Ola Wærhaug

Ola Wærhaug

Personal information
Born	(1937-12-24)24 December 1937 Skedsmo, Akershus, Norway
Died	9 October 2025(2025-10-09) (aged 87)
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Sport
Professional information
Sport	Biathlon
Club	Heimevernsdistrikt 04
Olympic Games
Teams	3 (1960, 1964, 1968)
Medals	1 (0 gold)
World Championships
Teams	4 (1962, 1965, 1966, 1967)
Medals	2 (2 gold)
Medal record Men's biathlon Representing  Norway Olympic Games 1968 Grenoble 4 × 7.5 km relay World Championships 1965 Elverum Team event 1967 Altenberg 4 × 7.5 km relay

Ola Wærhaug (24 December 1937 – 9 October 2025) was a Norwegian biathlete. He received a silver medal at the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble.^[1] He participated on the winning teams at the 1965 and at the 1967 Biathlon World Championships.

Life and career

Wærhaug competed for Norway at the 1960 Winter Olympics, where he placed seventh in 20 km biathlon. At the 1964 Winter Olympics he also competed in 20 km biathlon, placing 22nd.^[2]

He won a team gold medal at the Biathlon World Championships 1965 in Elverum, along with Olav Jordet, Ragnar Tveiten, and Ivar Nordkild. He won a gold medal in the relay at the Biathlon World Championships 1967 in Altenberg, Saxony, along with Jordet, Jon Istad, and Tveiten.^[2]

At the 1968 Winter Olympics he won a silver medal in the biathlon relay (4 × 7.5 km) with the Norwegian team,^[2] along with Olav Jordet, Magnar Solberg and Jon Istad.^{[3]: 352, 378} The biathlon relay was a new Olympic discipline in 1968, and Norway placed second behind Soviet, ahead of Sweden.^{[3]: 352}

After his active career, Wærhaug settled as farmer in Skedsmo.^[2]

Wærhaug died on 9 October 2025, at the age of 87.^[4]

Biathlon results

All results are sourced from the International Biathlon Union.^[5]

Olympic Games

1 medal (1 silver)

Event	Individual	Relay
1960 Squaw Valley	7th	—N/a
1964 Innsbruck	22nd	—N/a
1968 Grenoble	13th	Silver

*The relay was added as an event in 1968.

World Championships

2 medals (2 gold)

Event	Individual	Team (time)	Relay
1962 Hämeenlinna	23rd	—	—N/a
1965 Elverum	4th	Gold	—N/a
1966 Garmisch-Partenkirchen	23rd	—N/a	—
1967 Altenberg	5th	—N/a	Gold

*During Olympic seasons competitions are only held for those events not included in the Olympic program.

**The team (time) event was removed in 1965, whilst the relay was added in 1966.

References

1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Ola Wærhaug". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
2. "Ola Wærhaug". olympedia.org. Retrieved 20 October 2025.
3. Lahlum, Hans Olav; Tronstad, Øyvind (2021). Historien om vinter-OL (in Norwegian). Vol. 1. Oslo: Cappelen Damm. ISBN 978-82-02-71938-8.
4. "Ola Wærhaug". nittedal.vareminnesider.no. Retrieved 17 October 2025.
5. "Search results". IBU Datacenter. International Biathlon Union. Archived from the original on 27 June 2015. Retrieved 1 August 2015.

External links

• Ola Wærhaug at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)
• Ola Wærhaug at IBU
• Ola Wærhaug at Olympedia
• Ola Wærhaug at InterSportStats