Knut Østby (12 November 1922 – 6 August 2010) was a Norwegian

sprint canoeist Canoe sprint is a water sport in which athletes race canoes or kayaks on calm water. Overview Race categories vary by the number of athletes in the boat, the length of the course, and whether the boat is a canoe or kayak. Canoe sprints are som ...

who competed from the late 1940s to the late 1950s. Participating in three

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

, he won a silver medal in the K-2 10000 m event at

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 ...

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

and another in the K-2 1000 m event at the 1950 World Championships.

Career

Østby was born in

Modum Modum is a municipality in Buskerud in Viken county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Vikersund. The municipality of Modum was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The area has a long tr ...

, but grew up in

Bærum Bærum () is a municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Norway that forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on the west coast of the city. Bærum is Norway's fifth largest municipality with a population of 128,760 (2021). It is part of the electoral ...

, and was a member of

Bærum KK Bærum Kajakklubb is a sports club from Bærum, Norway. Established in 1935, its only sport is canoe racing. It is based at Kalvøya outside of Sandvika, and has shared the locality with the rowing club Bærum RK since 1972. Well-known members i ...

. He was a new name in Norwegian and international kayaking after 1945, as most of the pre-war organized sporting activity had been put on ice during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Already in 1948, before the

that year, Østby and his teammate

Ivar Mathisen Ivar Mathisen (14 June 1920 – 7 October 2008) was a Norway, Norwegian canoe racing, sprint canoeist who competed in the 1940s and early 1950s. He received a silver medal in the K-2 10000 m event at the Canoeing at the 1948 Summer ...

were considered as having the highest medal hopes in the Norwegian canoeing squad. Østby and Mathisen proceeded to win the silver medal in the K-2 10000 m event and finished fourth in the K-2 1000 m. At the 1950 World Championships he won another silver medal in the K-2 1000 m event. Two years later he finished fifth in both the K-2 1000 m and the K-2 10000 m events at the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

. Ivar Mathisen remained his partner in the K-2 canoe during these years. In 1953 Østby competed in the

Canoe Slalom Canoe slalom (previously known as whitewater slalom) is a competitive sport with the aim to navigate a decked canoe or kayak through a course of hanging downstream or upstream gates on river rapids in the fastest time possible. It is one of th ...

World Championships in Meran,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. He was considered as being without any sporting hopes for the competition, having no prior experience with

whitewater kayaking Whitewater kayaking is an adventure sport where a river is navigated in a decked kayak. Whitewater kayaking includes several styles. River running; where the paddler follows a river and paddles rapids as they travel. Creeking usually involving s ...

—the newspaper ''

Verdens Gang ''Verdens Gang'' ("The course of the world"), generally known under the abbreviation ''VG'', is a Norwegian tabloid newspaper. In 2016, circulation numbers stood at 93,883, having declined from a peak circulation of 390,510 in 2002. ''VG'' is n ...

'' quoted him as saying "I don't even know what kind of boat to use". The participation was essentially regarded as a test to see whether slalom kayaking should be taken up in Norway—where it was largely unknown, despite the country's abundance of whitewater locations. Østby was the only competitor from Norway, but the vice chairman of the

Norwegian Canoe Association 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 ...

traveled with him to help evaluate the championship. The stay and the travel to Italy were paid for in full by the Italian arrangement committee. As it turned out, whitewater kayaking did not reach Norway until the 1960s and was not organized within the Norwegian Canoe Association until 1972. Østby continued his career in sprint canoeing. At the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, whi ...

he finished eighth in the K-1 10000 m event, and competed without reaching the final in the K-1 1000 m event. In domestic competitions, he took fifteen national titles between 1946 and 1959, and won the King's Cup for best canoeist in 1955, 1956 and 1957. Østby lived in

Sandvika Sandvika () is the administrative centre of the municipality of Bærum in Norway. It was declared a List of cities in Norway, city by the municipal council (Norway), municipal council in Bærum on 4 June 2003. Sandvika is situated approximately ...

. He died in August 2010.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ostby, Knut 1922 births 2010 deaths Sportspeople from Bærum Canoeists at the 1948 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 1952 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Norwegian male canoeists Olympic canoeists of Norway Olympic silver medalists for Norway Olympic medalists in canoeing ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships medalists in kayak Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics People from Modum