One of Those Who Died Young
Anders Woldseth was one of the young talents Norwegian sport lost too soon. He had only just emerged as Norway’s best ski jumper when he died suddenly and unexpectedly, at the age of just 25.
One of Those Who Died Young
Anders Woldseth was one of the young talents Norwegian sport lost too soon. He had only just emerged as Norway’s best ski jumper when he died suddenly and unexpectedly, at the age of just 25.
He was born in 1934 and grew up on Hoemsveien, near Stavne. As a boy, he joined the local club, Stavne Idrettsforening. He won most of the competitions he entered in the boys’ classes and continued in the same vein as a junior. After completing his secondary education at Trondheim Cathedral School, he spent a year in the United States, where he performed well, also in competitions against elite ski jumpers such as Hans Bjørnstad and Arne Hoel. In the mid-1950s, Woldseth was among the first Norwegian ski jumpers to adopt and master the aerodynamic Finnish style. In 1956, he represented Norway in several competitions abroad, including the ski-flying event at Kulm, where jumps of well over 100 metres were recorded.
While completing his military service in Northern Norway, he broke his leg in the autumn of 1957. By later that winter, however, he had returned to full competition and was once again selected to represent Norway, both that season and the next, although he was not chosen for the 1958 World Championships in Lahti. With his elegant, compact style, Woldseth maintained a daring balance in the air, and on occasion falls cost him high placings. This happened again in Garmisch during the New Year’s ski jumping event of the 1959 Four Hills Tournament, but a few days later he finished third in Innsbruck.
In the winter of 1959, the new Vintervann ski jump was ready for use. In the opening competition, Anders Woldseth set a hill record of 75.5 metres in the first round. In his second jump, however, he was one of several competitors caught by the wind and fell. That season, he won both the Norwegian Championships and the Swedish Ski Games, and finished second at the Lahti Ski Games. During an international competition at Gråkallen in March, he suffered another serious fall and had to be taken to hospital.