslo. His monument of figure skater Sonja Henie is located at Frogner stadion. His statue of Fridtjof Nansen is...

, was set up in Ruud’s native town of Kongsberg, and in 1991 he was awarded the Egebergs Ærespris

Egebergs Ærespris

The Egebergs Ærespris 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 Vigrestad.-History:...

 for his achievements in ski jumping and alpine skiing. Ruud was supposed to light the Olympic Flame

Olympic Flame

The Olympic Flame or Olympic Torch is a symbol of the Olympic Games. Commemorating the theft of fire from the Greek god Zeus by Prometheus, its origins lie in ancient Greece, where a fire was kept burning throughout the celebration of the ancient Olympics. The fire was reintroduced at the 1928...

 at the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics, but had to forfeit due to heart complications immediately before the event.