Sverre Grøner

Sverre Grøner participated in gymnastics at the 1908 Olympics in London, where the Norwegian team won silver behind the Swedish team. He was also a top track and field athlete and was entered for the 1912 Olympic Games in the standing long jump but did not start. At home he was national champion in the high jump in 1912 with a height of 1.68 m. Grøner added bronze medals in high jump at the Norwegian championships in 1910 and 1911, and in standing high jump in 1911. He also played bandy for Kristiania Hockeyklub.

Grøner became a gymnastics coach and there is also a possibility that he attended the 1920 Antwerpen Olympics as a coach / manager for the Norwegian team, and also that he may have received a silver medal in the team event (free system) as a result. In 1924 and 1928, he was also a member of the Norwegian Olympic delegation. He also wrote the gymnastics section of the book Idrætsboken, which was published in 1922/23.

He graduated from school in 1909 and became a first lieutenant in 1913. Two years later, he took his exam at the Central Gymnastic School in 1915. Grøner became company commander in the King’s Guard and was promoted to the rank of captain in 1923. He worked as a teacher and later as director at the State Gymnastics School from 1933 to 1945. In the 1930s, he led the radio workout. “radio trimmen” on NRK, the Norwegian radio. Grøner also held various positions in sports associations including member of the board of the Nordic Gymnastics Federation from 1922 and of the board of the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique Educative (FIGE), later renamed Fédération Internationale d’Éducation Physique (FIEP). He was appointed Knight of the Order of the Sword.