Ansgar Løvold

Ansgar Løvold, the son of a missionary, was trained as butcher in Kristiansund. During his years as a journeyman, he lived in Bergen and Oslo before he returned to Kristiansund in 1913. While in Oslo, he took up wrestling. He started competing for Fagforeningernes TIF and later for IF Ørnulf. He won the light heavyweight division at the 1912 Norwegian championships, thus qualifying him for the Olympics in Stockholm. There he participated in the Greco-Roman middleweight B but withdrew after losing by fall against Finland’s Karl Lind.

Back in Kristiansund, Løvold was instrumental in establishing a wrestling club. The sport became particularly popular in the workers’ sports movement. Løvold coached several clubs and later became known as a sponsor of local wrestling. He also founded clubs in neighboring Molde and in Trondheim. When the workers’ wrestling clubs in Kristiansund merged in 1939 to form Kristiansund AK, Løvold represented this club.

As a butcher, he started his first shop in 1914. Later, he became chief of operations of a major slaughtering company. He then established Ansgar’s Meat and Sausage Shop, which was destroyed in the bombings during World War II, but rebuilt after the war. After he retired, the store was taken over by his sons.

Løvold was active in a movement for the betterment of the town Kristiansund. After driving through the Holland Tunnel between Manhattan and Jersey City while visiting his siblings in the United States, he promoted the idea of a subsea road tunnel from Kristiansund, which is located on four major islands, to the Norwegian mainland. He traveled several times to Oslo to meet with national politicians and authorities. In 1958, he was appointed chairman of a joint municipal and county committee to follow up the plans. Løvold established the “Tunnellforeningen” (“The Tunnel Association) and initiated a petition, which was signed by two thirds of the electorate. He continued to advocate the idea of a “fixed link” until his death in 1961. Since 1992, the town has eventually been connected to the mainland via the Kristiansund Mainland Connection including the Freifjord Tunnel and two bridges.