Team Norway - Profile

Highlights:

Norway has missed only two editions of the Games since its first appearance in 1900 in Paris. In those 25 Games, athletes from the NOC have only twice failed to win at least one medal.

The NOC won its first gold medals in 1912 when Albert Helgerud took the individual 300m three positions rifle event and led the Norway team to gold in the 300m free rifle event. These first gold medals were a sign of things to come for Norwegian shooters. The sport has accounted for 13 gold and 32 medals in total, making it the NOC's most successful sport in terms of total medals won.

Ole Andreas Lilloe-Olsen was part of the highly-successful 1920 shooting team, and in Antwerp he won the first three of his five Olympic gold medals. He was part of teams that won both the single and double shot running deer events and also took gold in the double shot running deer individual event. At the next Games in 1924, he almost defended all three titles, but could only win silver in the double shot team event leaving him with a total of five gold and one silver. He remains the only Norwegian to win five summer Olympic gold medals.

Lilloe-Olsen's teammates on both the 1920 and 1924 teams, Otto Olsen and Einar Liberg, also enjoyed great success at the Olympic Games. Olsen won four gold, three silver and one bronze for eight total medals, still the most total medals won by any Norwegian at the summer Olympic Games, while Liberg's four gold, two silver and one bronze see him close behind on the overall medal tally.

Canoe sprint athlete Knut Holmann won three gold, two silver and one bronze medal between 1992 and 2000. He contested the K1 1000m and K1 500m events at three successive Games, never finishing lower than third. Eirik Veras Larsen has continued Norway's medal tradition in the canoe sprint events, winning two gold [2004, 2012] and one silver [2008] in the K1 1000m event, as well as bronze in the K2 1000m event at Athens 2004.

With Norway's rich seafaring history, it is no surprise that sailing is the sport in which the NOC has claimed the most gold medals, winning 17 gold and 31 medals in total. Magnus Konow is the NOC's most successful sailor with two gold [1912 and 1920] and one silver [1936] collected over his 40-year Olympic career. Konow's six participations between 1908 and 1948 make him Norway's most prolific Olympic participant.

At the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, Norway won four bronze medals. It was the first summer Games at which the NOC did not win a gold medal since 1984 in Los Angeles. Two of Norway's four medals in 2016 came in rowing, with Kristoffer Brun and Are Strandli in the men's lightweight double sculls and Kjetil Borch and Olaf Tufte in the men's double sculls contributing to the total.

Additional Information: Website
https://www.idrettsforbundet.no

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/idrett

Anthem Title: Ja, Vi Elsker Dette Landet [Yes, We Love This Country]

Anthem Composer: Words by Bjornstjerne Bjornson, music by Rikard Nordraak.

Anthem Inducted: 1864

Official NOC Name: Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports

Founding Date: 1900

IOC Recognition Date: 1900

Delegation President: Berit Kjoll

Delegation Secretary General: Rune MIDTHAUG [acting]

IOC Members: Kristin Kloster Aasen [entry in the IOC: 2017], Gerhard Heiberg [entry in the IOC: 1994]

First OG/PG Appearance: 1900

Number OG/PG Appearances: 26 [Tokyo 2020 included]

Summary: