Bergens Turnforening, often shortened to Bergens Turn is a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

sports club from

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

, founded in 1882. It has sections for

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

orienteering Orienteering is a group of sports that require navigational skills using a map and compass to navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain whilst moving at speed. Participants are given a topographical map, usually a s ...

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shou ...

and

rhythmic gymnastics Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform on a floor with an apparatus: hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon. The sport combines elements of gymnastics, dance and calisthenics; gymnasts must be strong, flexible, agile, dexterous and coord ...

. The biggest international success has come in gymnastics, where the club had multiple Olympic champions before the Second World War. In the same period the club saw its heyday in Norwegian athletics; it is now a feeder team of

IL Gular Idrottslaget Gular is a Norwegian athletics club from Bergen, founded in 1946. In the past it has had sections for handball, skiing, gymnastics and football. The athletics section cooperates on youth level with local clubs Bergens TF and TIL Hov ...

General history

The club was founded on 5 March 1882, among others by

Johan Martens Johan Martens (20 November 1861 – 19 December 1932) was a Norwegian ship broker, politician for the Liberal Party and sports official. He was a co-founder of Bergens TF in 1882, the Norwegian Gymnastics Federation in 1890 which he chaired ...

. He was a sportive pioneer who chaired the club from 1882 to 1888 and 1892 to 1897, and also the Norges Turn- og Gymnastikkforbund from 1899 to 1911 and the Norwegian National Confederation of Sports from 1910 to 1914.

Gymnastics

Olympic medal winners include Sigvard Sivertsen ( 1908, team and 1912, free system team),

Bjarne Johnsen Bjarne Johnsen (27 April 1892 – 4 September 1984) was a Norwegian gymnast who competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics. He was part of the Norwegian team, which won the gold medal in the gymnastics men's team, free system event. He was born an ...

( 1912, free system team),

Knud Leonard Knudsen Knud Leonard Knudsen (6 September 1879 – 28 April 1954) was a Norwegian gymnast who competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics. He was part of the Norwegian team, which won the gold medal in the gymnastics men's team, free system event. He was ...

( 1912, free system team), Tor Lund ( 1912, free system team), Hans Beyer ( 1912, free system team),

Sigurd Jørgensen Sigurd Gersdorf Jørgensen (15 February 1887 - 14 December 1929) was a Norwegian gymnast who competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics. He was part of the Norwegian team, which won the gold medal in the gymnastics men's team, free system event. H ...

( 1912, free system team),

Nils Opdahl Nils Opdahl (16 November 1882 – 28 December 1951) was a Norwegian gymnast who competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics. Biography He was part of the Norwegian team, which won the gold medal in the gymnastics men's team, free system event. He w ...

( 1912, free system team),

Jacob Opdahl Jacob Opdahl (15 January 1894 – 20 March 1938) was a Norwegian gymnast who competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics and in the 1920 Summer Olympics. In 1912, he was part of the Norwegian team, which won the gold medal in the gymnastics men's ...

( 1912, free system team and 1920, free system team),

Lauritz Wigand-Larsen Lauritz Wigand-Larsen (24 August 1895 – 4 June 1951) was a Norwegian gymnast who competed in the 1920 Summer Olympics. He was part of the Norwegian team, which won the gold medal in the gymnastics men's team, free system event. He was born a ...

( 1920, free system team),

Jakob Erstad Jacob Erstad (12 January 1898 – 1 December 1963) was a Norwegian gymnast who competed in the 1920 Summer Olympics. He was part of the Norwegian team, which won the silver medal in the gymnastics men's team, free system event. He was born and d ...

( 1920, free system team), and

Otto Johannessen Otto Olavus Johannessen (25 July 1894 - 6 December 1962) was a Norwegian gymnast who competed in the 1920 Summer Olympics. He was part of the Norwegian team which won the silver medal in the gymnastics men's team, free system event. His affi ...

( 1920, free system team). Tore Lie represented Bergens TF, and was a 1972 Olympian.

Athletics

The best known athlete to represent Bergens TF is

Johan Christian Evandt Johan * Johan (given name) * ''Johan'' (film), a 1921 Swedish film directed by Mauritz Stiller * Johan (band), a Dutch pop-group ** ''Johan'' (album), a 1996 album by the group * Johan Peninsula, Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada * Jo-Han, a manu ...

, who dominated the standing jumps. Between 1956 and 1966 he won seven Norwegian titles in the

standing high jump The standing high jump is an athletics event that was featured in the Olympics from 1900 to 1912. It is performed in the same way as high jump, with the difference being that the athlete has no run-up and must stand still and jump with both feet ...

, and ten in the

standing long jump The standing long jump, also known as the standing broad jump, is an athletics event. It was an Olympic event until 1912. It is one of three standing variants of track and field jumping events, which also include the standing high jump and ...

. His personal bests were 1.77 metres in the standing high jump and 3.65 in the standing long jump, both of which were Norwegian records for some time. Jan W. Larsen won the standing long jump national championship in 1953, and took three other medals. He also took three silvers in the standing high jump. The club saw its heyday before the Second World War. In the

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

, J. Bergmann-Olsen became Norwegian champion in 1927 and won the silver in 1928. In the hurdles, Haakon Semeleng won a bronze medal (110 m) in 1923 and Ragnar Rødseter in 1937 (400 m). Jacob de Rytter Kielland won bronze medals in the

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

and

javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's decathlon and the ...

in 1901; Bjarne Meyer took a javelin bronze in 1928. Peter Jersin won the 500 metres and

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletic ...

in 1901, Johan Eliassen took a 400 metres silver in 1903. The latter took a long jump bronze in 1903 as well. Bronze medals were claimed by Birger Hagemann in 1901 (

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

), Helge Svaar in 1958 and 1959 (

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

), and Kasper Slåttrem in 1937 (

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stan ...

). The latter also won a decathlon silver medal in 1933, and a pentathlon bronze in 1934. The club has had considerably less success among women. Synnøva Reiakvam, later married Borgen, became Norwegian high jump champion in 1955 and 1957, and also won medals in 1956 and 1958. She also won the standing high jump in 1957 and 1958, and bronze and silver in 1955 and 1956. Hallfrid Østerbø won the now-defunct event called swing-ball throw in 1953 and 1954. The athletics section is now a feeder team of

Orienteering

Åge Hadler Åge Hadler (born 14 August 1944) is a Norwegian orienteering competitor, winner of the 1966 and 1972 individual World Orienteering Championships, relay champion from 1970, and individual bronze medalist from 1968. Early life and career Hadler ...

has represented Bergens TF.

References

External links

Official site
{{in lang, no Athletics clubs in Norway Orienteering clubs in Norway Sport in Bergen Sports clubs and teams established in 1882 1882 establishments in Norway Gymnastics clubs in Norway