Jon Rønningen

Jon Rønningen ( born November 28, 1962 in Oslo ) is a former Norwegian wrestler. He was a two-time Olympic champion and World and European champion in Greco-Roman flyweight.

Career

Jon Rønningen comes from a Ringer family. His father was a wrestler and weightlifter and his younger brother Lars Rønningen was also Ringer and brought it to two times European Champion and Vice World Champion. Along with this brother Jon began as a teenager in 1976 with the rings. He started first for the Oslo Bryteklubb (BK ) and then for Kolbotn Idrettslag (IL ), a large Norwegian sports club. He concentrated on the Greco-Roman wrestling and was mainly trained by Ronny Sidge and Zsygmond Dmowski. Jon Rønningen learned the trade of a road builder and has been employed by the City of Oslo. In addition to solid technical skill Jon Rønningen owes its success mainly to its enormous power. He is said to have mastered 165 kg at a body weight of nearly 55 kg in the bench press.

The international Ringer career ranking the 1.57 meter tall athlete who during his career, first in the paper weight ( class up to 48 kg body weight), but soon flyweight ( under-52 kg body weight), began in 1980 at the Junior European Championships ( Juniors age group was, at that time up to age 18 ) in Bursa in the paper weight. He took it the 6th Place. In 1980 he also started already at the European Championship in Prievidza, ie he wanted to start, but had to retire before his first fight due to an injury and therefore landed on the 12th and last place his weight class. For his later career this mishap was not a bad omen.

In 1981 he participated in the European Championship in Gothenburg some part in the paper weight. He lost there against Vincenzo Maenza from Italy and against Totyu Andonow from Bulgaria just under on points and got away with it on the 7th Place. At the World Championships 1981 in Oslo, he also had to still pay dearly, because he lost to Roman Kierpacz from Poland and Lajos Rácz from Hungary and came only on the 9th Place.

In 1982 and 1983 he competed in the championship no seniors, but participated in the World Youth Championship ( espoir = to age 20 ) in Kristiansund, Norway, in part. He finished there in paper weight behind Ilie Matei from Romania and Ivan Samtajew from the USSR 3rd place and thus won his first medal at an international championship.

In 1984, Jon Rønningen part in the European Championship in Jonkoping and launched for the first time in the flyweight. He defeated there Bükke Anders from Sweden, but lost to Minsait Tasetdinow from the USSR and Welin Doganiski from Bulgaria and reached in his weight class the 7th Place. In the same year he took in Los Angeles for the first time participate in the Olympics. He defeated flyweight again Anders Bükke (12-0 tech. Dots), lost to Cişmaş Mihai from Romania ( 3:5 techn. Dots) and against Atsuji Miyahara of Japan, the Olympic champion and he gave a great fight and only almost 10:12 techn. Points lost. In the battle for fifth place, he defeated Taisto Halonen of Finland, he within 2 minutes and 24 seconds with 14:0 techn. Points swept off the mat.

In 1985, Jon Rønningen then scored his first major victory. He became world champion in the flyweight in the domestic Kolbotn. In the final he defeated this Minsait Tasetsinow and thus successfully took revenge for the defeat at the European Championships in 1984. Towards this success, he defeated including Bernd Scherer from the Federal Republic of Germany. In his home country Rønningen was subsequently honored with the Morgenbladet gold medal.

Also in 1986 he was very successful, even though he did not win any international title. He was at the European Championships in Athens others. He lost in the pool finale against Sergei Djudjajew from the Soviet Union and defeated in the battle for the European Championship bronze medal Stanislaw Wroblewski from Poland with 8:4 techn. Points. At the World Championships the same year in Budapest, he reached the final battle, in which, however, he lost to Sergei Djudjajew and thus vice-world champion.

1987 Jon Rønningen was only at the World Championships in Clermont- Ferrand at the start, but came there flyweight only on the 7th Place. From this championship, no individual results are known. In the Olympic year 1988, the European Championships were held again in Kolbotn. Jon Rønningen fought there flyweight again reached the final before, in which he was defeated by Alexander Ignatenko but from the USSR with 0:3 technical points. At the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, Jon Rønningen presented in excellent shape and successively defeated Shawn Sheldon from the United States, Roman Kierpacz from Poland, against whom he barely 6-5 techn. Points won, Csaba Vadász from Hungary, Lee Jae -suk of South Korea and in the final Atsuji Miyahara of Japan, the Olympic champion in 1984, he certainly with 12:7 techn. Points suggested. European champion Alexander Ignatenko was defeated in the final pool of Miyahara. Jon Rønningen was the first Norwegian who won a gold medal in the history of the Olympic Games. For this success, Jon Rønningen was elected by the Norwegian sports journalists Sportsman of the Year 1988 in Norway and won the Fearnleys ærespris olympiske.

In the following years, Jon Rønningen launched per year usually only at one of the major international championships. So he held it in 1989, where at the start he was only at the World Championships in Martigny, but there disappointed, finishing only 7th in the flyweight. In the struggle for this place he struck the North Koreans Bak Bam Su.

In 1990, he started only at the European Championships in Poznan. He was there again successful and won flyweight with a win in the final over Oleg Kucherenko from the USSR for the first time the European title. In 1991 he took part in the World Championships in Varna and defeated there in the pool finale Raúl Martínez Alemán the Cubans. In the battle for third place, he defeated Rebegea Valentin from Romania.

In the Olympic year 1992, he also took part in the European Championships in Copenhagen, came there in the flyweight but only on the 9th Place. Here it is unfortunately not documented anywhere, against whom he had to retire so early. Nevertheless, he went at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona again well prepared at the start. He defeated there flyweight Ramon Mena, Panama ( 17:0 techn. Dots), the multiple world champion in the paper weight Bratan Zenow, Bulgaria ( 5:3 techn. Dots), Senad Rizvanović, Yugoslavia ( 11:0 techn. Dots) and the then still the USSR starting Alfred Ter - Mkrtchyan 2-1 points. In this final battle, it stood at that time fighting time of 5 minutes and 2 seconds before the final 1-0 for Ter - Mkrtchyan. Then Jon Rønningen succeeded at the edge of the mat a two rating, with which he literally at the last second won this fight with a 2-1 technical points and was the second time Olympic champion. He was thus only the third Norwegian, who won two gold medals in individual competitions.

In 1993, Jon Rønningen paused at the international championships. He appeared in 1994 at the World Championships in Tampere, left there but flyweight early and finished only 17th place. Auspiciously began at the 1995 World Championships in Prague, because he defeated there in his second fight Alfred Ter - Mkrtchyan, who, starting for Germany to become world champion, was in 1994, 3-1 techn. Points. But then he lost to poor Nasarjan from Armenia ( 6:10 techn. Dots) and against Zigmond Jansons of Latvia ( 3:4 techn. Dots) and had to retire. He eventually finished in 11th place.

1996 Jon Rønningen was back in better shape. This was already evident at the European Championships in Budapest, where he reached the final pool in which he lost to Andriy Kalaschnykow from Ukraine. The battle for the European bronze medal bout against Alfred Ter - Mkrtchyan with 0:4 techn. Points. At the Olympic Games this year in Atlanta, the fourth, in which he took part, he prepared himself again before consuming. He lost there but still against Lázaro Rivas of Cuba ( 0:5 techn. Dots) and against Alfred Ter - Mkrtchyan ( 0:9 techn. Dots), with which he retired and only reached the 17th place. In an interview he gave to a Norwegian newspaper in 2007, he said he had trained harder before these Olympics than before games in 1988 and 1992., He had probably been overtrained, which he did in 1996 lacked the necessary freshness and explosiveness.

Jon Rønningen resigned after these Olympic Games. He was active as a youth coach and then was in the years 2000 to 2002 Norway coach for the wrestlers in Greco- Roman style. Since 2003, he only operated on a voluntary basis as a coach in the youth sector of his club. For his contributions to the sport wrestler he was taken in September 2009 in the FILA International Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Jon Rønningen has two sons (twins) and Thomas Anders who have also become wrestlers and both have also won Norwegian championships, at the international success of her father previously but were unable to match. Thomas and Anders Rønningen are well known in the German Ringer circles because it already for the SC Anger and the first Luckenwalder SC went or go to the German Bundesliga at the start.

International success

Notes

• All competitions in the Greco-Roman style
• OS = The Olympic Games, WM = World Championship, European Championship EM =
• Paper weight, then to 48 kg Flyweight, then to 52 kg bantamweight, then to 57 kg body weight

Swell

• Database of the Institute for Applied Training Science at the University of Leipzig
• Journal " The Ringer "
• Www.nettavisen.no