Great Olympians

Biographies - ELV


Bjørn Elvenes

B. 1944-06-12, Oslo, Norway; D. 1988-08-19
Ice Hockey
1964 HP
Men's Team 10th 50
50


Hroar Elvenes

B. 1932-04-02, Hakadal, Norway; D. 2014-12-04
Speed Skating
1952 1956 1960 1964 HP
Men's 500 metres sixth 17th 14th 10th 760
Men's 1500 metres 24th 39th 0.16016
760.16016


Marit Elveos

B. 1965-05-04, Steigen, Norway
Cross Country Skiing
1988 HP
Women's 20 km Freestyle 18th 2.56
2.56


Johs Elvestad

B. 1899-05-17, Oslo, Norway; D. 1995
Art Competitions
1932 HP
Music ac 170.9
170.9


Paul Bert Elvstrøm

B. 1928-02-25, Kobenhavn, Denmark
Sailing (4 gold)
1948 1952 1956 1960 1968 1972 1984 1988 HP
Olympic Monotype (Firefly) gold 76800
Olympic Monotype (Finn) gold gold gold
Two-person Keelboat (Star) fourth 4000
Three-person Keelboat (Soling) 13th 51.2
Two-person Catamaran (Tornado) fourth 15th 4025
84876.2

He competed for 40 years, from 1948 to 1988, a record he shares with Magnus KonowIvan Osiier and  Durward Knowles.
His approach to small-boat sailing, a belief that fitness from land training was a way to win, revolutionized competitive sailing. The first of his four gold medals was won at Torbay in 1948 and at Acapulco in 1968 he came fourth in the Star class.
He realized that hanging over the side of the boat for a longer period than his opponents gave him an advantage and the only way to achieve this was through physical fitness. He was also a student of weather lore and relished the idea of going out on stormy days to learn more about his craft and how to handle it. He won eleven World Championships in seven different classes between 1957 and 1974. He wrote several books and in 1954 started a company, Elvstrøm Sails, with branches throughout the world; he also built pleasure boats.
Paul Elvström was voted Denmark's Sportsman of the Century in 1996.
There has always been one solo event in sailing history. In '48, this was still the 'Fire-Fly', from '52 this became the 'Finn'. Elvstrøm must therefor be credited with four golds in the same event (the solo sailing). He was fourth in '68 and competed unsuccessfully in '72.
He teamed up with his daughter Inge Trine in the Tornado in 1984, and missed another medal by 0.70 points. They also competed in 1988.
The International Finn Organisation has a Web Page about the history of Finn, in which Paul Elvstrøm plays a big part.


(Inge) Trine Elfstrøm

competed in 1988 as

Trine Myralf

B. 1962-03-06, Gentofte, Denmark
Sailing
1984 1988 HP
Two Person Multihull (Tornado) fourth 15th 2012.5
2012.5


Written 2000-11-28 - last modified 2024-10-07

This page is part of the site "Full Olympians" by Herman De Wael. See here for a full Introduction.