Norwegian · Vinje, Norway · Born 11 October 1974Norwegian snowboarding pioneer widely regarded as the most influential rider in the sport's history, who boycotted the 1998 Winter Olympics on principle at the height of his dominance.
Terje Håkonsen was born on 11 October 1974 in Vinje, Norway, and took up snowboarding as a teenager in the mid-1980s. He rose to dominance in the early 1990s, winning 14 international competitions in a row during the 1991-92 season and becoming, by many accounts, snowboarding's first genuine global star. Håkonsen won the International Snowboarding Federation's halfpipe World Championship three times (1993, 1995, 1997) and the European Championship every single time he entered between 1991 and 1997. He also won the U.S. Open halfpipe three times and the legendary Mt. Baker Banked Slalom on seven occasions. Beyond competition, he is credited with inventing the 'Haakon Flip' and pushing the technical and stylistic boundaries of freeriding, big mountain, and 'big air' riding - an early forerunner of modern slopestyle. When halfpipe snowboarding debuted at the 1998 Nagano Olympics, Håkonsen boycotted the qualifiers in protest at the International Olympic Committee's decision to have the International Ski Federation (FIS), rather than snowboarding's own governing body, run the event - a stance he has never recanted. In 2000 he co-founded The Arctic Challenge, a rider-run event designed as an alternative to standardized Olympic-style competition, which helped spawn the modern World Snowboard Tour. In 2007, at age 32, he set a world record for the highest air ever recorded on a quarterpipe, launching 9.8 metres above the lip at his own event in Oslo - a mark that still stands.
Dominating 1990s halfpipe snowboarding and boycotting the sport's Olympic debut in 1998 in protest at how the event was governed
How They Played
Fluid, all-terrain rider equally dominant in halfpipe, big mountain freeriding, and big air, renowned for smooth style and technical innovation across every type of snow
Lasting Impact
Widely regarded as the most influential snowboarder in history, whose stance against Olympic governance and pioneering big mountain and big air riding reshaped snowboarding's culture and competitive landscape
Career Honours
- 3x ISF World Champion, Halfpipe (1993, 1995, 1997)
- 5x European Champion, Halfpipe (1991-1994, 1997)
- 7x Mt. Baker Banked Slalom Champion
- World record holder for highest quarterpipe air (9.8m, set 2007)
Norwegian Athletes