Jack Nielsen, Jr.

Born in Oslo in 1923, Jack Nielsen was sent by his parents to attend a boarding school on the Zugerberg mountain in Switzerland. During this time Nielsen became a keen skier and won the Swiss junior cross-country skiing championship. When World War II broke out he returned home to Norway where he studied chemistry at the University of Oslo before later joining the resistance. Going via Sweden he then travelled to England, with the Norwegian government arranging for Nielsen to receive training as a fighter pilot. Fortunately for him this all happened towards the very end of the war, and he was able to return to his studies, this time at the public research university ETH Zürich.

In 1948 Nielsen qualified to represent Norway in Alpine skiing at the St. Moritz Olympics. He competed in the slalom event where he came 26th out of the 77 skiers who competed. He continued to ski competitively, finishing 20th in the downhill at the 1950 World Championships in Aspen, Colorado. Two years later he qualified for the 1952 Oslo Olympics but ultimately did not compete at the Games due to a disagreement with his coach regarding his training. Following his retirement from skiing Nielsen finished his chemistry studies, with him working for Shell and the Dow Chemical Company in Zürich until his retirement.