Frode Estil


Frode Estil is a retired Norwegian cross-country skier. He lives in Meråker with his wife Grete whom he married in the summer of 2001. They have two sons, Bernhard, born in August 2002, and Konrad. Estil was classical specialist and also a specialist at succeeding in World Championships and Olympics. While Estil only won four World Cup races, he won one individual Olympic Gold and one individual World Championship gold. In addition, he won three team events in the World Championships and another team gold in the Olympics.

World Cup

Estil's first World Cup victory was in 1999 in the 30 km event at Davos. His best standing at the end of a season was during 2001/02 when he finished fifth. Estil has been competing in the World Cup since 1995/96, in which he finished the season in 42nd place, and in 1996/97 he finished 63rd. The year after however he jumped up to 12th. The following two years he finished 19th and 12th. Finally in the 2000/01 season he finished inside the top ten of the world, finishing eight. The next season was even better for Estil, not only did he get married in the summer but he finished in fifth place overall, his ever highest overall ranking. The next two seasons he finished in sixth. After the 2002/03 season he stopped competing in the sprint events after finishing the season in 58th, he had finished the sprint seasons in 48th, 18th, 18th, 32nd, and 39th in 2001/02. In 2003/04 he finished third in the distance standings. 2004/05 was a poor season, finishing 14th in the distance, and 25th in the overall. Estil finished the 2005/06 season in ninth place in the FIS World Cup standings, 456 points behind winner Tobias Angerer. Estil finished fourth in the distance, 420 points behind Angerer, and again did not compete in the sprints.
Estil has had 18 World Cup podium finishes. Four of them in first place, six in second place and eight in third place. His wins came in 1999/00, 2002/03 and two in 2003/04. The most podium finishes he has had in a single season was in 2002/03, where he had four. He had three podiums in the seasons either side of that season. All of his wins have been in the classic style, except one double pursuit.
The 15 km is his most successful event in terms of numbers of podium finishes. Through the years he has had one win, three second places and three third places. His most successful event in terms of wins is the 30 km, where he has had three victories.

World championships

Estil's first gold medal in an international championship was in the relay in the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2001 in Lahti, where he also took silver in the 30 km.
At the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2003, held in Val di Fiemme, Estil won a gold in the 4 × 10 km relay and bronze in the 15 km and 30 km.
At the 2005 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Oberstdorf, Estil won gold in the 50 km race, and the 4 × 10 km relay. In the 50 km race he won in a time of 2:30:10.1, beating Anders Aukland by 0.7 seconds, and Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset came third making it a Norwegian sweep. A characteristic of Estil is to start slow and then come through the pack towards the end of the race, he was 23rd after 12.5 km, and 11th after 27.5 km, but by 42.5 km he was third, and came through to win. In the relay, Norway won, with Germany second and Russia third. Norway finished 17.7 seconds ahead of the Germans, with Estil skiing Norway's second fastest leg. He also won a bronze medal in the 15 km + 15 km double pursuit, in a time of 1:19:21.3, 0.8 seconds behind winner Vincent Vittoz, and losing silver to Giorgio Di Centa in a photo finish.
At the 2007 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Sapporo, Estil won only one medal. He lost the gold at the finish line of the 50 km event to fellow Norwegian Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset. Estil has nine World Championship medals as of the Sapporo championships with four gold, two silver, and three bronze.

Olympics

Estil has competed in two Winter Olympics. In the 2002 Games Estil won golds in the 10 km + 10 km combined pursuit, and the 4 × 10 km relay; and won a silver in the 15 km. In the 2006 Winter Olympics he won a silver medal in the 15 km + 15 km double pursuit.
In the 10 km + 10 km combined pursuit, Estil tied with fellow Norwegian Thomas Alsgaard for second place, with Johann Mühlegg winning the race. However Mühlegg was found guilty of doping and disqualified by the IOC in February 2004, therefore upgrading Estil and Alsgaard to joint gold medalists. Alsgaard and Estil clocked times of 49:48.9, 4 seconds ahead of Per Elofsson.
In the same Olympic Games, he also won a silver medal in the 15 km Classic race, and a gold medal in the 4 × 10 km relay together with Alsgaard, Kristen Skjeldal and Anders Aukland. Estil finished the 15 km race in 37:43.4, 36 seconds behind Andrus Veerpalu of Estonia, and 7.4 seconds ahead of Jaak Mae also of Estonia. Estil also took part in the 50 km classic, but finished ninth, in a time of 2:10:44.8, 4:22.0 behind winner Mikhail Ivanov of Russia.
At the 2006 Olympics in Turin, Italy, Estil won the silver medal in the men's 15 km + 15 km double pursuit competition despite taking a fall and breaking a ski at the start of the race which put him in last place. Eugeni Dementiev of Russia won the race, 1.6 seconds ahead of Estil, who finished the race in 1:17:01.8, 0.3 seconds ahead of Pietro Piller Cottrer who came third. In the same Games Estil also took part in the 15 km classical, and the 50 km freestyle mass start, but finished 17th and 28th respectively. Estil's results mirrored those of the Norwegian cross-country team who failed to win a single Gold medal in Turin, owing to stomach illness and waxing mistakes made by Norway's eight man strong service team.
Estil's Olympic medals include two golds and two silvers..

Medical

Estil has a high hemoglobin level, and has received a blood-certificate by the FIS, so that when his blood is tested the maximum hemoglobin allowed to race is 17.5 grams hemoglobin per 100 ml of blood, compared to 17 grams for men and 16 grams per 100 ml for athletes without this certificate.

Legacy

All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation.

Olympic Games

Year Age 15 km Pursuit 30 km 50 km Sprint 4 × 10 km
relay 		Team
sprint
200229SilverGold—9—Gold
20063316Silver28—5—

World Championships

Season standings

Individual podiums

No.SeasonDateLocationRaceLevelPlace
1 1997–98 8 March 1998 Lahti, Finland30 km Individual CWorld Cup3rd
2 1998–99 7 March 1999 Lahti, Finland15 km Individual CWorld Cup3rd
31999–0018 December 1999 Davos, Switzerland30 km Individual CWorld Cup1st
41999–0017 March 2000 Bormio, Italy10 km Individual CWorld Cup3rd
5 2000–01 10 March 2001 Oslo, Norway50 km Individual CWorld Cup3rd
6 2000–01 17 March 2001 Falun, Sweden15 km Individual CWorld Cup2nd
7 2001–02 24 November 2001 Kuopio, Finland15 km Individual CWorld Cup3rd
8 2001–02 8 December 2001 Cogne, Italy10 km Individual CWorld Cup3rd
9 2001–02 13 March 2002 Birkebeinerrennet, Norway58 km Mass Start CWorld Cup3rd
102002–0314 December 2002 Cogne, Italy30 km Mass Start CWorld Cup1st
112002–0325 January 2003 Oberhof, Germany15 km Mass Start CWorld Cup3rd
122002–0315 February 2003 Asiago, Italy10 km Individual CWorld Cup2nd
132002–0322 March 2003 Falun, Sweden10 km + 10 km Duathlon C/FWorld Cup2nd
142003–0410 January 2004 Otepää, Estonia30 km Mass Start CWorld Cup1st
152003–0417 January 2004 Nové Město, Czech Republic15 km Individual CWorld Cup2nd
162003–047 March 2004 Lahti, Finland15 km Individual CWorld Cup1st
17 2004–05 8 January 2005 Otepää, Estonia15 km Individual CWorld Cup2nd
18 2005–06 17 December 2005 Canmore, Canada30 km Mass Start CWorld Cup2nd
19 2006–07 27 January 2007 Otepää, Estonia15 km Individual CWorld Cup2nd
20 2006–07 25 March 2007 Oslo, Norway50 km Individual CWorld Cup3rd

Team podiums

No.SeasonDateLocationRaceLevelPlaceTeammate
11995–9617 March 1996 Oslo, Norway4 × 5 km Relay FWorld Cup1stBjonviken / Andersen / Hetland
2 1997–98 23 November 1997 Beitostølen, Norway4 × 10 km Relay CWorld Cup3rdSivertsen / Aukland / Skaanes
3 1997–98 6 March 1998 Lahti, Finland4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Cup2ndSivertsen / Eide / Alsgaard
41998–9921 March 1999 Oslo, Norway4 × 10 km Relay CWorld Cup1stBjervig / Aukland / Hjelmeset
5 1999–00 8 December 1999 Asiago, ItalyTeam Sprint FWorld Cup2ndBjonviken
6 1999–00 19 December 1999 Davos, Switzerland4 × 10 km Relay CWorld Cup1stHjelmeset / Jevne / Bjervig
72000–019 December 2000 Santa Caterina, Italy4 × 5 km Relay C/FWorld Cup1stSkjeldal / Hetland / Alsgaard
8 2001–02 16 December 2001 Davos, Switzerland4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Cup3rdJevne / Alsgaard / Hetland
9 2001–02 10 March 2002 Falun, Sweden4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Cup1stAukland / Skjeldal / Alsgaard
10 2002–03 8 December 2002 Davos, Switzerland4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Cup3rdHjelmeset / Skjeldal / Bjervig
11 2002–03 19 January 2003 Nové Město, Czech Republic4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Cup1stAukland / Hofstad / Alsgaard
12 2003–04 23 November 2003 Beitostølen, Norway4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Cup3rdBjonviken / Andresen / Bjørndalen
13 2003–04 14 December 2003 Davos, Switzerland4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Cup1stAukland / Skjeldal / Hetland
14 2003–04 22 February 2004 Umeå, Sweden4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Cup2ndHjelmeset / Skjeldal / Hofstad
152004–0512 December 2004 Val di Fiemme, Italy4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Cup1stSvartedal / Hjelmeset / Hofstad
162006–0725 March 2007 Falun, Sweden4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Cup1stPettersen / Hjelmeset / Northug