Maiken Caspersen Falla – Wikipedia

Maiken Caspersen Falla
Maiken Caspersen Falla
	Falla in 2019
Country	Norway
Full name	Maiken Caspersen Falla
Born	13 August 1990 (age 32); Fet, Akershus, Norway
Height	1.61 m (5 ft 3 in)
Ski club	Strandbygda IL
Seasons	14 – (2009–2022)
Individual wins	22
Team wins	6
Indiv. podiums	55
Team podiums	15
Indiv. starts	168
Team starts	22
Overall titles	0 – (6th in 2015, 2016)
Discipline titles	3 – (3 SP: 2016–2018)

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Norwegian cross-country skier

Maiken Caspersen Falla (born 13 August 1990) is a Norwegian former cross-country skier who specialized in sprint and short-distance races. She is the 2014 Olympic champion in the individual sprint and three-time Olympic medalist. She became the individual sprint World champion at the 2017 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships and successfully defended her World title in 2019. Falla won a total of five gold, one silver and four bronze medals at the World Championships in her career and she is the most medalled skier in the individual sprint discipline in the Championship history with five medals.^[1] Winner of three consecutive Sprint World Cup crystal globes, Falla’s highest finish in the overall World Cup standings was sixth-place which she achieved in 2014–15 and 2015–16 World Cup seasons.

With 22 World Cup sprint victories, Falla is the second-most successful female World Cup sprinter of all time, only behind Marit Bjørgen.^[2] She also shares the record of most sprint victories in a single season with Petra Majdič at eight victories.

She announced her retirement from cross-country skiing in April 2022.^[3]

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Falla made her World Cup debut with a classical sprint race in Kuusamo on 29 November 2008, where she finished in 22nd place.^[4] She reached her first World Cup podium in Düsseldorf in her second ever World Cup race.^[5] With that promising start, Falla was given a spot in the individual sprint race at the 2009 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Liberec, but she failed to qualify for the quarter-finals by finishing 39th in qualifying round.^[6] After a podium appearance in her rookie season, Falla could not make the World Cup podium for more than two years. During that span, her sixth-place finish at the classical sprint in Kuusamo helped her to secure a spot in the Norwegian Olympic team for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.^[7] At the Olympics, she finished 20th in the individual sprint event.

Falla returned to World Cup podium in 2010/11 season with a third place at the classical sprint in Otepää, then she backed up that performance with a second-place finish in Drammen.^[4] With two podiums in the last two sprints prior to the 2011 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, she became one of the medal favorites in the upcoming home World Championships in Oslo Holmenkollen.^[8]^[9] At the World Championships, after setting the third fastest time in the qualification Falla took a fall in her quarter final heat and eliminated from the competition in that stage after finishing third in the heat.^[10] After the disappointment in the individual sprint, Falla was not initially considered for the team sprint but after the withdrawal of Marit Bjørgen, she was selected for the event alongside Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen and the pair went on to take a bronze medal behind the Swedish and Finnish teams.^[11]^[12]

Falla during the podium ceremony after winning her first World Cup race in Rogla in December 2011

In 2011/12 season, Falla won her first World Cup victory in a freestyle sprint race in Rogla, Slovenia.^[13] She also reached four more podiums during the season and finished the season in second place in sprint rankings behind Kikkan Randall.^[14]

Falla started 2012/13 season in very good form with one victory and three podiums from her first three sprint races. She also reached a podium in a distance race for the first time, a 10 km mass start race in Canmore, but her level dropped after mid-January, and she could not make a single top 10 in the remainder of the World Cup season.^[4] Despite the decrease in performance, at the 2013 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Val di Fiemme, Falla won her first individual World Championship medal with a bronze medal in the individual sprint event.^[15] For the team sprint race she teamed up with Ingvild Flugstad Østberg but the pair missed the medals and finished in fourth place mainly due to Østberg’s fall in the penultimate leg of the race.^[16]

Falla has not started well to 2013/14 season and she managed to reach only one podium in World Cup sprints before the Olympics.^[4] At the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi Falla won the gold medal in individual sprint despite more than one year without a victory in the World Cup. She dominated the event from start to finish by setting the fastest time in the qualifying round and winning every heat she competed.^[17] She was left out in the team sprint since her teammates Marit Bjørgen and Ingvild Flugstad Østberg has shown better performance in classical discipline throughout the season.^[18]^[19] Although the reason was understandable for many, some people – including Bente Skari – criticized the decision of putting Bjørgen into the team instead of Olympic champion Falla.^[20] After the Olympics, Falla earned her sole World Cup victory of the season in the prestigious classical sprint race in Drammen.^[21]

In 2014/15 season, Falla recorded four World Cup podiums and her only victory of the season once again came in Drammen.^[4] She finished the season in third place in sprint rankings behind her teammates Bjørgen and Østberg.^[22] At the 2015 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Falun, Falla earned her first World Championship gold medal in the team sprint event with Østberg,^[23] but once again she had to settle for bronze medal in the individual sprint behind Marit Bjørgen and Stina Nilsson.^[24]

Falla’s best season to date in terms of wins came in 2015/16 season. She was the dominant force in sprint races of the World cup throughout the season by winning eight of eleven sprint races, she participated in and missed the podium only once in the entire season.^[4] That came in Planica where she was dealing with illness.^[25] With eight sprint victories, Falla equaled the Petra Majdič’s record of most World Cup sprint victories in a single season.^[26] At the end of the season she clinched the seasonal sprint World Cup title for the first time in her career.^[27]

In 2016/17 season, Falla defended her sprint World Cup title despite being outsprinted by Sweden’s Stina Nilsson in most of the sprint races.^[28]^[29] Although Falla has only one sprint victory compared to Nilsson’s six, she took the advantage in sprint rankings when Nilsson opted not to ski in Toblach and she maintained it until the end of the season.^[30] At the 2017 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Lahti, Falla took the gold medal in the individual sprint in a similar fashion to her Olympic title and won the only sprint title that has eluded her in her career. She set the fastest time in the qualification and won every heat she competed during the process, while her archrival Nilsson was disqualified in the semifinal.^[31]^[32] By winning the gold medal, she became the second female skier to win Olympic, World and World Cup sprint title after her compatriot Marit Bjørgen who reached that triple crown in 2010 but Falla has the distinction of holding those three honours at the same time. During the championships, Falla added two more gold medals to her medal tally and finished the championships with three gold medals. Along with Heidi Weng, she once again brought the World team sprint title to Norway.^[33] She was also the member of the Norwegian relay team that won the gold medal in 4 × 5 km relay, running the opening classical leg.^[34]

Table of Contents

Personal life[edit]

Falla resides in Lillehammer along with her partner Kristian Hågensen Aune, a former football player who has served as a captain for the Norwegian club Levanger FK.^[35] Her twin brother Marius Caspersen Falla is also a cross-country skier.^[36]

Cross-country skiing results[edit]

All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).^[4]

Olympic Games[edit]

3 medals – (1 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze)

World Championships[edit]

10 medals – (5 gold, 1 silver, 4 bronze)

World Cup[edit]

Season titles[edit]

Season standings[edit]

Individual podiums[edit]

22 victories – (16 WC, 6 SWC)
55 podiums – (39 WC, 15 SWC)

No.	Season	Date	Location	Race	Level	Place
1	2008–09	20 December 2008	Düsseldorf, Germany	0.8 km Sprint F	World Cup	3rd
2	2010–11	23 January 2011	Otepää, Estonia	1.2 km Sprint C	World Cup	3rd
3		20 February 2011	Drammen, Norway	1.2 km Sprint F	World Cup	2nd
4		16 March 2011	Stockholm, Sweden	1.0 km Sprint C	Stage World Cup	3rd
5	2011–12	11 December 2011	Davos, Switzerland	1.5 km Sprint F	World Cup	3rd
6		18 December 2011	Rogla, Slovenia	1.0 km Sprint F	World Cup	1st
7		14 January 2012	Milano, Italy	1.4 km Sprint F	World Cup	3rd
8		17 February 2012	Szklarska Poręba, Poland	1.6 km Sprint F	World Cup	2nd
9		14 March 2012	Stockholm, Sweden	1.0 km Sprint C	Stage World Cup	3rd
10	2012–13	8 December 2012	Quebec City, Canada	1.6 km Sprint F	World Cup	2nd
11		13 December 2012	Canmore, Canada	10 km Mass Start C	World Cup	3rd
12		15 December 2012	Canmore, Canada	1.3 km Sprint F	World Cup	1st
13		12 January 2013	Liberec, Czech Republic	0.85 km Sprint C	World Cup	3rd
14	2013–14	21 December 2013	Asiago, Italy	1.25 km Sprint C	World Cup	3rd
15	2013–14	5 March 2014	Drammen, Norway	1.3 km Sprint C	World Cup	1st
16	2014–15	29 November 2014	Rukatunturi, Finland	1.4 km Sprint C	World Cup	3rd
17		14 December 2014	Davos, Switzerland	1.3 km Sprint F	World Cup	2nd
18		14 February 2015	Östersund, Sweden	1.2 km Sprint C	World Cup	2nd
19		11 March 2015	Drammen, Norway	1.3 km Sprint C	World Cup	1st
20	2015–16	27 November 2015	Rukatunturi, Finland	1.4 km Sprint C	Stage World Cup	1st
21		13 December 2015	Davos, Switzerland	1.6 km Sprint F	World Cup	2nd
22		19 December 2015	Toblach, Italy	1.3 km Sprint F	World Cup	1st
23		1 January 2016	Lenzerheide, Switzerland	1.5 km Sprint F	Stage World Cup	1st
24		3 February 2016	Drammen, Norway	1.2 km Sprint C	World Cup	1st
25		11 February 2016	Stockholm, Sweden	1.2 km Sprint C	World Cup	1st
26		20 February 2016	Lahti, Finland	1.6 km Sprint F	World Cup	1st
27		1 March 2016	Gatineau, Canada	1.7 km Sprint F	Stage World Cup	1st
28		4 March 2016	Quebec City, Canada	1.5 km Sprint F	Stage World Cup	2nd
29		8 March 2016	Canmore, Canada	1.5 km Sprint C	Stage World Cup	1st
30	2016–17	26 November 2016	Rukatunturi, Finland	1.4 km Sprint C	World Cup	2nd
31		2 December 2016	Lillehammer, Norway	1.3 km Sprint C	Stage World Cup	2nd
32		11 December 2016	Davos, Switzerland	1.6 km Sprint F	World Cup	1st
33		31 December 2016	Val Müstair, Switzerland	1.5 km Sprint F	Stage World Cup	2nd
34		14 January 2017	Toblach, Italy	1.3 km Sprint F	World Cup	2nd
35		28 January 2017	Falun, Sweden	1.4 km Sprint F	World Cup	2nd
36		18 February 2017	Otepää, Estonia	1.3 km Sprint F	World Cup	2nd
37		17 March 2017	Quebec City, Canada	1.5 km Sprint F	Stage World Cup	2nd
38	2017–18	2 December 2017	Lillehammer, Norway	1.3 km Sprint C	World Cup	1st
39		9 December 2017	Davos, Switzerland	1.5 km Sprint F	World Cup	2nd
40		30 December 2017	Lenzerheide, Switzerland	1.5 km Sprint F	Stage World Cup	3rd
41		4 January 2018	Oberstdorf, Germany	10 km Mass Start F	Stage World Cup	2nd
42		20 January 2018	Planica, Slovenia	1.4 km Sprint C	World Cup	3rd
43		27 January 2018	Seefeld, Austria	1.1 km Sprint F	World Cup	3rd
44		3 March 2018	Lahti, Finland	1.4 km Sprint F	World Cup	1st
45		7 March 2018	Drammen, Norway	1.2 km Sprint C	World Cup	1st
46	2018–19	19 January 2019	Otepää, Estonia	1.3 km Sprint C	World Cup	1st
47		9 February 2019	Lahti, Finland	1.4 km Sprint F	World Cup	1st
48		12 March 2019	Drammen, Norway	1.2 km Sprint C	World Cup	1st
49		16 March 2019	Falun, Sweden	1.4 km Sprint F	World Cup	2nd
50	2019–20	29 November 2019	Rukatunturi, Finland	1.4 km Sprint C	Stage World Cup	1st
51		14 December 2019	Davos, Switzerland	1.5 km Sprint F	World Cup	2nd
52		29 December 2019	Lenzerheide, Switzerland	1.5 km Sprint F	Stage World Cup	2nd
53		22 February 2020	Trondheim, Norway	1.5 km Sprint C	Stage World Cup	1st
54	2021–22	26 November 2021	Rukatunturi, Finland	1.4 km Sprint C	World Cup	3rd
55	2021–22	3 March 2022	Drammen, Norway	1.2 km Sprint C	World Cup	1st

Team podiums[edit]

6 victories – (2 RL, 4 TS)
15 podiums – (2 RL, 13 TS)

No.	Season	Date	Location	Race	Level	Place	Teammate(s)
1	2008–09	21 December 2008	Düsseldorf, Germany	6 × 0.8 km Team Sprint F	World Cup	2nd	Brun-Lie
2	2009–10	6 December 2009	Düsseldorf, Germany	6 × 0.8 km Team Sprint F	World Cup	3rd	Brun-Lie
3	2010–11	5 December 2010	Düsseldorf, Germany	6 × 0.9 km Team Sprint F	World Cup	2nd	Brun-Lie
4	2010–11	16 January 2011	Liberec, Czech Republic	6 × 1.3 km Team Sprint C	World Cup	1st	Bjørgen
5	2011–12	4 December 2011	Düsseldorf, Germany	6 × 0.9 km Team Sprint F	World Cup	1st	Eide
6	2012–13	7 December 2012	Quebec City, Canada	6 × 1.6 km Team Sprint F	World Cup	3rd	Brun-Lie
7	2012–13	13 January 2013	Liberec, Czech Republic	6 × 0.85 km Team Sprint F	World Cup	1st	Østberg
8	2013–14	22 December 2013	Asiago, Italy	6 × 1.25 km Team Sprint C	World Cup	2nd	Østberg
9	2013–14	12 January 2014	Nové Město, Czech Republic	6 × 1.3 km Team Sprint C	World Cup	1st	Østberg
10	2014–15	18 January 2015	Otepää, Estonia	6 × 1.2 km Team Sprint F	World Cup	2nd	Østberg
11	2015–16	6 December 2015	Lillehammer, Norway	4 × 5 km Relay C/F	World Cup	1st	Østberg / Johaug / Weng
12	2016–17	15 January 2017	Toblach, Italy	6 × 1.3 km Team Sprint F	World Cup	3rd	Jacobsen
13	2018–19	13 January 2019	Dresden, Germany	6 × 1.6 km Team Sprint F	World Cup	3rd	Eide
14	2018–19	10 February 2019	Lahti, Finland	6 × 1.4 km Team Sprint C	World Cup	2nd	T. Udnes Weng
15	2019–20	8 December 2019	Lillehammer, Norway	4 × 5 km Relay C/F	World Cup	1st	Jacobsen / Johaug / Weng

Overall record[edit]

As of 11 March 2022

Result	Distance Races^[a]							Sprint	Ski Tours	Individual Events	Team Events		All Events
Result	≤ 5 km^[b]	≤ 10 km^[b]	≤ 15 km^[b]	≤ 30 km^[b]	≥ 30 km^[b]	Pursuit	Skiathlon	Sprint	Ski Tours	Individual Events	Team Sprint	Relay	All Events
1st place	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	22	–	22	4	2	28
2nd place	–	1	–	–	–	–	–	18	–	19	5	–	24
3rd place	–	1	–	–	–	–	–	13	–	14	4	–	18
Podiums	–	2	–	–	–	–	–	53	–	55	13	2	70
Top 10	1	5	1	–	–	4	3	84	5	103	16	5	124
Points	9	13	1	3	–	14	7	98	13	158	17	5	180
Others	2	8	–	–	1	4	–	8	–	23	–	–	23
DNF	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	9	9	–	–	9
Starts	11	21	1	3	1	18	7	106	22	190	17	5	211

a. ¹ Classification is made according to FIS classification.

b. ¹ ² ³ ⁴ ⁵ Includes individual and mass start races.

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Media related to Maiken Caspersen Falla at Wikimedia Commons


Until 1900
1900–1950	1901: Aksel Refstad (NOR) 1903: Karl Hovelsen (NOR) 1904: Harald Smith (NOR) 1905: Jonas Holmen (NOR) 1907: Per Bakken 1908: Einar Kristiansen (NOR) 1909: Thorvald Hansen 1910: Lauritz Bergendahl 1911: Otto Tangen (NOR), Knut Holst (NOR) 1912: Olav Bjaaland (NOR) 1914: Johan Kristoffersen (NOR) 1915: Sverre Østbye (NOR) 1916: Lars Høgvold (NOR) 1918: Hassa Horn (NOR), Jørgen Hansen (NOR) 1919: Thorleif Haug (NOR), Otto Aasen (NOR) 1923: Thoralf Strømstad (NOR) 1924: Harald Økern (NOR), Johan Grøttumsbråten (NOR) 1925: Einar Landvik (NOR) 1926: Jacob Tullin Thams 1927: Hagbart Haakonsen (NOR), Einar Lindboe (NOR) 1928: Torjus Hemmestveit (NOR), Mikkjel Hemmestveit (NOR) 1931: Hans Vinjarengen (NOR), Ole Stenen (NOR) 1934: Oddbjørn Hagen (NOR) 1935: Arne Rustadstuen (NOR) 1937: Olaf Hoffsbakken (NOR), Birger Ruud (NOR), Martin P. Vangsli (NOR) 1938: Reidar Andersen (NOR), Johan R. Henriksen (NOR) 1939: Sven Selånger (SWE), Lars Bergendahl (NOR), Trygve Brodahl (NOR) 1940: Oscar Gjøslien (NOR), Annar Ryen (NOR) 1947: Elling Rønes (NOR) 1948: Asbjørn Ruud (NOR) 1949: Sigmund Ruud (NOR) 1950: Olav Økern (NOR)
1951–2000	1951: Simon Slåttvik (NOR) 1952: Stein Eriksen (NOR), Torbjørn Falkanger (NOR), Heikki Hasu (FIN), Nils Karlsson (SWE) 1953: Magnar Estenstad (NOR) 1954: Martin Stokken (NOR) 1955: Haakon VII (NOR), Hallgeir Brenden (NOR), Veikko Hakulinen (FIN), Sverre Stenersen (NOR) 1956: Borghild Niskin (NOR), Arnfinn Bergmann (NOR), Arne Hoel (NOR) 1957: Eero Kolehmainen (FIN) 1958: Inger Bjørnbakken (NOR), Håkon Brusveen (NOR) 1959: Gunder Gundersen (NOR) 1960: Helmut Recknagel (GDR), Sixten Jernberg (SWE), Sverre Stensheim (NOR), Tormod Knutsen (NOR) 1961: Harald Grønningen (NOR) 1962: Toralf Engan (NOR) 1963: Alevtina Kolchina (URS), Pavel Kolchin (URS), Astrid Sandvik (NOR), Torbjørn Yggeseth (NOR) 1964: Veikko Kankkonen (FIN), Eero Mäntyranta (FIN), Georg Thoma (FRG), Halvor Næs (NOR) 1965: Arto Tiainen (FIN), Bengt Eriksson (SWE), Arne Larsen (NOR) 1967: Toini Gustafsson (SWE), Ole Ellefsæter (NOR) 1968: Olav V (NOR), Assar Rönnlund (SWE), Gjermund Eggen (NOR), Bjørn Wirkola (NOR) 1969: Odd Martinsen (NOR) 1970: Pål Tyldum (NOR) 1971: Marjatta Kajosmaa (FIN), Berit Mørdre (NOR), Reidar Hjermstad (NOR) 1972: Rauno Miettinen (FIN), Magne Myrmo (NOR) 1973: Einar Bergsland (NOR), Ingolf Mork (NOR), Franz Keller (FRG) 1974: Juha Mieto (FIN) 1975: Gerhard Grimmer (GDR), Oddvar Brå (NOR), Ivar Formo (NOR) 1976: Ulrich Wehling (GDR) 1977: Helena Takalo (FIN), Hilkka Kuntola (FIN), Walter Steiner (SUI) 1979: Ingemar Stenmark (SWE), Erik Håker (NOR), Raisa Smetanina (URS) 1980: Thomas Wassberg (SWE) 1981: Johan Sætre (NOR) 1983: Berit Aunli (NOR), Tom Sandberg (NOR) 1984: Lars Erik Eriksen (NOR), Jakob Vaage (NOR), Armin Kogler (AUT) 1985: Anette Bøe (NOR), Per Bergerud (NOR), Gunde Svan (SWE) 1986: Brit Pettersen (NOR) 1987: Matti Nykänen (FIN), Hermann Weinbuch (FRG) 1989: Marja-Liisa Kirvesniemi (FIN) 1991: Vegard Ulvang (NOR), Trond Einar Elden (NOR), Ernst Vettori (AUT), Jens Weißflog (GER) 1992: Yelena Välbe (RUS) 1993: Emil Kvanlid (NOR) 1994: Lyubov Yegorova (RUS), Vladimir Smirnov (KAZ), Espen Bredesen (NOR) 1995: Kenji Ogiwara (JPN) 1996: Manuela Di Centa (ITA) 1997: Bjarte Engen Vik (NOR), Stefania Belmondo (ITA), Bjørn Dæhlie (NOR) 1998: Fred Børre Lundberg (NOR), Larisa Lazutina (RUS), Alexey Prokurorov (RUS), Harri Kirvesniemi (FIN) 1999: Kazuyoshi Funaki (JPN)
Since 2001	2001: Adam Małysz (POL), Bente Skari (NOR), Thomas Alsgaard (NOR) 2003: Felix Gottwald (AUT), Ronny Ackermann (GER) 2004: Yuliya Chepalova (RUS) 2005: Andrus Veerpalu (EST) 2007: Frode Estil (NOR), Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset (NOR), Harald V (NOR), Sonja (NOR), Simon Ammann (SUI) 2010: Marit Bjørgen (NOR) 2011: Ole Einar Bjørndalen (NOR), Michael Greis (GER), Andrea Henkel (GER), Janne Ahonen (FIN) 2012: Magdalena Neuner (GER), Emil Hegle Svendsen (NOR) 2013: Tora Berger (NOR), Martin Fourcade (FRA), Therese Johaug (NOR), Gregor Schlierenzauer (AUT) 2014: Magnus Moan (NOR), Eric Frenzel (GER), Thomas Morgenstern (AUT), Darya Domracheva (BLR) 2015: Eldar Rønning (NOR), Anders Bardal (NOR), Anette Sagen (NOR), Kamil Stoch (POL) 2016: Noriaki Kasai (JPN), Tarjei Bø (NOR) 2017: Marie Dorin-Habert (FRA), Sara Takanashi (JPN) 2018: Charlotte Kalla (SWE), Princess Astrid (NOR), Hannu Manninen (FIN), Kaisa Mäkäräinen (FIN) 2021: Maren Lundby (NOR), Johannes Thingnes Bø (NOR), Dario Cologna (SWI), Johannes Rydzek (GER) 2022: Tiril Eckhoff (NOR), Marte Olsbu Røiseland (NOR), Johannes Høsflot Klæbo (NOR), Jørgen Graabak (NOR) 2023: Maiken Caspersen Falla (NOR), Stefan Kraft (AUT)