Aulis Sipponen

Aulis Sipponen took up skiing after World War II and won junior Nordic combined titles in 1947 and 1949. He then moved into the senior championships and made his international début at the 1950 World Championships, where he placed 11th. His next stop was the 1952 Oslo Olympics, where he was seventh in the Nordic combined and 16th in cross-country skiing’s 18 kilometers event. He took bronze in the Nordic combined at the 1953 Finnish national championships and made his final major international appearance at the 1954 World Championships, where he placed 14th. He later worked as a coach in West Germany, from 1959 through 1962, where his students included 1960 Olympic champion Georg Thoma.