Markus Rooth (born 22 December 2001) is a Norwegian

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete. He won the gold medal in

decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of 10 track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ἄθλος (''áthlos'', or ἄ ...

at the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

, the first gold medal for Norway in this event since

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen in Finland, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its ow ...

. He was also the 2023 European U23 champion.

Career

In 2020, competing in

Bislett Bislett is a neighbourhood in the St. Hanshaugen borough in north-central Oslo, Norway. It is internationally famous for the Bislett Games, held at Bislett Stadium Bislett Stadium () is a sports stadium in Oslo, Norway. Bislett is Norway's ...

, Rooth finished on 8238 points in the decathlon, which places him second in the world U20 all-time standings behind only

Niklas Kaul Niklas Kaul (; born 11 February 1998) is a German Sport of athletics, athlete competing in the combined events. He won the 2019 World Championships in Athletics – Men's decathlon, gold medal in the decathlon at the 2019 World Championship ...

. In 2022, Rooth set a Norwegian record in the decathlon with 8307 points in competition in

Grosseto Grosseto () is a city and a ''comune'' in the central Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of the province of Grosseto and the main city of the Maremma region. The city lies from the Tyrrhenian Sea, at the centre of an alluvial plain on the ...

, Italy. In 2023, Rooth had his Norwegian national record for the decathlon beaten by

Sander Skotheim Sander Aae Skotheim (born 31 May 2002) is a Norwegian decathlete, multi-event track and field, athlete. He is a European Athletics Championships, European Championships silver medallist in decathlon, and a World Athletics Indoor Championships, W ...

. However, with both men competing at the

2023 European Athletics U20 Championships The 2023 European Athletics U20 Championships are the twenty-seventh edition of the biennial athletics competition between European athletes under the age of twenty. The 2023 European Athletics U20 Championships are organized by European Athlet ...

, it was Rooth that triumphed with a new personal best, championship record, and national record score of 8608. He competed in the heptathlon at the 2024 World Athletics Championships in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

in March 2024. Competing in the decathlon at the

2024 European Athletics Championships The 26th European Athletics Championships were held from 7 to 12 June 2024 at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy. It was the third time Italy staged this sporting event after the inaugural 1934 European Athletics Championships, 1934 edition in T ...

in Rome in June 2024, he was contending for a medal before having to pull-out of the competition after sustaining an injury during the pole vault aspect of the event. He won the gold medal in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

at the

in the decathlon, finishing in first place overall with a national record tally of 8796 points. His compatriot Sander Skotheim who had entered no jump in the pole vault but stayed in the competition to pace Rooth around the 1500 metres course, was later awarded the World Athletics fair play award. In January 2025, he was a winner at the 2025 Norwegian Sports Gala held in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

, winning three awards in total, including the Norwegian Sportsman of the Year trophy as well as Breakthrough Sportsperson of the Year and the Name of the Year award, which was voted on by members of the public.

Personal bests

Information from

World Athletics World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

profile unless otherwise noted.

Personal life

He is related to the Rooth family of athletes from Oslo, with Andrea Rooth his cousin.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rooth, Markus 2001 births Living people Athletes from Oslo Norwegian decathletes Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Norway Olympic athletes for Norway Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) 21st-century Norwegian sportsmen