Knut Hjeltnes (athlete)

Knut Hjeltnes (born December 8, 1951) is a former college coach and track & field athlete from Norway.

Knut Hjeltnes

Hjeltnes, who was born in Øystese, has won 20 National Championships; 11 in Discus throw, in 1975, 1976, 1978, 1980–84, 1986, 1988, and 1989; and 9 in Shot Put, in 1975–1978 and 1980–1984.

Hjeltnes was ranked 2nd through 7th in the world in the discus for twelve years from 1976 to 1988.[1] He still holds the Norwegian national record in discus with 69.62 meters (228 feet, 5 inches), achieved in 1985.[2] He also has a personal best shot put of 20.55 meters (67 feet, 5 inches), achieved in 1980.[3]

He was a 4x Olympian in the discus (1976, 1980-boycott, 1984, 1988). His best Olympic placings were 4th place in 1984, and 7th place in 1976 and 1988. He narrowly missed the medals in 1984, throwing only 18 cm short of John Powell's bronze medal throw. His best World Championship placing was 9th in 1983. His best European Championship placing was 4th in 1986.

He attended Western Maryland College (now McDaniel College),[4] Penn State University and Brigham Young University. While attending BYU, he was coached by former world record holder Jay Silvester.

Hjeltnes is currently ranked #33 on the world all-time list for discus.[5] As a Masters-level athlete, he has an all-time world ranking of 8th in the men's 35-39 age class.[6]

Hjeltnes coached athletes at the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY from 1999 until 2013. While coaching at USMA West Point, his athletes produced 40 Patriot League Championships, 3 NCAA All-Americans, 30 NCAA Regional Qualifiers, and 2 Academic All-Americans.[7]

Hjeltnes was hired as the throws coach at Auburn University in 2013.[8][9]

Hjeltnes coached at the NCAA Division I level for about 20 years, producing a number of All-Americans and conference champions. He retired from full-time coaching at the end of the 2016 outdoor season.

Hjeltnes tested positive for anabolic steroids at Bislett Stadium on July 6, 1977, and was suspended. The suspension was reduced on appeal, allowing him to participate in the 1978 European Championships. He continued to compete internationally for another 10 years and was doping-tested at all national and international competitions more than 100 times throughout his career. He proved to himself and to others around the world that doping was unnecessary, which has been proven by all the great throwers around the world today in sports[10] He was the first Norwegian ever to test positive. Hjeltnes publicly admitted to have been experimenting with doping due to the fact that almost everybody at the Olympic Level used some form of doping during the -70s. The difference for him was that most countries protected their own athletes and tested them for the purpose of making sure they were clean before sending them to international competition. Knut also cooperated with Jan Hedenstad to write a book about it, called Dopet ("Doped"), published in 1979 (ISBN 8205120021).[11]

Achievements
YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventNotes
Representing  Norway
1988 Olympic Games Seoul, South Korea 7th Discus 64.94 m
1984 Olympic Games Los Angeles, California 4th Discus 65.28 m
1976 Olympic Games Montreal, Canada 7th Discus 63.06 m
1986 European Athletics Championships Stuttgart, West Germany 4th Discus 65.60 m
1983 World Championships Helsinki, Finland 9th Discus 62.26 m

See also

References
  1. "World Rankings — Men's Discus" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-09-17. Retrieved 2013-07-28.
  2. Norwegian records in athletics
  3. "Knut HJELTNES | Profile". worldathletics.org. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
  4. Shook, Dr. H. Kenneth (2011). Getting Hooked on Memoirs. Bloomington, Indiana: iUniverse Inc. pp. 120–124. ISBN 978-1-4502-9613-7. Retrieved 2016-07-15.
  5. "Discus Throw - men - senior - outdoor". www.worldathletics.org. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
  6. "Discus Throw ALL-TIME Rankings".
  7. "Track & Field Records". Archived from the original on 2013-05-01. Retrieved 2013-07-28.
  8. "The Auburn University Official Athletic Site - Athletics". www.auburntigers.com. Archived from the original on 2008-08-07.
  9. "AU ROUNDUP: Four-time olympian Knut Hjeltnes hired as throws coach".
  10. Wilson, Wayne; Derse, Ed, eds. (2001). Doping in Elite Sport: The Politics of Drugs in the Olympic Movement. Human Kinetics. pp. 76. ISBN 0736003290. Knut hjeltnes ban appeal.
  11. Bryhn, Rolf; Tvedt, Knut Are (1990). Kunnskapsforlagets idrettsleksikon. Kunnskapsforlaget. p. 134.
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