DENVER – Four years ago, Andreas Kirkeng needed a change.
 
The Lier, Norway, native was on his country's national junior Nordic team and while he enjoyed the training aspect of cross-country skiing, the passion for the racing side wasn't the same.
 
With a desire to further his academics, Kirkeng (SHEER-king) followed his older brother Ole Marius' trek to the University of Denver to earn a college degree while also competing in cross country with the renowned ski team.
 
"I was ready to do something else, like study on the side or try something," Kirkeng said of the reason come overseas to DU. "Opportunities in Norway are pretty limited with that. I wanted to do full-time studying, and I felt like if I should keep skiing, knowing what my brother already did, that the U.S. was a great opportunity for that—to get a degree and to do skiing. I feel like the studying aspect was what drew me really to the U.S."
 
The journey to Denver might have been one of the best decisions he's ever made. Academically, he has now graduated with a pair of degrees—a bachelor's in business administration finance and a master's in quantitative finance—while earning a 3.99 undergraduate grade-point average and posting a 4.0 as a grad student.
 
Kirkeng also regained his love for racing and leaves the school as one of the best skiers of all-time. He earned All-American honors in each of his four seasons at Denver and finished with 17 individual victories, tied with Pietro Broggini for the most in school history in men's Nordic and the second-most all-time among Pioneers in skiing.
 
"I would say, especially like the first few years, just getting back the joy of skiing," Kirkeng said. "Coming to a group with my brother, with Bernie (Bernhard Flaschberger), with Nick Sweeney; it's just a great group of people that like having fun together and doing what we like to do. And then later when (fellow Norwegian) Selma (Andersen) comes on and just having a good time with it."
 
That atmosphere around the ski team was just what Kirkeng needed. The squad is made up of athletes from across the globe, including many from Norway, who were all dealing with the same thing of adjusting to a new country while navigating high-level academics and skiing expectations.
 
For Kirkeng, he had family there to help with the adjustment as Ole Marius was a senior when he was a freshman in 2021-22. The two brothers had trained together back in Norway, but their one season at Denver marked the first time they were true teammates.
 
"We were in the same training group, but skiing is an individual sport and in Norway we don't really have that team aspect. Like you train together over summer and in the fall, but you don't compete together," Kirkeng said. "[Ole Marius and I] did a relay as a junior for our region together, and that was pretty cool. We got a bronze medal in Norwegian nationals as a relay, but that's basically like the only race where you really feel like a team… So getting to live with him again and train with him and push each other to reach our levels together was pretty cool."
 
As teammates at Denver, Andreas had a breakout rookie campaign in 2022 with nine eight top-five finishes, five podiums and two victories in 12 races, and Ole Marius produced his best collegiate season while skiing next to his brother with five top-10 results and two top-five placements.
 
In their trip to Fairbanks, Alaska that season, they also got to experience something that few siblings ever get to do. Battling through the frigid elements, the Kirkengs finished on the podium together—first and second—in the 5K classic at the UAF Nanook Invitational on Feb. 1, 2022. It was Andreas' first win as a Pioneer and Ole Marius' first podium and best finish of his career.
 
"We had so many sessions together," said Andreas Kirkeng. "So I talked to him before and after, and he's like, 'I've been stuck in your back for so many hours. So I just knew for 5K that I can do it.' We just sent it out there and skied faster than everyone else. So that was a pretty cool experience."
 
Their family back in Norway was also paying close attention to the race in the middle of the night.
 
"The time difference in Norway is pretty big at that point, and I think we started midday because it was freezing cold," Kirkeng recalled. "I remember we got home and had a text from my dad, and he's like, 'What's going on now?,' or something like that. He was sitting up past midnight and watching live timing just to see how we did."
 
Standing on the top steps of the podium with his brother was a moment that Andreas won't forget. It was one of the highlights of his career at DU, as well as his first NCAA West Regional Championship in Steamboat Springs and battling Olympian Ben Ogden of Vermont in the 10K classic in his first national championship race later that season.
 
"It's hard to pick out one single race, but I would almost say my first year, going one-two with my brother, second in nationals behind Ben Ogden, who is a top skier right now," Kirkeng said. "It's that and my first regional win. So that was probably one of the best feelings."
 
Kirkeng takes pride in owning a piece of the DU skiing record book with the most men's Nordic victories, but another thing he is proud of was his consistency in races. He posted 45 top-10 results while also finishing all 51 events he started in his collegiate career.
 
There were certainly races that were not his best and were not up to his expectations, but he never quit in the middle despite a bad day on the snow.
 
"That's something I'm really proud of, and something I always live with," he said. "I don't think, as far as I know, I don't remember ever quitting a race. I always finish everything I started, and I think that's something everyone kind of should live by. Even if you're in the top every single time, if you drop back to like 10th, 15th, there is someone else there that has never beaten you before. Just for them to see they could be around you and get to meet you."
 
Kirkeng's competitive cross-country skiing days are now mostly behind him, but he still has an eye on a few races in the future while getting set to work a future day job in finance in Oslo, Norway.
 
He wants check off a skiing goal of competing in the tough 50-kilometer race at the Norwegian nationals and would like to join Ole Marius and his younger brother Kristian in racing as a relay team at the championships.
 
Another ambition of his is outside the skiing realm, as he wants to attempt the Norseman Xtreme Triathlon in his home country.
 
The unsupported multi-sport race is considered one of hardest on the planet and features a swim in the Hardangerfjord that can have a water temperature as cold as 50 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer, 112 miles of biking on rolling hills—the first 24 of which climbs out of sea level—before running a marathon of 26.2 miles that finishes with a climb up Gaustatoppen—one of the tallest mountains of the region at 6,177 feet.
 
The winners of the race usually finish in 10-12 hours.
 
"It's ranked as one of the toughest in the world because of the weather and a lot of elevation," Kirkeng said. "You're swimming in the fjords, so it's pretty cold, you start at night and it's really dark… It's known for being hard. I think only 250 athletes are allowed to race every year, so there is a lottery to get in."
 
While Kirkeng now has other avenues to make a name for himself, he's already established himself as one of the top skiers all-time in the school's storied history of the sport.
 
One of the things that he says he'll remember the most about his time as a Pioneer will be the support he received. Not just with the coaches and athletic staff, but all of the little things that student-athletes can sometimes take for granted.
 
Waxing materials were always easily available and ready to use at any time, and it was just a short walk down the hallway of the Ritchie Center for Sports and Wellness to meet with athletic trainers and message therapists. Additionally, professors were accommodating to the training and racing schedule and were some of team's biggest cheerleaders.
 
It's a much different experience for most Nordic skiers back in Norway, where they have to coordinate and take care of many of those things themselves.
 
"Everything is so ready for you," Kirkeng said. "Like you go into camp and the coaches provide whatever you need. You get to the ski room and you have things you need, like waxing. You have the athletic facilities where you can get treatment whenever you want… I think it's not appreciated as much as it should because it's just like a crazy opportunity you get and how everyone here is doing what they can to make the best for you.
 
"When you're back home and you start to tell your friends about it, they're like, 'Oh, that is actually insane.' Just those small things; you can text your athletic trainer and they'll be there for you. I think even when you're here, don't take it for granted and really appreciate what everyone is doing for you and help make it available to everyone else by sharing your experiences."
 
Kirkeng certainly didn't take for granted his time at Denver and left his mark as a Pioneer.
 

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