Norway at the Olympics
In the Paris Summer Games in 1900, Norway participated by sending seven athletes to represent them in two sports (Athletics and Shooting). In their very first outing, Norwegian shooters Ole Østmo, Tom Seeberg, Olaf Frydenlund, Hellmer Hermandsen, and Ole Sæther, won the silver in the Team Military Rifle event while Ole Østmo won an additional silver for the Standing Military Rifle. He also won bronze medals for the Prone Military Rifle and Military Rifle - 3 Positions. Fellow Norwegian Carl-Albert Andersen won another bronze in the Pole Vault.
In 1904, Norway officially did not have a delegation to the Summer Games although their NOC did petition for the transfer of medals from the two Norwegian-American wrestlers Bernhoff Hansen and Charles Ericksen who competed under the US banner in 1904 and won gold medals in their respective events. The reason for this is Charles Ericksen's US citizenship was not awarded until March 22, 1905 and Bernhoff Hansen's status was still termed as an "alien" in 1925.
In 1908, Norway sent another delegation to the Summer Games and won their first Olympic gold. Their shooting team won the gold for the men's 300 m free rifle while a member of the team, Albert Helgerud, took the gold as well in the men's 300 m free rifle, three positions. That year, Norway won three more silver and bronze medals from other members of the delegation.
Since their debut in 1900, Norway has only been absent twice in the Summer Games. The first one was in 1904 where only twelve countries participated and in 1980 where they joined the US and a slew of other countries in boycotting the Summer Olympics held in Moscow.
Norway has performed quite well in the Summer Games but they are one of the very top teams when it comes to the Winter Games. They participated in the Inaugural Winter Games in Chamonix, France where they established themselves as one of the strongest team. As a matter of fact, Norway was the number one team in the Winter Games for a number of times. They even hosted the Winter Olympics multiple times. The first one was in 1952 in Oslo where they ranked first overall with 30 participating countries and the second one was in 1994 in Lillehammer where they ranked second in a pool of 67 participating nations.
Related Pages
- Norway at the Winter Olympics
- List of all countries that have participated at the Olympic Games.
- About sport in Norway
Any comments, suggestions, or corrections? Please let us know.
Upcoming Events