Thea Louise STJERNESUND

Norway

Alpine Skiing

Date of Birth: 24 Nov 1996

Age: 25

Gender: Female

Place of birth: LOERENSKOG

Birth Country:

Norway

Residence: LILLESTROEM

Residence Country:

Norway

Events and Medals
Records
Schedule
Bio
General Interest
Milestones

Events and Medals

Discipline	Event	Rank
Alpine Skiing	Women's Giant Slalom	6
	Women's Slalom	15
	Mixed Team Parallel NOR Norway	3

Schedule

Location	Event	Status
Yanqing National Alpine Skiing Centre - Technical	Women's Giant Slalom Run 1	Finished
Yanqing National Alpine Skiing Centre - Technical	Women's Giant Slalom Run 2	Finished
Yanqing National Alpine Skiing Centre - Technical	Women's Slalom Run 1	Finished
Yanqing National Alpine Skiing Centre - Technical	Women's Slalom Run 2	Finished
Yanqing National Alpine Skiing Centre - Technical	Mixed Team Parallel Small Final	Finished

Biographical Information

Highlights

Athlete:

Historical Results

World Championship
Rank	Event	Year	Location	Result
1	Team Parallel Mixed	2021	Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA
5	Team Parallel Mixed	2019	Are, SWE
18	Giant Slalom Ladies	2019	Are, SWE	2:04.84
22	Slalom Ladies	2021	Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA	1:44.24

World Cup Rankings
Season	All	Slalom	Giant Slalom	Parallel
2021/2022	26	28	21	2
2020/2021	54	26
2019/2020	44	27	24
2018/2019	49	52	13

World Cup - Best Achievements
Season	Slalom	Giant Slalom	Parallel	Parallel Giant Slalom	Team Parallel Mixed
2021/2022	1 x 10th	1 x 6th	1 x 2nd
2020/2021	1 x 13th		1 x 6th
2019/2020	1 x 12th	1 x 15th		1 x 7th
2018/2019	1 x 23rd	1 x 9th			1 x 2nd

Ten Best World Cup Performances in Current Season
Rank	Event	Season	Location	Result
2	Parallel	2021/2022	Lech / Zuers, AUT
6	Giant Slalom	2021/2022	Kronplatz, ITA	2:04.55
10	Slalom	2021/2022	Levi, FIN	1:48.20
12	Slalom	2021/2022	Levi, FIN	1:47.49
17	Giant Slalom	2021/2022	Lienz, AUT	2:05.75
19	Giant Slalom	2021/2022	Soelden, AUT	2:10.00
27	Slalom	2021/2022	Courchevel, FRA	1:43.41
37	Giant Slalom	2021/2022	Courchevel, FRA

Hobbies:

Drawing, movies, eating good food with friends, tennis. (Athlete, 26 Oct 2021)

Occupation:

Athlete

Education:

Attended public schools near her home in the Oslo area before moving five hours away to the Oppdal Ski Gymnasium in 2012, which she attended for four years. (Athlete, 26 Oct 2021)

Family:

Father, Torkild. Mother, Kaysa. Brother, Eskild.

Languages spoken:

Norwegian, English, German

Club name:

Hakadal IL

Coach:

National: Tim Gfeller (CAN), Janne Haarala (FIN)

Other sports:

Handball: Played when she was younger. (Athlete, 26 Oct 2021)

Debut:

2011 FIS event in Geilo (Slalom - DNF)
2018 World Cup in Soelden (Giant slalom - 9th)

National team:

2016

Start:

First skied in Geilo when she was five. Enjoyed regular skiing trips around Norway and Europe with her family, racing occasionally but not seriously until she was 14 when she broke her leg. A metal rod was inserted into the bone to stabilize it and removed a year later with a second surgery. The injury proved to be a motivator for her to stay in the sport and she credits it with her future success. (Athlete, 26 Oct 2021)

Reason:

Her brother did it and she wanted to do it too. "He was just a year older so we were like twins. He for sure made me tougher...I just loved being outside and playing." (Athlete, 26 Oct 2021)

Ambition:

Wants to win a World Cup race to show others that it is possible to get a late start in the sport, as she did, and still be successful. (Athlete, 26 Oct 2021)

"Dare to do what I’ve planned to do in the inspection - that’s my biggest goal. I see the bad boy line and where I can gain time. But when I get there, it can be hard to actually do it." (FIS YouTube, 22 Apr 2020)

Training:

"It’s always easy to doubt your dryland training because you never know how the other ones are training on the World Cup circuit. I train hard and not just to be strong but to be athletic all the way - be good at many parts for the physical demands of skiing." (FIS YouTube, 22 Apr 2020)

Memorable:

Winning team gold at 2021 World Championships in Cortina d'Ampezzo.

Finishing ninth in her first-ever World Cup race in 2018 at Soelden.

Winning the Europa Cup giant slalom season title in 2017/18. (Athlete, 26 Oct 2021)

Influence:

Credits herself and her ability to be self-motivated. (Athlete, 26 Oct 2021)

Ritual:

None. (Athlete, 26 Oct 2021)

General Interest

LATE BLOOMER
Came into ski racing much later than most having only begun competing seriously at age 12. Her plan was to retire at 15. But when she broke her leg at 14, she thought otherwise. Wants to be a role model for others that you can join the sport late and still be successful.

"I was always at the bottom of the result lists...I didn’t want to leave the racing part with nothing to look back at result-wise. So it was like a switch, and it became an obsession almost right away. I wanted to show, for myself and others that if I wanted to and put my mind to it, I can also be good at ski racing." (Athlete, 26 Oct 2021)

MANAGING NERVOUSNESS
She always gets nervous before every race. "Before, it kind of ruined me. Because I skied very good in training and in races I just collapsed. Now I’ve managed to turn it a bit around and make it a positive thing. For me, I have the technique that I just zoom out and think, 'OK, we are some girls skiing on timing on a hill.' Nothing more. And ski. I have to make it that simple for me. If I build it up, it gets too much." (FIS YouTube, 22 Apr 2020)

ATTACKING VIKINGS
Is proud of her history. "It’s cool there were not many people in the world that were Vikings, but they still made a place in the history books. I feel it’s the same with the Norwegian Ski Team, that we are not many skiers but we are there making results." (FIS YouTube, 23 Jul 2019)

Milestones

Won team parallel bronze at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.

Competed in the 2019 and 2021 World Championships, winning team parallel gold in 2021 (Cortina d'Ampezzo).

Had nine starts in two Junior World Championships (2015, 2016) with best finish of eighth in giant slalom in 2016 (Sochi).

Top-10 result in her World Cup debut finishing ninth in the giant slalom in 2018 (Soelden). In over 50 World Cup starts, she has one podium (second in parallel in November 2021 at Lech/Zuers.

Won the 2018 Europa Cup giant slalom title.

Social Media

Legend

:: Bronze
:: Gold Medal Event
:: Bronze Medal Event

Timing and scoring provided by OMEGA. Results powered by Atos