Reidar Jørgensen (5 October 1904 – 22 September 1985) was a Norwegian

middle distance runner Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, up to 3000 metres. The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distance event. The 1 ...

cross-country skier Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...

, botanist and educator.

Sports career

He was born in Lillehammer. He competed in the

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 Athle ...

at the

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics ( nl, Olympische Zomerspelen 1928), officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad ( nl, Spelen van de IXe Olympiade) and commonly known as Amsterdam 1928, was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, where he was knocked out in the first round. He was Norwegian champion several times in 800 metres, 1500 metres and 5000 metres. He took the 800 metres title in 1927 before

Hjalmar Johannessen Hjalmar "Hjalle" Johannessen (24 May 1907 – 19 August 1959) was a Norwegian athlete who specialized in the 400 and 800 metres, and later a sports writer. He was born in Trondheim, and as an athlete he represented the local club SK Freidig; la ...

's dominance in the event started; and also the bronze medal in 1928 behind Johannessen and

Olaf Strand Olaf Strand (15 January 1899 – 10 February 1997) was a Norwegian middle distance runner who specialized in the 800 metres. At the 1928 Summer Olympics he reached the semi-final, where he finished eighth with a time of 1:59.9 minutes.

. In the 1500 he won three straight titles in 1927, 1928 and 1929. A 5000 gold, his only national medal in the event, was added in 1931. He represented

Lillehammer IF Lillehammer Idrettforening is a Norwegian athletics club from Lillehammer, founded on 28 May 1919. At that time city already had four different sports teams; for cross-country skiing (since 1882), gymnastics (since 1892), speed skating (since ...

. After that he moved to

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, an ...

, changed clubs to

SK Freidig Sportsklubben Freidig is a Norwegian sports club from Trondheim. Background Founded in 1903, the club has sections for association football, team handball, orienteering and Nordic skiing. In football, it won the League of Norway 1947–48, an ...

and took a final national title in the 1500 metres in 1933. He also won the elite class with Lillehammer IF in the road relay Holmenkollstafetten's 1929 edition. Jørgensen's personal best times were 3:56.5 in the 1500 metres (1933), 8:39.4 in the 3000 metres (1929) and 15:07.8 in the 5000 metres (1930). He was the first Norwegian to run below 4 minutes in the 1500 metres in 1929, with 3:56.6, and in total he set four

Norwegian records 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 th ...

in the event. He also set one record in the 3000 metres. Jørgensen was also an adept skier for the clubs

Lillehammer SK Lillehammer Skiklub is a Norwegian skiing ( Nordic and alpine) club from Lillehammer, Norway. It was founded in 1883. It is best known for arranging Birkebeinerrennet together with Rena IL. It has been represented by several able sportspeopl ...

and Trondhjems SK. For his achievement in both athletics and skiing, he was awarded

Egebergs Ærespris The Egebergs Ærespris ("Honorary Prize of Egeberg") is a prize awarded to Norwegian athletes who excel in more than one sport. The prize was created by Ferdinand Julian Egeberg, and consists of a bronze statuette modelled by sculptor Magnus Vigre ...

in 1929. He also chaired SK Freidig and

Trondhjems TF Trondhjems Turnforening, often called Trondhjems Turn, is a Norwegian gymnastics club from Trondheim. The club was founded on 14 February 1858, and is therefore Norway's fourth oldest sports club after Oslo TF (founded 1855), Arendal TF and Dr ...

. He chaired the Trondheim branch of the

Norwegian Trekking Association The Norwegian Trekking Association ( no, Den norske turistforening, DNT) is a Norwegian association which maintains mountain trails and cabins in Norway. The association was founded on 21 January 1868 with the scope "to help and develop tourism i ...

, and became an honorary member of the organization in 1957. During the Second World War he participated in the

Norwegian resistance movement The Norwegian resistance ( Norwegian: ''Motstandsbevegelsen'') to the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany began after Operation Weserübung in 1940 and ended in 1945. It took several forms: *Asserting the legitimacy of the exiled governmen ...

, and was later active in Norges Forsvarsforening.

Scientific career

In his scientific career, Jørgensen specialized in alpine botany. He took the

cand.real. Candidatus realium or candidata realium (abbreviated cand. real.) is a former academic degree used in Norway, and conferred in mathematics and natural sciences. It was abolished in 1985. There was originally no set duration for the completion of th ...

degree at the

Royal Frederick University The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

in 1932, and his master's thesis on

vascular plant Vascular plants (), also called tracheophytes () or collectively Tracheophyta (), form a large group of land plants ( accepted known species) that have lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and minerals throughout the plant. They ...

s in the mountain chain

Jotunheimen Jotunheimen (; "the home of the Jötunn") is a mountainous area of roughly in southern Norway and is part of the long range known as the Scandinavian Mountains. The 29 highest mountains in Norway are all located in the Jotunheimen mountains, i ...

was issued as the book ''Karplantenes høidegrenser i Jotunheimen''. He worked as a teacher from 1932 to 1945 and principal from 1945 to 1974 at Gerhard Schøning Upper Secondary School, formerly called ''Trondhjems borgerlige realskole''. He also wrote ''Die Höhengrenzen der Gefässpflanzen in Troms fylke'' about similar plants in high areas of

Troms Troms (; se, Romsa; fkv, Tromssa; fi, Tromssa) is a former county in northern Norway. On 1 January 2020 it was merged with the neighboring Finnmark county to create the new Troms og Finnmark county. This merger is expected to be reversed by ...

in 1936, and wrote about the alpine

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

''Fjellflora'' in 1952 together with

Olav Gjærevoll Olav Gjærevoll (24 September 1916 – 30 August 1994) was a Norwegian botanist and politician for the Labour Party. Gjærevoll was a professor of botany at the University of Trondheim from 1958 to 1986, and was a specialist in alpine plants. I ...

. Jørgensen died in September 1985 in Trondheim. His maternal grandson

Simen Agdestein Simen Agdestein (born 15 May 1967) is a Norwegian chess grandmaster, chess coach, author, and former professional footballer as a striker for the Norway national football team. Agdestein won eight Norwegian Chess Championships between 1982 ...

became a successful football and chess player.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jorgensen, Reidar 1904 births 1985 deaths Sportspeople from Lillehammer Sportspeople from Trondheim Norwegian male middle-distance runners Olympic athletes of Norway Athletes (track and field) at the 1928 Summer Olympics Norwegian male cross-country skiers University of Oslo alumni 20th-century Norwegian botanists Heads of schools in Norway Norwegian sports executives and administrators Norwegian resistance members