Marina Charlotte Kalla (; born 22 July 1987) is a Swedish Tornedalian retired cross-country skier. A four-time Olympian, Kalla won three golds and nine medals overall at the Olympics between 2004 and 2022. She holds the joint record as Sweden's most decorated Olympic competitor and is the all-time leader among Swedish female athletes. She is also a 13-time medalist at the World Championships, including a gold medal at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2015 10 km freestyle event in Falun. This made Kalla the first Swedish female cross-country skier to win individual golds in both the Olympics and World Championships. In 2008, Kalla won the Jerring Award for her Tour de Ski win.
She retired from competitive skiing after the Swedish Championships in March 2022.
Winter Olympics
2010 Winter Olympics Kalla won the gold medal in the women's 10 km individual for Sweden at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with a time of 24:58.4.Charlotte Kalla Swedens First Winter Olympics Gold Medal at Vancouver She also won a silver in the team sprint event with Anna Haag at those same games.
2014 Winter Olympics Kalla won a silver medal in the skiathlon event on 8 February in Sochi, and another silver in the classical race on 13 February. In the 4 × 5 km women's relay race, held on 15 February, she ran in the final leg and started third with a 25.7 sec lag behind the first place and a 19.9 lag behind the second place, but totally reduced the gap, and overtook her competitors in the final straight, giving Sweden the gold medal.
2018 Winter Olympics Kalla took the first gold medal awarded at the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang when she won the skiathlon, breaking away from the leading group on the last lap of the course to take victory with a lead of 7.8 seconds over second-placed Marit Bjørgen. Her win made her the first Swedish woman to win three Winter Olympic golds, and tied her with canoer Agneta Andersson as the female Swede with most Olympic gold medals overall. It was also Kalla's sixth Olympic medal, equalling Anja Pärson's record for the most Winter Olympic medals among Swedish women. She then went on to win silver in the 10 km freestyle individual start, the 4 × 5 km relay (together with Anna Haag, Ebba Andersson and Stina Nilsson) and the team sprint (with Stina Nilsson).
2022 Winter Olympics Kalla competed in three events at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, her fourth appearance at the Games. Her highest placing was in the 15-km skiathlon, where she finished 19th as the defending champion. Kalla announced her retirement from international competition later that winter.
Other competitions
On 6 January 2008, Kalla won the second edition of Tour de Ski in her debut in the event.
On 17–18 April 2015, Kalla participated and placed second in Keb Classic, a ski mountaineering event in Kebnekaise, Sweden, with Emelie Forsberg and Josefina Wikberg.
Personal life Kalla was born in Tärendö in Norrbotten, Sweden. She is the eldest of three daughters."Här får Kalla koll på kartan". Sundsvalls tidning, 16 juli 2011.
In 2023, Kalla competed on the Swedish reality TV series Let's Dance, pairing with professional dancer Tobias Karlsson. Kalla became pregnant before the competition started, becoming the first dancer to participate while pregnant. Her daughter was born 15 July 2023. In August 2025, she gave birth to a son.
Kalla is of Tornedalian descent. Her grandfather, Väinö Martikkala, was of Finnish descent, and her maternal grandmother came from Finland.
She published her autobiography in 2023: "Skam den som ger sig" ("shame on the one who gives up"), in Swedish only. Written in the first person, the book summarises her sports career and describes her view.
Cross-country skiing results All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).
Olympic Games 9 medals – (3 gold, 6 silver) Year Age 10 km individual 15 km skiathlon 30 km mass start Sprint 4 × 5 km relay Team sprint 2010 22 Gold 8 6 — 5 Silver 2014 26 Silver Silver 34 — Gold — 2018 30 Silver Gold 5 — Silver Silver 2022 34 20 19 35 — — —
World Championships 13 medals – (3 gold, 6 silver, 4 bronze) Year Age 10 km individual 15 km skiathlon 30 km mass start Sprint 4 × 5 km relay Team sprint 2007 19 5 7 — — 4 — 2009 21 — 8 18 6Bronze — 2011 23 11 4 4 8 Silver Gold 2013 25 7 6 11 11 Silver Silver 2015 27 Gold Bronze Bronze — Silver — 2017 29 Silver Bronze 7 — Silver — 2019 31 9 6 5 — Gold — 2021 33 6 5 DNF — 6 —
World Cup Season standings Season Age Discipline standingsSki Tour standingsOverallDistanceSprintNordicOpeningTour deSkiSki Tour2020World CupFinalSki TourCanada 2006 18 78 48 2007 19 37 28 39 — 2008 20 4 7 18 18 2009 21 12 12 17 — 2010 22 8 4 52 — 2011 23 5 6 12 5 2012 24 4 4 15 4 7 2013 25 8 7 20 — 7 2014 26 7 4 38 — 5 2015 27 7 4 21 5 — 2016 28 5 4 22 6 4 12 2017 29 9 5 69 — 11 8 2018 30 7 6 43 — 7 2019 31 10 7 35 4 — 10 2020 32 14 10 69 14 12 15 2021 33 53 42 — — — 2022 34 31 20 16
Individual podiums 12 victories – (7 , 5 ) 59 podiums – (35 , 24 ) No. Season Date Location Race Level Place1 2007–08 24 November 2007 Beitostølen, Norway 10 km Individual F World Cup 3rd2 29 December 2007 Nové Město, Czech Republic 10 km Pursuit F Stage World Cup 1st3 1 January 2008 10 km Pursuit FStage World Cup 1st4 4 January 2008 Asiago, Italy 1.2 km Sprint FStage World Cup 1st5 5 January 2008 Val di Fiemme, Italy 10 km Mass Start C Stage World Cup 2nd6 28 December 2007– 6 January 2008 Tour de Ski Overall Standings World Cup 1st7 16 February 2008 Liberec, Czech Republic 7.6 km Individual F World Cup 3rd8 8 March 2008 Oslo, Norway 30 km Individual F World Cup 2nd9 2008–09 22 November 2008 Gällivare, Sweden 10 km Individual F World Cup 1st10 8 March 2009 Lahti, Finland 10 km Individual F World Cup 2nd11 20 March 2009 Falun, Sweden 2.5 km Individual F Stage World Cup 2nd12 20–22 March 2009 World Cup Final Overall Standings World Cup 3rd13 2009–10 21 November 2009 Beitostølen, Norway 10 km Individual F World Cup 2nd14 12 December 2009 Davos, Switzerland 10 km Individual F World Cup 2nd15 5 February 2010 Canmore, Canada 10 km Individual F World Cup 1st16 19 March 2010 Falun, Sweden 2.5 km Individual F Stage World Cup 2nd17 21 March 2010 10 km Pursuit FStage World Cup 1st18 19–21 March 2010 World Cup Final Overall Standings World Cup 3rd19 2010–11 20 November 2010 Gällivare, Sweden 10 km Individual F World Cup 2nd20 26–28 November 2010 Nordic Opening Overall Standings World Cup 3rd21 31 December 2010 Oberhof, Germany 2.8 km Individual F Stage World Cup 2nd22 3 January 2011 Oberstdorf, Germany 5 km + 5 km Pursuit C/F Stage World Cup 2nd23 20 February 2011 Drammen, Norway 1.2 km Sprint F World Cup 3rd24 2011–12 19 November 2011 Sjusjøen, Norway 10 km Individual F World Cup 2nd25 25 November 2011 Rukatunturi, Finland 1.2 km Sprint C Stage World Cup 2nd26 26 November 2011 5 km Individual F Stage World Cup 3rd27 7 January 2012 Val di Fiemme, Italy 10 km Mass Start C Stage World Cup 3rd28 4 February 2012 Rybinsk, Russia 10 km Mass Start F World Cup 2nd29 16 March 2012 Falun, Sweden 2.5 km Individual F Stage World Cup 2nd30 18 March 2012 10 km Pursuit F Stage World Cup 2nd31 16–18 March 2012 World Cup Final Overall Standings World Cup 3rd32 2012–13 29 December 2012 Oberhof, Germany 3 km Individual F Stage World Cup 2nd33 3 January 2013 Cortina, Italy 15 km Pursuit F Stage World Cup 2nd34 22 March 2013 Falun, Sweden 2.5 km Individual F Stage World Cup 2nd35 24 March 2013 10 km Pursuit F Stage World Cup 3rd36 22–24 March 2013 World Cup Final Overall Standings World Cup 3rd37 2013–14 1 December 2013 Rukatunturi, Finland 10 km Pursuit FStage World Cup 1st38 29 November 2013– 1 December 2013 Nordic Opening Overall Standings World Cup 2nd39 7 December 2013 Lillehammer, Norway 10 km Individual C World Cup 2nd40 14 December 2013 Davos, Switzerland 15 km Individual F World Cup 3rd41 1 February 2014 Toblach, Italy 10 km Individual C World Cup 3rd42 2 March 2014 Lahti, Finland 10 km Individual F World Cup 2nd43 2014–15 30 November 2014 Rukatunturi, Finland 10 km Individual C World Cup 3rd44 15 February 2015 Östersund, Sweden 10 km Individual F World Cup 1st45 8 March 2015 Lahti, Finland 10 km Individual C World Cup 3rd46 2015–16 28 November 2015 Rukatunturi, Finland 5 km Individual F Stage World Cup 2nd47 5 December 2015 Lillehammer, Norway 7.5 km + 7.5 km Skiathlon C/F World Cup 2nd48 2016–17 7 January 2017 Val di Fiemme, Italy 10 km Mass Start C Stage World Cup 3rd49 21 January 2017 Ulricehamn, Sweden 10 km Individual F World Cup 3rd50 19 February 2017 Otepää, Estonia 10 km Individual C World Cup 2nd51 2017–18 25 November 2017 Rukatunturi, Finland 10 km Individual C Stage World Cup 2nd52 26 November 2017 10 km Pursuit F Stage World Cup 3rd53 24–26 November 2017 Nordic Opening Overall Standings World Cup 1st54 3 December 2017 Lillehammer, Norway 7.5 km + 7.5 km Skiathlon C/F World Cup 1st55 16 December 2017 Toblach, Italy 10 km Individual F World Cup 1st56 21 January 2018 Planica, Slovenia 10 km Individual C World Cup 2nd57 2018–19 25 November 2018 Rukatunturi, Finland 10 km Individual C World Cup 2nd58 1 December 2018 Lillehammer, Norway 10 km Individual F Stage World Cup 3rd59 8 December 2018 Beitostølen, Norway 15 km Individual F World Cup 2nd
Team podiums 3 victories – (2 , 1 ) 15 podiums – (14 , 1 ) No. Season Date Location Race Level Place Teammate(s)1 2006–07 17 December 2006 La Clusaz, France 4 × 5 km Relay C/F World Cup 2nd L. Andersson / Lindborg / Norgren2 4 February 2007 Davos, Switzerland 4 × 5 km Relay C/F World Cup 1st L. Andersson / Strömstedt / Norgren3 25 March 2007 La Clusaz, France 4 × 5 km Relay C/F World Cup 3rd Dahlberg / Rydqvist / Norgren4 2007–08 28 October 2007 Düsseldorf, Germany 6 × 0.8 km Team Sprint F World Cup 1st Norgren5 2008–09 23 November 2008 Gällivare, Sweden 4 × 5 km Relay C/F World Cup 3rd Hansson / Norgren / Haag6 7 December 2008 La Clusaz, France 4 × 5 km Relay C/F World Cup 2nd L. Andersson / Lindborg / Haag7 2009–10 22 November 2009 Beitostølen, Norway 4 × 5 km Relay C/F World Cup 1st Olsson / Lindborg / Haag8 2010–11 21 November 2010 Gällivare, Sweden 4 × 5 km Relay C/F World Cup 2nd Norgren / Haag / Rydqvist9 12 December 2010 La Clusaz, France 4 × 5 km Relay C/F World Cup 3rd Lindborg / Haag / Rydqvist10 2012–13 25 November 2012 Gällivare, Sweden 4 × 5 km Relay C/F World Cup 2nd Ingemarsdotter / Bleckur / Larsen11 2016–17 22 January 2017 Ulricehamn, Sweden 4 × 5 km Relay C/F World Cup 3rd Ingemarsdotter / Henriksson / Falk 12 2018–19 27 January 2019 Ulricehamn, Sweden 4 × 5 km Relay C/F World Cup 2nd Settlin / E. Andersson / Sundling13 2019–20 8 December 2019 Lillehammer, Norway 4 × 5 km Relay C/F World Cup 3rd Ribom / Rönnlund / Lundgren14 1 March 2020 Lahti, Finland 4 × 5 km Relay C/F World Cup 3rd Karlsson / Öhrn / Dahlqvist15 2020–21 24 January 2021 Lahti, Finland 4 × 5 km Relay C/F World Cup 2nd Ribom / Modig / E. Andersson
References
External links
17 March 2005 Charlotte Kalla interview at SVT's open archive