Therese Johaug: Back at the Top After the Doping Ban

Therese Johaug is the most famous personality that the central Norwegian mountain town of Röros has ever produced. As a cross-country skier she dominated the 2010s. But in October 2016 a positive doping test shook the cross-country skiing scene, when Therese Johaug was tested positive on the androgenic steoroid Clostebol.

The Norwegian Ski Association blamed the treatment of a sunburn on Johaug's lip with the cream Trofodermin for this. The cream had been bought by a team doctor at short notice during a training camp in a pharmacy according to the Norwegians. A doping warning on the package had been overlooked. The sports court saw things differently and suspended Therese Johaug for 18 months, which meant that she also missed the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.

Johaug returned to the 2018/19 season - and has since then once again been the undisputed number one in cross-country skiing.

Therese Johaug has won everything but before her comeback to the season 2018/2019 it seemed as if she will never win a gold medal at the Olympic Games. However, before she ended her career in 2022 she finally made it and won gold in three disciplines. Before that, it was a long run to reach the top of olympia. In 2010 she won gold in Vancouver with the Norwegian relay team. In 2014 she won silver in Sochi over 30 km freestyle and bronze over 10 km classic. In both competitions, however, she stood in the shadow of her compatriot Marit Bjorgen, who ended her career in 2018.

With a total of 14 World Championship titles (plus two silver and three bronze), her yield at World Championships is considerably greater. Therese Johaug has won the overall cross-country skiing World Cup three times (2013/14, 2015/16, 2019/20) and the norwegian championship 18 times. 

Winning three gold medals at the olympic winter games 2022 didn't only highlight the peak point of her skiing career, it were also the final achievements before she stopped wirh professional skiing completely. Many people didn't expect her comeback to be so strong in the first place because of the doping scandal. Such pressure can cause a professional sports person to completely lose touch but Therese Johaug actually returned stronger than ever before and proved the world that she can still do it. 

In addition to insights into her private life and everyday life in the cross-country skiing circus, Therese Johaug uses her social media channels not least to promote her own sportswear and fashion brand Johaug. It has been around since 2012 and sells exclusively women's clothing and accessories.

In addition to Norwegian brands, Therese Johaug was also able to win global players such as Oakley, Huawei and Jaguar as sponsors. This proves how successfull her career was because getting mentionable sponsors isn't always an easy thing especially not in skiing.

Her sponsors and suppliers at a glance:

• Isklar
• Asko
• Tender Flame
• CTC
• Jaguar
• Oakley
• Autostrada
• Huawei
• United Bakeries
• NÖK

Even after her positive doping test, sponsors stayed with her a well as the majority of her fans who have supported her during her whole career. 

Even off the trail, Therese Johaug can hardly be stopped. In 2019 she took part in the Norwegian Athletics Championships and promptly became national champion over the 10 km with a championship record. In 2020 she also undercut the world championship standard over 10 km in a running event. So she could even hope to participate in the 2022 World Championships in Athletics. But for the moment she does not want to switch sports: "My heart is set on cross-country skiing," said Johaug after the 2020 running show.

The former professional skiing star runs a YouTube channel with almost 20.000 subscribers. She regularly uploads videos and focuses on running and lifestyle topics. She isn't as active as many other (former) sports professionals though, but she gives interesting insights into her life.