Jacob Gundersen (29 October 1875 – 21 January 1968) was a

Norwegian-American Norwegian Americans ( nb, Norskamerikanere, nn, Norskamerikanarar) are Americans with ancestral roots in Norway. Norwegian immigrants went to the United States primarily in the latter half of the 19th century and the first few decades of the ...

who represented

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

in the

1908 Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an international multi-sport event held in London, England, United Kingdom, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were ori ...

. He was a

freestyle wrestler Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling originated from Great Britain and the United States. Along with Greco-Roman, it is one of the two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games. American high school and men's college wrestling i ...

and Olympic medalist. Gundersen was born in

Fjære Fjære is a former municipality in the old Aust-Agder county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1846 until 1971. It was located to the north of the town of Grimstad. The name is still used to refer to that area, which is now a part of Gr ...

(later incorporated into

Grimstad Grimstad () is a municipality in Agder county, Norway. It belongs to the geographical region of Sørlandet. The administrative center of the municipality is the town of Grimstad. Some of the villages in Grimstad include Eide, Espenes, Fevik, ...

), in

Aust-Agder Aust-Agder (, en, "East Agder") was a county (''fylke'') in Norway until 1 January 2020, when it was merged with Vest-Agder to form Agder county. In 2002, there were 102,945 inhabitants, which was 2.2% of Norway's population. Its area was . The ...

county,

. He received a silver medal in the ''heavyweight'' class at the

1908 Summer Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an international multi-sport event held in London, England, United Kingdom, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were ori ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

."1908 Summer Olympics – London, United Kingdom – Wrestling"
''databaseOlympics.com'' (Retrieved on 7 April 2008) The heavyweight class had eleven competitors, nine wrestlers from the UK, one from the US, and Gundersen from Norway. Gundersen defeated Walter West, Frederick Humphreys and Edward Nixson, but lost to

Con O'Kelly George Cornelius "Con" O'Kelly (29 October 1886 – 3 November 1947) was an Irish sport wrestler who competed for Great Britain in the 1908 Summer Olympics, where he won a gold medal. Career O'Kelly was born in County Cork, Ireland, on 29 Octob ...

in the final. Jacob Gundersen died in Westchester, New York.

References

External links

* 1875 births 1968 deaths People from Grimstad Olympic wrestlers for Norway Wrestlers at the 1908 Summer Olympics Norwegian male sport wrestlers Olympic silver medalists for Norway Norwegian emigrants to the United States Olympic medalists in wrestling Medalists at the 1908 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Agder {{Norway-wrestling-bio-stub