Young World Cup Winner: Alexander Steen Olsen’s Story

Alexander Steen Olsen, Juvass Oct 2023, Photo: Eriend Dokken, Alpinlandslaget

Capturing his first World Cup victory last February at age 21 during his first full season at the sport’s highest level, Alexander “Sander” Steen Olsen became the latest Norwegian “wonder kid.” Entering this season, he is ranked third in the world among male World Cup skiers 23 years and younger, according to the 2023 FIS Longines Rising Ski Star list, with fellow Norwegians Lucas Braathen and Atle Lie McGrath ranked 1st and 2nd. “Sander” is ready for Sölden and his second complete World Cup season.

Steen Olsen has had a short but impressive international career so far:

• First World Cup victory: slalom, Palisades Tahoe, USA, Feb. 26, 2023
• Seven World Cup top-10 results: five in slalom, two in giant slalom
• World Cup starts: 32
• FIS World Ski Championships: silver medal, team parallel, Courchevel Méribel, France, Feb. 14, 2023
• FIS Junior World Ski Championships: winner in both the giant slalom and slalom, Panorama, Canada, March 8-9, 2022
• Thirteen European Cup top-10 results: seven in slalom (three victories), six in giant slalom
• European Cup starts: 33
• First FIS start: Nov. 27, 2017
• Four Norwegian National Champion titles (senior): 2023 and 2022 in giant slalom, 2022 and 2020 in slalom

Going into this season, he is ranked 9th in slalom and 22nd in giant slalom on the World Cup start list.

When asked about the highlight of his young career, Steen Olsen, who turned 22 in August, carefully considers his answer, then responds (maybe not surprisingly): “It is my World Cup victory because that is something I always have worked toward, to win a World Cup race. Seeing that I can achieve a victory has been very important to me and I believe it will help me a lot. If I can do it once, I believe that I can do it again.”

Contender

Entering his second World Cup season, Steen Olsen will likely be an exciting contender in the technical events. He describes his preparations before this season as “very good,” though he wishes it had been possible to ski more during the weeks coming into the season opener. As for many teams, this year’s lack of snow on the shrinking European glaciers reduced the possibility for good ski training during the early fall period.

However, during the last weeks before going to Sölden, the Norwegian technical team utilized a few ski training days in very wintery conditions at the Galdhøpiggen Summer Ski Center (popularly known as Juvass) in western Norway.

Steen Olsen says previous ski training blocks were also beneficial: “We had an excellent ski camp in New Zealand. I have improved my fitness and am very happy with my technical skiing in New Zealand.

“With the season I had last year, I believe it will be a bit easier to focus on my skiing now that I don’t need to stress about thinking things like, ‘Am I good enough to be here?’ Or, ‘I need to do something extra to catch up with those guys.’ Both in races and training, it will be easier to focus on what I should do without needing to impress anybody,” Steen Olsen explains.

“Plus, I have gotten to know the other guys better. So, I hope this will be a fun season,” the sympathetic 22-year-old shares with Ski Racing Media..

Why so good?

During our October interviews, Steen Olsen and his coaching father, Arild Olsen, shed light on their past training history and mindset with this question in mind: Why has Sander become such a good skier at an early age?

We also touched upon possible similarities in why Braathen, McGrath and Steen Olsen have experienced World Cup success at a relatively young age.

However, to set the name straight, Steen Olsen goes by both Alexander and nickname Sander, with no preference. “Whatever is the least confusing,” he explains, adding that his mom and grandparents call him Alexander, while his friends, dad and siblings call him Sander.

He grew up in Oslo, Norway, where he spent most of his ski club life in Kjelsås Idrettslag (IL). His father has been the club’s sports director for alpine skiing since 2010. As an active kid, Steen Olsen always participated in several sports besides skiing, including playing soccer and ice hockey for Kjelsås IL. He also enjoyed a lot of active time with unorganized sports activities, especially soccer.

Steen Olsen highlights several factors when asked why he has become such a good skier at a young age: His father’s great engagement, the amount of training on skis and dryland, and the age group with which he grew up training and racing in Norway.

His father pinpoints all the sports and physical activities Steen Olsen took part in outside of organized training, believing the significant amount of physical activity as a child has given his son an advantage.

We will look at the benefits of all these factors (and more) below.

Father’s groundwork

Steen Olsen joined Kjelsås IL Alpint, located in east Oslo as a young skier. His father became actively involved as a coach and sports director for the alpine skiing program, and Steen Olsen believes his father’s involvement is a significant reason for his ski racing success:

“My dad has followed me closely, always pushed forward, and his philosophy is to train the most to become the best. There has been a lot of skiing through the years and an early focus on dryland training, not to start lifting heavy weights at 14, but still a lot of play and fun during dryland. We also continued the dryland training while we were skiing.”

Regarding his involvement in Kjelsås IL, Olsen Senior says, “The most important thing for me with childhood sports is to facilitate a great amount of activity so that the children can participate in many sports in Kjelsås. I met with the other sports programs and tried to facilitate varying training days for the different age groups so that they could train in soccer one day, alpine skiing the next day, and cross-country skiing on another day — a high activity level and great variation in the type of activity for the children’s sports was important for us in Kjelsås.”

Kjelsås IL is a large sports club in Norwegian terms and strives to offer activities to everyone, of all ages, in the local community. According to Olsen, Kjelsås includes Norway’s largest cross-country ski club. Soccer is also one of the major sports. Kjelsås has grown to become an important local alpine club as well. Olsen unpretentiously explains: “I have sort of built some structure in Kjelsås around alpine skiing.”

Olsen is still involved in Kjelsås. In recent years, he has helped build up, and is now coaching, the TRYVIS Ski Academy, which is a cooperative project between the clubs Kjelsås IL and Trysil IL (combined in a program called Snowteam) and the public secondary school in Trysil, Norway.

Amount of training

Olsen’s focus on children being active has also played out in practical terms for his son. “I’m guessing that 20-30% of his training has been organized. The rest has taken place on the local soccer field and during training on his own.” Hence, 70-80% of Steen Olsen’s training has been in addition to organized training with the ski club or other sports programs.

“He lived on the soccer field from nine in the morning until I had to get him when it got dark at night,” Olsen says. “Sander has played soccer [actively for a team] all the way through the ski academy. He still goes out to the field. When he has worked out with the [alpine] national team at Toppidrettssenteret [the Olympic training center], he’ll go and play soccer afterward, that kind of thing,” his father explains. Steen Olsen recalls his love for soccer as a child and remembers “having a lot of freedom to do what I wanted as long as I was doing something active.”

He believes all the physical activity on his own has helped increase his ability to learn. “Christian Mitter [head technical coach for the Norwegian national team] says learning as fast as possible is essential — to learn from your mistakes. I believe you become a good learner by staying active with many other things,” Steen Olsen expands.

Are you very fond of a large amount of training?

“I have become more and more fond of it. Of course, when you have a dad who has pushed as much as my dad, you can get a little tired of it occasionally, especially towards the end of the season, but I assume I am not the only one who has felt like that. I have always really enjoyed skiing. In dryland training, I needed a bit of a push when I was younger because I just wanted to play soccer and so on. Now I enjoy it more and more,” he says.

Jack of all trades

Olsen points out the correlation between physical condition and ski racing results, which he says is supported statistically through the Ironman test. The Norwegian Ironman test, developed by sports scientist Robbie Reid and the Norwegian Ski Federation in the early 2000s, has been an important tool for Norwegian skiers for decades. A great variety of physical skills are tested, on junior and senior levels, and the results give the skiers and coaches an indication of each athlete’s physical level compared to a set scale.

According to Olsen, the Norwegian Ski Federation and Reid emphasize the importance of not training specifically for the test but rather on diverse training.

“You need to be the ‘jack of all trades’ in alpine skiing,” Olsen says.

Benefits of a training buddy

Steen Olsen recalls his ski club years as a fun time. “We were a small group, and that was fun. There was a closeness and unity, and not too many people to relate to.”

Steen Olsen pinpoints his friend and former teammate Christian Oliveira Søvik as a vital factor in his development. They have followed each other closely during the years in Kjelsås and later at the ski academy they both attended in Oppdal, Norway.

“We have always been very good friends but at the same time rivals; you always want to beat that person. We have always had a very healthy competitive environment, which I believe has benefited us,” Steen Olsen says.

Søvik, or Soevik as it often is spelled internationally, joined the University of Denver Ski Team as a freshman this fall after racing in the Europa Cup and being a member of the Norwegian national team.

Do you believe this is an important, dynamic friendship, like what has been crucial in the close friendship between Lucas Braathen and Atle Lie McGrath during their young years?

“I did not spend much time with Atle and Lucas in training during that age, but I can imagine that [their friendship] might have been important for them as well. We have competitive personalities and none of us likes to be beaten,” Steen Olsen replies.

The golden age groups

In addition to having had a close training buddy, which seems to have helped create positive training dynamics, there are additional similarities between Steen Olsen, McGrath and Braathen – the top-3 young men on the current FIS Longines Rising Star list.

The most obvious, shared facts:

• Norwegian men
• an actively involved parent, as a coach and/or otherwise
• grew up in small ski areas with a compact training hill
• members of ski clubs in/near Oslo (though on opposite sides of the city)
• born in 2000 (Braathen and McGrath) and 2001 (Steen Olsen)

Steen Olsen believes the latter point to be an essential factor in their success: “There were a lot of skiers in the 2000 and 2001 age groups in Norway. As a result, the level became high, especially in Oslo and Bærum; we had to push to keep up with the best. There have been a lot of good skiers my age, as well as Lucas and Atle, of course.”

Representing Kjelsås IL, while Braathen and McGrath represented Bærums Skiklub, located on the opposite side of Oslo, Steen Olsen did not participate in the same races as Braathen and McGrath as a child. (In Norway, skiers mainly compete locally through U12.) However, in U14 and U16, they participated in national finals where Steen Olsen competed against Braathen, McGrath and other one-year older racers every other season. (Being the youngest, then oldest in U14, and then the same in U16.) “Then you experienced where the level was at [among the older racers] and would push for that,” Steen Olsen explains.

He continues: “The culture surrounding our 2000-2001 age groups has been very positive. We have been very serious from a young age. All of us have skied in Oslo three days a week and skied on the weekends as well.” A mix of the environment in the clubs, at the ski academies, and the amount of skiing have been important factors for their successful development.

Mindset

What is your most significant and most crucial strength?

Steen Olsen thinks for a moment before highlighting his mindset and ability to not give up: “When things don’t quite work, that’s when it’s important to work hard. When you’re a bit behind, or things don’t work… It’s in the uphills that you move up.” He credits his father for this wisdom.

He shares an example: “Like during the first season when I skied a few World Cup races [in 2021], it didn’t go very well. But then I accepted that and understood I had to train more to compete at this level. Just accept that it is a process and don’t stress about not winning the first World Cup race you participate in. Trust that the type of training you do will work over time.”

How would you describe yourself as an alpine skier and a person?

“Oh, oh, oh!” Steen Olsen exclaims and chuckles, taking another moment to think before responding. “I think I’m hardworking and willing to learn, that I want to learn and I dare to ask questions.” A quick pause. “It’s a bit difficult to describe yourself as a person. I believe others have to do that.”

Reflective

The young World Cup skier seems reflective in his answers when talking about his training.

Have you grown and learned to be reflective during your first year on the World Cup team, or has this reflectiveness been part of you for a long time?

“I have always liked to challenge my dad regarding the training he has planned; I’ve always been his ‘devil’s advocate.’ So therefore, I have had to reflect on the training programs. I also remember from Oppdal [Ski Academy] that coaches were curious about what we, as athletes, were thinking. That has resulted in me always thinking a bit about my training,” Steen Olsen explains. “In the long run, it is important to have your own opinions.”

Creating a long-term focus

Coach and Sports Director Olsen truly believed in long-term development as a critical element when planning the Kjelsås IL Alpin program – and has had to trust in his opinion as well.

The Kjelsås alpine skiers trained – and still train – on the small, local hill called Trollvann (the Troll Lake), only minutes away from the Kjelsås neighborhood in Norway’s capital. Trollvann and the adjacent Grefsenkleiva make up the relatively small but important neighborhood ski area, Oslo Skisenter, on the hillsides just a few miles northeast of downtown Oslo.

“We focused on ourselves and were very patient, followed the steps. We worked long-term, very long-term in everything we did,” Olsen explains.

However, this approach was not always easy.

“You must be a strong person in the sports-leadership role, one who manages to get the parents to follow. I had to accept many fights,” Olsen says. “It is a tough route to follow. A lot of parents have opinions and think short-term regarding many topics. Getting them to believe in this method over a longer period is a job that must be done. Several people changed clubs [away from Kjelsås] because they thought this program was a bit slow and too long-term for them.”

As the program’s benefits became more apparent, the parents’ support for the long-term vision increased. “They saw the results coming, slowly but surely. They saw that the athletes developed year by year and that there was development in the groups.”

According to Olsen, getting the parents actively involved in various roles in the ski club is also important: “It’s about getting parents into positions where they can do positive things; things that don’t pull in other directions, but which pull in the same direction. Some are good at handling timing-related tasks; others are good at organizing voluntary work. People find their positions, though it takes time. Then new parents come into the club, and you need to do the same job again,” the coach and sports director says.

The work has paid off. In 2022, Kjelsås skiers Steen Olsen, Søvik and Pernille Dyrstad Lydersen competed at the Junior World Championships. While Søvik now has joined Denver and the NCAA, Lydersen and Steen Olsen are members of the Norwegian national team this season.

Happy ski club days

Olsen’s work with Kjelsås IL paid off in other ways as well. Steen Olsen and his father remember the social setting as very positive and close-knit. Many children participated in multiple sports. There was a focus on having fun during childhood up through U12.

No ranked result lists are allowed during children’s sports in Norway through U12. “We were very supportive of that,” Olsen says. “Instead, we organized more activities, had carnival races and parents’ races, and tried to create excitement, which led to the children wanting to choose alpine skiing as their sport. This resulted in our club being Norway’s largest alpine skiing club, with the most members in the alpine program, for a few years. That was a lot of fun!”

The alpine program’s slogan – then and now – sets the tone for how its members should act and treat people around them; they are asked to be “The nicest people on the hill!”

Olsen and Kjelsås IL Alpin also aimed to keep the cost down to enable as many children as possible to join the program.

“We didn’t have a lot of money,” Olsen states. To enable his family to ski as much as possible, he rented an old cabin on a farm in Kvitfjell, near the famous ski area, where they could stay during weekends and vacations. Bathroom facilities: an outhouse.

A sheet of paper

Olsen developed a framework for Kjelsås IL Alpin, which he describes as an uncomplicated tool for all age groups. The whole plan, still in use in Kjelsås today, consists of a chart fitting on one sheet of paper.

“Everything is there; how many days they should ski in each group and how many ski camp days they are allowed to attend according to their age group. This is how we still work today,” Olsen says. He points out that somebody needs to take charge, get the parents involved, and keep the long-term philosophy alive along the way.

“There are many environments where people become too eager too early, which makes development difficult,” Olsen says and explains further: “They might give up on development during the period where most drop out of sports. If you ask why somebody stopped skiing or quit sports, it’s often because last season didn’t go so well; they did not continue to develop. They might have been very impatient at an early age and have experienced a lot of development during an early age.

“In our way of thinking, development should be more gradual. Be patient. Dare to save some for later! This way, [the club] might also keep the ones that physically develop a bit later. It is important to keep everyone. To keep as many as possible [in the program], you need to think long-term,” Olsen says about the process he believes so strongly in.

The Norwegian model

Olsen says the framework for Kjelsås IL and its alpine skiing program is based on what is generally known as “the Norwegian model.” This includes guidelines and rules set forth by The Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports (NIF).

These are also essential building blocks in Bærums Skiklub (BSK), the ski club where Braathen and McGrath grew up. The BSK alpine program, which the then-general manager for alpine skiing Felix McGrath was central in developing from around 2011 and which is still in use today, has been highlighted in a previous Ski Racing Media article, Possibly the World Best Ski Club.

Hence, the childhood club programs of Steen Olsen, Braathen and McGrath – and many other top Norwegian athletes – have much in common.

For the Kjelsås IL and BSK alpine skiing programs developed by Olsen and McGrath, these similarities include:

• a set framework used every year to ensure the planned progress, specifying facts about each age group’s training program (days on skis per week, dryland sessions per week, number of ski camp days per season, etc.)
• focus on long-term development
• varied training, especially for the younger age groups
• training should have elements of fun and play, especially for the younger age groups
• respect for each other within the group and other people around you
• a positive social setting and inclusion of everyone
• keeping as many skiers in the program for as long as possible
• active involvement of the parents in various roles
• a focus on everyone working together and pulling in the same direction
• strong sports leadership

The childhood age groups in Norway run through U12. During U14 and U16, other rules and a more sport-specific mindset come into play. Then, after U16 and becoming the FIS eligible age, Norwegian youth start secondary school and many alpine skiers head off to ski academies.

You will find more information about these topics in Ski Racing Media’s March 2023 article and three-part series on the Norwegian Development System.

Moving away to the ski academy

It’s time to turn the focus back to Alexander Steen Olsen.

After U16, he moved away from home to attend Oppdal secondary school, which includes a ski academy with a four-year option allowing more time for training and racing. (Norwegian secondary education can also be completed in three-year programs.)

What was essential for you during the ski academy years?

“Even though not everyone was the best skier, everyone wanted to become the best and to have the greatest progress possible. Even though you moved away from home, away from your parents and had the freedom to get into a lot of trouble, there was a really good atmosphere for development. And we had a lot of good, older role models that included us and took care of us,” Steen Olsen says about his experiences coming to Oppdal Skigymnas. The atmosphere was important, especially the inclusion by the older student-athletes, and he felt like he was part of a team from day one.

“Also, I learned a lot from living on my own; I had to take responsibility for myself,” he adds.

During his ski academy years, he became increasingly included in the Norwegian Ski Federation’s training groups and teams. In 2020-21, he was part of a ski federation development team at the same time as he trained a lot at Oppdal. He also had his first four World Cup starts.

Then, in 2021-22, he was a part of the Norwegian national team skiing European Cup, plus had eight World Cup starts. The same season, he won two gold medals at the 2022 Junior World Championships. This secured starting spots at the World Cup Finals in giant slalom and slalom, resulting in impressive 10th and 12th place finishes.

Finally, in 2022-23, he became part of the Norwegian World Cup team, delivered several good results, and secured his first World Cup victory.

Victorious in difficult conditions

His first World Cup victory came in very snowy conditions during the slalom race in Palisades Tahoe on February 26, 2023, and after some waiting for the jury’s confirmation of AJ Ginnis’ straddle in the second run. Steen Olsen’s teammate Timon Haugan, who also previously attended Oppdal Ski Academy, finished second.

“It was a day that suited me well, with a lot of snow in the air and a bit of an uneven surface,” Steen Olsen recalls. “I managed, particularly in the second run, to just let loose and hit it well during that run. It was a mix of the hill and conditions that made the day fit me well. It was very surreal.”

With you being so young, it is not that long ago for you as it is for other racers that you’ve raced on more poorly prepared race hills than what is common in the World Cup. Does this make a difference?

“Absolutely. That is what I considered regarding the poor visibility and snowy, uneven surface. I remember there being some FIS races like that in Norway. It’s a few years less for me since I skied FIS races than for even Atle and Lucas, who started racing E-Cup a bit earlier than me. So, that was no disadvantage for me,” he confirms.

In addition to capturing his first World Cup win, Steen Olsen says he was particularly happy about his slalom season last year, which he describes as “more stable.”

Steen Olsen says he managed somewhat to reach his giant slalom goal last season as well, “but there were many races where I did not finish and so forth, so that will be important for me to fix this season.”

Sölden stats

The new World Cup race season is about to begin.

Last year in Sölden, Steen Olsen started the first run with bib number 37 and finished the race in 19th place, 2.03 seconds behind winner Marco Odermatt from Switzerland.

This year, the 30th anniversary of the World Cup season opener in Sölden will be the second time racing here for Steen Olsen. Although he will be the youngest Norwegian man on start, he is no longer the rookie on the team; he has a victory under his belt, and he does not have to prove that he deserves a World Cup spot. All he needs to do is to focus on his skiing.

The world’s best female racers will open the World Cup season on Saturday, Oct. 28, followed by the men on Sunday, Oct. 29, on the Rettenbach glacier in the mountains above Sölden, Austria. – Stay tuned!