Isabelle Fidjeland

Photo by: Kory Mortensen, Utah Athletics

Photo by: Roger Carry

Photo by: Roger Carry

Position:
ALPINE
Height:
5-8
Class:
Senior
Hometown:
Kristiansand, Norway
High School:
NTG Geilo

Top Career Slalom Finish: Ninth (Three Times, last 2021 CU Invitational)
Top Career Giant Slalom Finish: Fifth (2021 RMISA Championships

Honors

National All-Academic Ski Team (2021, 3.5 GPA, Participation in Regionals)
CU Female Career Athletic Achievement Finalist (2021, CUSPYs)
Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll (2021)
4.0 Club (2021)
Clancy A. Herbst Student-Athlete Achievement Award (2019)
Lucie Hanusova Award (2018)
Three-Time Letterwinner (2017, 2018, 2021)

Career—Fidjeland was hit by the injury bug and then some throughout her career, skiing in 32 of a possible 62 races in her career. She finished 21 of those with 17 top 10, six top 10 and one top five performance. Her top five finish came in GS, but four of her six top 10 finishes were in slalom. She sustained an injury prior to her freshman season after being hit by a car on her bicycle, and missed the majority of the regular season that year. She returned in 2018 and was again injured just prior to the 2019 season that took her out of commission that year and most of 2020. She came back near the end of the 2020 season after not skiing in a college race between March 9, 2018 and Feb. 27, 2020, just under two years. She put together solid results as a senior, including having her career best finish at the RMISA Championships to close out her career.

2021 (Senior)—Fidjeland had a solid senior season that saw her start all 10 races, that in and of itself was a win given her injury history. She finished five of those races, all in the top 20 with three top 10 performances and her first career top five finish, which took place in the 61st possible race of her career at the RMISA Championships. She opened the season with three finishes in the “Colorado swing” of the season, taking 11th in one GS race at the DU Invitational and then ninth in both slaloms at the CU Invitational, matching her career best slalom finish and giving her three career ninth place slalom finishes. She struggled a bit during the “Utah series” not finishing three and not starting the other race at the RMISA Invitationals at Utah and Westminster. After another health scare, she rebounded at the RMISA Championships to end her career in style, taking fifth in the GS race, the best finish of her career in either discipline, and 13th in the slalom race.

2020 (RS Junior)—Fidjeland re-injured her back prior to the start of the 2020 season and missed the first nine races of the season. She did travel to the Utah series and then skied for the first time since 2018 at the RMISA Championships. She finished 14th in the RMISA Qualifier GS race just ahead of the championships and then also took 14th in the GS race that was part of RMISA Championships in Bozeman, scoring for the team. In all, she started three of a possible 12 races, finishing two with two top 20 (both 14th) finishes.

2019 (Junior)—Fidjeland did not see the slopes for the 2019 collegiate season as she injured herself in a race just days before the start of the collegiate season. She did have a ninth place finish in a slalom race in December at Steamboat Springs. She was given the school's Clancy A. Herbst, Jr., Student-Athlete Achievement Award by CU's academic staff for her ability to overcome personal, academic or emotional challenges to succeed both academically and athletically.

2018 (Sophomore)—She was hampered by a FIS points penalty she received and thus had lower starting bib numbers and had to fight her way to get atop the flip all season … Finished 10 races on the year and skied for the Buffs at the NCAA Championship for a second consecutive season … Placed 12th in the slalom and 21st in the giant slalom at the national championship … Her best finish on the season was a ninth place showing in the second slalom race at the UNM Invite … Top GS finish was an 18th place showing at the RMISA Championships ... She was honored with the team's Lucie Hanusova Award for the ability to overcome adversity and challenges with smiles and enthusiasm.

2017 (Freshman)—She missed most all of fall training after sustaining a knee injury from being hit by a car while riding her bike in October … Healed in time to earn her first letter as a Buff after competing in the RMISA and NCAA Championships ... At the RMISA Championships she was a pleasant surprise by finishing in 10th place in both the slalom and giant slalom races, helping the Buffs win their 28th RMISA title ... Then at the NCAA Championships, she placed 17th in the giant slalom and 21st in the slalom …. Had moved up 15 spots from her bib seed of 32 in the GS and 11 spots from her 32 bib seed in the slalom; impressive NCAA finishes given her low seeding after not having many qualifying points because of her injury at the start of the year ... At the team’s end-of-the-season banquet she was presented with the Lucie Hanusova Award, which has been given every season since 1999 and is given to the team member or members who overcomes adversity and challenges with smiles and enthusiasm.

Prior to CU—She skied for the Hovden Sportsclub for her entire career before Colorado and for the Norwegian National Junior Team from 2014-15 … Battled through two injuries (knee and back) before coming to CU and missed most of the 2015 or 2016 seasons ... From 2012-2014 she won seven races; five were FIS races held in Sweden or Norway (four in the giant slalom, one in the slalom), won the 2014 Norwegian National Senior Championship in the giant slalom and the 2013 Norwegian Junior Championship in the slalom ... In her FIS racing career before coming to CU, she has earned 16 podium finishes, and she also won four medals competing in the national championships ... She entered college with 26.93 FIS points in the giant slalom and 36.19 in the slalom.

High School—She graduated from Norges Toppidrettsgymnas Geilo located in Geilo, Norway in June 2016 ... Was named the Student-Athlete of the Year for 2014-15, as she had the best results in high school.

In The Classroom—She graduated with a degree in Strategic Communication at Colorado and also minored in Sociology.

Personal—She was born on Dec. 21, 1996 in Kristiansand, Norway to parents Ole Petter and Julika Fidjeland ... Her father is a ski coach and mother is a fashion designer ... Has one older brother, Alexander … Hobbies include training and wind-surfing.