Jon Rønningen
Norway's flyweight who won gold with one second left
- Born
- November 28, 1962, Oslo, Norway
- Nationality
Norway- Height
- 157 cm (5′2″)
- Weight
- 52 kg
- Active
- 1980–1996
- Status
- Retired · age 63
The medals
2 Olympic golds; 1985 world title
The story
on Rønningen, a flyweight from Oslo who wrestled for the Kolbotn club, won the 52 kg world title on home soil in Kolbotn in 1985 and followed it with world silver in 1986 and bronze in 1991. At the Seoul 1988 Olympics he beat Japan's Atsuji Miyahara 12–7 in the final. Four years later in Barcelona he trailed Alfred Ter-Mkrtchyan of the Unified Team 1–0 in the final, locked a grip with seven seconds left and threw him to the mat one second before time ran out to win 2–1, one of the most dramatic Olympic golds in Norwegian sport. That made him only the third Norwegian with two individual Summer Olympic golds. He was Norwegian Sportsperson of the Year in 1988 and later wrote openly about lifelong depression in a 2017 autobiography.
Tap a technique with an arrow to learn how it works.
- Olympic champion, 52 kg (1988, 1992)
- World champion, 52 kg (1985)
- European champion (1990)
- Norwegian Sportsperson of the Year (1988)
Defining matches
- 1985World title Kolbotn (on home soil)
- 1988WINvs Atsuji Miyahara (Olympic final, 12–7)
- 1992WINvs Alfred Ter-Mkrtchyan (Olympic final, 2–1; winning throw a second before time)
Wrestle every second: Rønningen was losing the 1992 Olympic final with seconds left and won it with a throw. Drill end-of-match situations where you must score from the clinch in the last ten seconds, so your best throw is still there when you are tired.
1998–2012
