Berit Berthelsen

{{Short description|Norwegian sprinter and long jumper (1944–2022)}}

{{Infobox sportsperson

| name = Berit Berthelsen
née Tøien

| image =

| caption =

| nationality = Norwegian

| sport = Athletics

| event = Sprints, long jump, pentathlon

| club = IL Tyrving, Bærum

| birth_date = 5 April 1944 in

| birth_place = Hakadal, Nittedal, Viken, Norway

| death_date = 13 February 2022 (aged 77)

| death_place = Bærum, Viken, Norway

| height =171 cm

| weight =62 kg

| pb =

}}

Berit Berthelsen ({{née}} Tøien, 25 April 1944 – 13 February 2022) was a Norwegian athlete. She represented IL Tyrving, as well as her national team.

Biography

Born in Norway, Berthelsen was educated at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences.{{cite news|title=40 år og fortsatt full fart|last=Bugge|first=Mette|date=5 September 2008|work=Aftenposten|page=20|language=Norwegian}} Berthelsen dominated long jump and sprints events in the Nordic countries during the 1960s. At the Nordic Championships in 1965 she won five gold medals (100 m, 200 m, 400 m, long jump and relay). She won the European Indoor Games in long jump in 1967 and 1968, and won a European Championships bronze medal in 1969. She finished seventh at the 1964 Summer Olympics and ninth at the 1968 Summer Olympics. In 1968 she also competed in pentathlon, finishing eighteenth.{{cite web |url=http://www.friidrett.no/friidrett/statistikk/internasjonal/Olympiere.htm |title=Oppsummering |website=www.friidrett.no |access-date=22 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930185237/http://www.friidrett.no/friidrett/statistikk/internasjonal/Olympiere.htm |archive-date=30 September 2007 |url-status=dead}}

Throughout her career she won 35 national championships in individual events, and set 29 national records. Her long jump record of 6.56 metres was set on 10 September 1968 and stood for almost 41 years until Margrethe Renstrøm broke it on 1 August 2009, with a 6.64 m jump.{{cite news|title=Hoppet inn i historiebøkene|last=Thoresen|first=Thore-Erik|date=1 August 2009|work=Norges Fri-idrettsforbund|language=Norwegian}} She finished second behind Mary Rand in the long jump event at the British 1964 WAAA Championships.{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004941/19640705/703/0029 |title=Little Daphne Zips to Records |work=Sunday Express |date=5 July 1964 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |access-date=28 February 2025 }}{{cite web|url=https://www.nuts.org.uk/Champs/AAA/index.htm |title=AAA, WAAA and National Championships Medallists |website=National Union of Track Statisticians |access-date=28 February 2025}}

Berthelsen won the British WAAA Championships title at the 1966 WAAA Championships{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004941/19660703/799/0027 |title=Fleet-footed Anne has that gold-medal look |work=Sunday Express |date=3 July 1966 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |access-date=1 March 2025 }} and the 1967 WAAA Championships.{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004941/19670702/480/0023 |title=Board may forgive Anne |work=Sunday Express |date=2 July 1967 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |access-date=1 March 2025 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.gbrathletics.com/bc/waaa.htm |title=AAA Championships (women) |website=GBR Athletics |access-date=28 February 2025 }}

She died on 13 February 2022, at the age of 77.{{cite news |title=Fakta om Berit Berthelsen |url=https://www.varingen.no/fakta-om-berit-berthelsen/s/5-92-300938 |access-date=14 February 2022 |publisher=Varingen |date=14 February 2022}}

Achievements

{{AchievementTable}}
colspan="5"\|Representing {{NOR}}
1967 \|European Indoor Games \|Prague, Czechoslovakia \|bgcolor="gold" \| 1st \|Long jump
1968 \|European Indoor Games \|Madrid, Spain \|bgcolor="gold" \| 1st \|Long jump
1969 \|European Championships \|Athens, Greece \|bgcolor="cc9966" \| 3rd \|Long jump

colspan="5"|Representing {{NOR}}

1967

|European Indoor Games

|Prague, Czechoslovakia

|bgcolor="gold" | 1st

|Long jump

1968

|European Indoor Games

|Madrid, Spain

|bgcolor="gold" | 1st

|Long jump

1969