Mariann Vestbøstad Marthinsen

Mariann Vestbøstad Marthinsen Para swimming, para – cross-country skiing
Mariann Vestbøstad Marthinsen
Personal information
Type of disability (class):	LW12
Nationality:	Norway
Birthday:	September 9, 1984
Place of birth:	Stord

Mariann Marthinsen Vestbøstad (* 9. September 1984 in Stord as Mariann Vestbøstad ) is a former Norwegian disabled athlete in the disciplines of cross-country skiing and swimming .

Life

Mariann Vestbøstad was born on Stord and grew up in Fitjar . After a car accident as a toddler, her right leg and part of her right hand were amputated. After finishing school, she moved to Bergen , studied social work and worked in a kindergarten alongside her athletic career. After their wedding, she took her husband's last name.

Career

swim

In Bergen, Vestbøstad Marthinsen started for the Vestkantsvømmerne swimming club , to which Alexander Dale Oen , whom she counted as one of her role models, also belonged to. In 2003 Marthinsen began to compete at a higher level in para swimming and qualified for the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens , where she competed in three competitions and reached the finals each. At the World Championships two years later in Durban , she won the silver medal in the 100-meter backstroke and reached the finals in four other competitions. The highlight of her career as a swimmer was the bronze medal in the 100-meter backstroke at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing . After participating in her third Summer Paralympic Games in London in 2012 , where she finished fourth in her parade discipline 100 meters back, she ended her active swimming career and decided to specialize exclusively in cross-country skiing from now on. In the course of her swimming career, she set 17 world records.

Cross-country skiing

In 2008 Vestbøstad Marthinsen began, in addition to her career as a swimmer, to compete in cross-country skiing, which until then she had only pursued as a hobby. Her first World Cup victory came two years later in February 2010 in Oberried . In the same year she took part in the Winter Paralympics 2010 in Vancouver , where she reached the finals in the 5 and 10 kilometer races. At the 2011 World Championships in Khanty-Mansiysk , she won two bronze medals. After she gave up her swimming career, she won twelve more World Cup races and the overall World Cup in cross-country skiing in 2012 and 2014. In 2011 and 2013, she came second. She also won two silver and one bronze medal at the 2013 World Championships in Sollefteå, Sweden .

At the opening of the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi , Marthinsen was the flag bearer of the Norwegian team at the opening ceremony. These Paralympics became their career highlight with a gold medal in the 1 km cross-country sprint and a bronze medal in the mixed relay together with Nils-Erik Ulset and Eirik Bye . In the 5-kilometer cross-country race, her cross -country ski sled broke on a 2-second lead, so she missed a medal and ended up in 15th place.

After the 2015 World Championships in Cable , where she took third place with the mixed relay, she ended her active skiing career.

Awards

• 2006: Idrettsgallaen Parasporter of the Year
• 2013: Egebergs Ærespris
• 2014: Paralympic Honorary Award from the Norwegian Government

Web links

• Mariann Vestbøstad Marthinsen on paralympic.org

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Mariann Vestbøstad Marthinsen. Norsk ski association, archived from the original on March 13, 2014 ; accessed January 8, 2021 (Norwegian). 
2. ↑ ^{a b} Stian Thelen: Mariann (28) has 17 record recorders. Nettavisen, October 12, 2012, accessed January 8, 2021 . 
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Mariann Marthinsen. Paralympic.org, accessed January 8, 2021 . 
4. ↑ Magnar Taule: Paralympics-helten avslutter karieren med VM i USA. Aftenposten, January 18, 2015, accessed January 8, 2021 . 
5. ↑ Tidligere vinnere. Idrettsgalla, accessed January 8, 2021 . 
6. ^ Regjeringens paralympiske ærespris til Mariann Vestbøstad Marthinsen. Regjeringen.no, August 4, 2014, accessed January 8, 2021 .