Magne Myrmo
Encyclopedia
Magne Myrmo is a former 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...

 cross-country skier who competed during the 1970s. He won a silver medal at the 1972 Winter Olympics
1972 Winter Olympics
The 1972 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XI Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated from February 3 to February 13, 1972 in Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan...

 in the 50 km. Myrmo won two medals at the 1974 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships
1974 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships
The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1974 took place February 16-24, 1974 in Falun, Sweden. This was the second time this city hosted the event having done so in 1954...

 in Falun
Falun
Falun is a city and the seat of Falun Municipality in Dalarna County, Sweden, with 36,447 inhabitants in 2005. It is also the capital of Dalarna County...

 with a gold in the 15 km and a bronze in the 4 x 10 km relay.

A major equipment revolution in cross-country skiing took place during 1973-74 where fiberglass
Fiberglass
Glass fiber is a material consisting of numerous extremely fine fibers of glass.Glassmakers throughout history have experimented with glass fibers, but mass manufacture of glass fiber was only made possible with the invention of finer machine tooling...

 skis (and later from more complex composite material
Composite material
Composite materials, often shortened to composites or called composition materials, are engineered or naturally occurring materials made from two or more constituent materials with significantly different physical or chemical properties which remain separate and distinct at the macroscopic or...

s) replaced a nearly 3,000 year tradition of skis constructed of wood
Wood
Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...

. The Norwegians were behind their competitors in this transition, which caught up with them at the 1974 championships in Falun
Falun
Falun is a city and the seat of Falun Municipality in Dalarna County, Sweden, with 36,447 inhabitants in 2005. It is also the capital of Dalarna County...

. Myrmo's won the 15 km less than a second ahead of East Germany's Gerhard Grimmer
Gerhard Grimmer
Gerhard Grimmer was an East German cross-country skier who competed during the 1960s and 1970s. He won several medals at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, including golds in the 50 km and the 4 x 10 km relay ; silvers in the 30 km , 4 x 10 km relay , and 15 km ; and...

, who was using fiberglass skis, and it became historic, as the last world champion on wooden skis.

His biggest successes were at the Holmenkollen ski festival
Holmenkollen ski festival
The Holmenkollen Ski Festival is a traditional annual Nordic skiing event in Holmenkollen, Oslo, Norway. The full official name of the event is Holmenkollen FIS World Cup Nordic. It takes place in March and has been arranged every year since 1892, except for 1898 and during World War II...

 where Myrmo won twice at 15 km (1970 and 1972) and once at the 50 km (1974). Myrmo earned 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 1972 (shared with Rauno Miettinen
Rauno Miettinen
Rauno Miettinen is a former Finnish Nordic combined skier. He earned a silver in the individual event at the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo....

).
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