Espen Berg-Knutsen (born 2 October 1969 in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

) is a Norwegian sport shooter. He is also a three-time Olympian, two-time World champion, and world-record holder for the 300 m rifle three positions.

Shooting career

Since his sporting career began in 1982, Berg-Knutsen is considered one of Norway's most prominent sport shooters, having achieved numerous successes in rifle shooting events at the

ISSF World Championships The ISSF World Shooting Championships are governed by the International Shooting Sport Federation. World Shooting Championships began in 1897, after the successful 1896 Summer Olympics, and although the ISSF was not founded until 1907, these earl ...

ISSF World Cup The ISSF World Cup was introduced by the International Shooting Sport Federation in 1986 to provide a homogeneous system for qualification to the Olympic shooting competitions. It still is carried out in the Olympic shooting events, with four comp ...

, and

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

. He had also won a total of three medals at the

, including two golds (1998 in

Zaragoza, Spain Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...

, and 2006 in

Zagreb, Croatia Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slove ...

). One of the highlights of his career occurred at the 2006 ISSF World Shooting Championships, when he set a new world record of 1,181 points in the 300 m rifle three positions. Berg-Knutsen also competed for all rifle shooting events at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 ( Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...

in Sydney, and 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, but he neither reached the final round, nor claimed an Olympic medal. Eight years after competing in his first Olympics, Berg-Knutsen qualified for his third Norwegian team as a 39-year-old at the 2008 Summer Olympics in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

by winning the gold medal for the rifle three positions from the World Championships. Unlike his previous Olympic games, he competed only for two rifle shooting events, 50 m rifle prone (

FR60PR 50 meter rifle prone (formerly known as one of four free rifle disciplines) is an International Shooting Sport Federation event consisting of 60 shots from the prone position with a .22 Long Rifle (5.6 mm) caliber rifle. The time limit is ...

) and 50 m rifle 3 positions ( STR3X20). In his first event,

50 m rifle prone 50 meter rifle prone (formerly known as one of four free rifle disciplines) is an International Shooting Sport Federation event consisting of 60 shots from the prone position with a .22 Long Rifle (5.6 mm) caliber rifle. The time limit is 7 ...

, Berg-Knutsen was able to hit a total of 594 points within six attempts, finishing eleventh in the qualifying rounds. Few days later, Berg-Knutsen competed for the 50 m rifle 3 positions, where he was able to shoot 396 targets in a prone position, 374 in standing, and 390 in kneeling, for a total score of 1,160 points, finishing abruptly in thirtieth place.

Olympic results

References

External links

ISSF Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berg-Knutsen, Espen Norwegian male sport shooters Living people Olympic shooters for Norway Shooters at the 2000 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 2004 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 2008 Summer Olympics ISSF rifle shooters World record holders in shooting Sport shooters from Oslo 1969 births