Kristin Størmer Steira

Kristin Størmer Steira (born 30 April 1981) is a retired Norwegian cross-country skier. She competed from 2002 to 2015, and won six individual World Cup victories and five individual medals at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships and Winter Olympic Games. She also won four gold medals with the Norway relay team. In Norwegian media, Steira was dubbed "the eternal fourth" due to her many finishes in fourth place.

Career At the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, she has seven medals with two gold (4 × 5 km relay: 2005, 2011), two silvers (7.5 km + 7.5 km double pursuit: 2009, 30 km: 2007), and three bronzes (7.5 km + 7,5 km double pursuit: 2005, 2007; 4 × 5 km relay: 2007).

Steira finished fourth in three individual events (10 km, 7.5 km + 7.5 km double pursuit, 30 km) at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. She has four individual career victories at various levels from 2002 to 2006. In 2009 Steira extended her interests to track athletics and announced her ambition to compete in the 5000 metres at the 2010 European Athletics Championships after achieving a time of 16.02 in Norway. She never did.

In the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, she came eighth in the 10 km pursuit. More agonisingly, she achieved her fourth fourth-place Olympic finish in the 15 km pursuit, losing out on a medal by 0.1 seconds in a photo finish with Justyna Kowalczyk. This, along with her many fourth places previously, led to Norwegian media jokingly labelling her as "the eternal fourth". On 25 February 2010 Steira became an Olympic champion in the 4 × 5 km relay, racing in the third leg after Vibeke Skofterud and Therese Johaug and before Marit Bjørgen.

She qualified for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, where she became 23rd in 15 kilometre skiathlon. In the last event, 30 km mass start freestyle, she finally won the bronze, her only individual medal of the Winter Olympics.

On 20 April 2015, Steira announced her retirement from professional skiing.

Cross-country skiing results All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).

Olympic Games 2 medals – (1 gold, 1 bronze)

Year Age 10 km individual 15 km skiathlon 30 km mass start Sprint 4 × 5 km relay Team sprint 2006 24 4 4 4 — 5 — 2010 28 8 4 8 — Gold — 2014 32 — 22 Bronze — — —

World Championships 8 medals – (3 gold, 2 silver, 3 bronze) Year Age 10 km 15 km Pursuit 30 km Sprint 4 × 5 km relay Team sprint 2003 21 — —28 25 — — 2005 23 9 Bronze — — Gold — 2007 25 4 Bronze Silver — Bronze — 2009 27 6 Silver 5 — 4 — 2011 29 10 9 5 — Gold — 2013 31 9 4 9 — Gold —

World Cup Season standings Season Age Discipline standingsSki Tour standingsOverallDistanceSprintNordicOpeningTour deSkiWorld CupFinal 2002 20 — 2003 21 42 2004 22 27 20 — 2005 23 12 9 — 2006 24 22 12 — 2007 25 14 12 7 2008 26 16 12 11 15 2009 27 9 4 53 9 4 2010 28 6 49 5 4 2011 29 28 19 — — 8 2012 30 14 9 10 6 2013 31 6 45 8 25 2014 32 19 11 14 9 2015 33 53 33 — — —

Individual podiums 6 victories – (3 , 3 ) 22 podiums – (10 , 12 )

Team podiums 13 victories – (13 ) 18 podiums – (18 )

Personal life Steira lives in Drøbak, near Oslo, in Norway. She married Canadian skier Devon Kershaw, her boyfriend since December 2012, on 25 July 2015.