Irvin Servold

Irvin Servold, born in 1932 at Camrose, Alberta. Involved in, and contributing to, the sport of skiing for most of his life, he was a member of the Canadian Olympic Association (COA), the Coaching Association of Canada and a past member of the Canadian Association of Nordic Ski Instructors. An influential member of the Canadian Ski Association CSA), he was Committee Chair of the Jumping and Cross Country Committees for the Alberta Division. At the national level of the CSA, he served on the Nordic Combined & Cross Country Program Committee. He was also involved as a technical advisor to the Cross Country and Jumping Committee and acted as Chief of Competition for the national cross country and jumping, Nordic Combined and senior cross country championships. He also served on the jury of a number of national cross country and ski jumping events including competition at Lahti, Finland and served as a technical delegate to national cross country and ski jumping championships and the Canada Winter Games.

His involvement with the Canadian Olympic Committee included, in 1978, initial site selection for the 1988 XI Olympic Winter Games, Calgary, Alberta. He was also a member of the study group for the Nordic World Ski Championships held at Oslo, Norway. Irvin Servold’s coaching activities included instructing at the National Coaches courses (cross country skiing), the Alberta teams (cross country and jumping), and teams at the national level, (Nordic Combined, cross country and jumping) at Myasma Ski Games, Sapporo, Japan, (cross country), the Pre-Olympic Nordic competitions, Sarajevo, (then) Jugoslavia, (Nordic Combined), and the Federation Internationale de Ski (FIS) World Cup competition in Nordic Combined on the Scandinavian circuit.

In a distinguished competitive career, he joined Canada’s Nordic team at the 1956 VII Olympic Winter Games, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy competing in the Individual Men’s Nordic Combined event. Four years later, he was again invited to join the national Nordic team at
the 1960 VIII Olympic Winter Games, Squaw Valley, USA where he competed in both 15 km and 30 km Classic events and the Nordic Combined. He first started competing in 1939 at the age of 7 and progressed rapidly to win Alberta Championships on a number of occasions in cross country skiing, ski jumping and Nordic Combined. At the national level, he won the national championship in Nordic Combined in
1955 and 1972.

In international intercollegiate competition, he placed 3rd in ski jumping in 1958, and placed 1st in cross country skiing on three occasions, in 1958, 1959 and 1961. He also competed in Nordic Combined and USA cross country relay. In 1980, his outstanding contribution to sport was recognized with his induction into the Alberta Hall of Fame.

Please Note: The ski information gathered here is compiled from a number of sources; it may not be inclusive of all accomplishments.
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