Johan Kjølstad is a Norwegian cross country skier

Cross-country skiing

Cross-country skiing is a winter sport in which participants propel themselves across snow-covered terrain using skis and poles...

 who has competed since 2002.

Born in Levanger

Levanger

Levanger is a town and municipality in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Innherred region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Levanger...

, he represents the sports club Skogn IL.

Competing in two Winter Olympics, he earned his best finish of seventh in the individual sprint event at Turin

Turin

Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...

 in 2006

2006 Winter Olympics

The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XX Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Turin, Italy from February 10, 2006, through February 26, 2006. This marked the second time Italy hosted the Olympic Winter Games, the first being the VII Olympic Winter...

. He finished sixth overall in the Sprint Cup at the 2007-08 Cross-country Skiing World Cup

2007-08 Cross-country Skiing World Cup

The 2007–08 FIS Cross-Country World Cup was a multi-race tournament over the season for cross-country skiers. The season began on 27 October 2007 with 800m sprint races for women in Düsseldorf, won by Natalia Matveeva of Russia, who took her first World Cup victory...

, and won one of the races.

At the 2009 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships

2009 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships

The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 took place 18 February – 1 March 2009 in Liberec, Czech Republic. This was the fourth time these championships were hosted either in the Czech Republic or in Czechoslovakia, having done so at Janské Lázně and Vysoké Tatry .The biggest sports event in...

, Kjølstad won the sprint prologue before American Andrew Newell

Andrew Newell

Andrew "Andy" Newell is an American cross country skier who has been competing on the international level since 2001.- Career :...

 and Russian Alexei Petukhov. In the quarter finals, Kjølstad progressed alongside Swiss

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 World Cup leader Dario Cologna

Dario Cologna

Dario Cologna is a Swiss cross-country skier. He has two overall World Cup victories, one Olympic medal, and two Tour de Ski victories in his career so far.-Athletic career:...

. Then, Kjølstad defeated Nikolay Morilov

Nikolay Morilov

Nikolay Sergeyevich Morilov is a Russian cross country skier who has been competing since 2004. He won two medals at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships with a silver in the team sprint and a bronze in the individual sprint .Morilov has two individual victories at the junior level of cross...

 in the semi final and went to the final heat, being a medal favourite. Here, he fought with Ola Vigen Hattestad

Ola Vigen Hattestad

Ola Vigen Hattestad is a Norwegian cross country skier who has competed since 2002. Competing in two Winter Olympics, hea earned his best finish of fourth in the individual sprint event at Vancouver in 2010....

for the gold, having broken free from the other four competitors. At the sprint final, Vigen Hattestad defeated Kjølstad who grabbed the silver medal. The following day, Kjølstad teamed up with Vigen Hattestad to win gold in the team sprint event.