Background
Tokle was born in Løkken Verk, a village in Meldal, Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. His father was a Norwegian mining official, who raised every one of his 20 children in the sport, and skied himself until he was well past 70.
Tokle was born in Løkken Verk, a village in Meldal, Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. His father was a Norwegian mining official, who raised every one of his 20 children in the sport, and skied himself until he was well past 70.
Torger Tokle, Art"s older brother, came to the United States. in 1939 and gained sudden fame before he was killed in Italy as a ski trooper in 1945. Kyrre Tokle, another older brother, was still jumping in informal meets in the United States. at the age of 55. The brothers represented the club Saskatchewan Fjell.
Tokle carried the American flag during the opening ceremonies of the 1958 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Lahti, Finland and competed in the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley.
He later coached the American ski jumping team at the 1964 and 1968 Winter Olympics. Tokle was inducted in the National Ski Hall of Fame in 1970.
He was a technical director for the United States team at the 1980 Winter Olympics. He co-authored The Complete Guide to Cross Country Skiing and Touring with Martin Luray (New York, New York Holt, Rinehart & Winston: 1973).