The Holmenkollen Medal is an honorary skiing award that has been issued by the Skiforeningen in Norway since 1895. It recognizes the outstanding achievements of skiing athletes who place at the top of international championships and at Holmenkollen Ski Festival events, as well as those who contribute to advancement of the sport of skiing. The Holmenkollen Medal is considered Norwegian skiing highest honor.

Johan Hagbart Pedersen Grøttumsbraaten was a Norwegian skier who competed in Nordic combined and cross-country. Dominating both events in the 1920s and early 1930s, he won several medals in the early Winter Olympics. Most notably, he won two gold medals at the 1928 Winter Olympics, and as one of the only two entrants to win two gold medalists from St. Moritz, was the most successful athlete there, along with Clas Thunberg of Finland. He previously won three medals at the inaugural Winter Olympics held in Chamonix in 1924, and went on to defend his Olympic title in Nordic Combined Skiing at the 1932 Winter Olympics.