Øyvin Thon

Øyvin Thon (born March 25, 1958 in Drammen ) is a former Norwegian orienteer .

With two World Cup gold medals in singles and five more with the Norwegian team, which dominated the relay competition in the 1980s, Thon is considered one of the best orienteers of the decade.

Thon won his first gold medal in 1979 at the World Championships in Tampere . As a newcomer, he relegated the defending champion and his compatriot Egil Johansen to second place with 1:10 minutes. The Norwegian World Championship relay from 1979, in which Thon also ran, surprisingly only reached sixth place. Thon won his second individual gold medal in 1981 at the World Championships in Thun, Switzerland . With a lead of almost two and a half minutes, he relegated his compatriot Tore Sagvolden to second place. Morten Berglia came third as the third Norwegian . In 1983 Thon had to be content with second place behind Morten Berglia. With the relay he won his fourth gold at world championships. In 1985 he won gold again with the relay and reached seventh place in the individual. At the World Championships in Gérardmer in 1987 , he was again seventh. In 1989, Thon competed for the last time in World Championships in Skaraborg, Sweden, and won his seventh World Championship gold medal with the Norwegian team in the relay competition.

In 1981 he was honored with the Morgenbladet gold medal.

Placements

World championships singles Season 1979 Tampere 1. 6th 1981 Thun 1. 1. 1983 Zalaegerszeg 2. 1. 1985 Bendigo 7th 1. 1987 Gérardmer 7th 1. 1989 Skaraborg 1.

Nordic championships singles Season 1980 Borlänge 14th 1. 1982 Bornholm 2. 1. 1984 Tromsø 26th 1. 1986 Saltvik 3. 1. 1988 Halmstad 7th dsq

Thon finished second overall in 1986. In 1988 he was able to win the overall World Cup.

National championships

In addition to his seven world championship titles, Thon was Norwegian champion seven times: 1980 on the classic distance and 1981, 1983 and 1986 on the long distance. In 1981, 1982 and 1984 he was the Norwegian champion in night orienteering.

Others

Øyvin Thon is married to the former orienteering relay world champion Brit Volden (* 1960). His older brother Harald Thon is also a former orienteer.

Web links

• Results of the orienteering world championships ( Memento from July 15, 2014 in the Internet Archive )