Edel Therese Høiseth, born in Siljan, has been at international level for 19 years. She debuted in 1983, aged 17 at the European and World Championships, while also taking part in the World Junior Championships, where she finished 14th. Next year, she improved that perfomance to 10th. Although she is basically being a spinter, she took part in allround championships up to 1987, taking a number of distance medals on the 500 m, but never made it to the final distance In 2000, she returned to an allround championships when she participated in the World Championships in Milwaukee. Since 1984, Høiseth has taken part in all World Sprint tournaments, usually finishing between rank 10 and 20. Her best perfomance came in 1996, when she took the silver medal in Heerenveen, while the previous year she had listed her worst result: 25th. In 1996, she also won two distance medals, silver and bronze. Høiseth has participated in no less than five Olympic Games, always starting on the 500 m and 1000 m and, on two occasions, the 1500 m. Her best Olympic performance was an 8th spot a the 500 m in front of her home crowd in Hamar, Norway. In 6 World Single Distance Championships, her best result was the 2000 1000 m 5th place. Other successes include two World Cup victories (both on the 1000 m) and a host of Norwegian sprint and distance titles.

By Jeroen Heijmans, last updated November 26, 2005