King Harald and sport

In addition to being an avid spectator, he was an active sportsman himself. He inherited his passion for sport and the outdoors from his father, King Olav, who was also a keen sailor and had a lifelong devotion to sport and athletics.

Deep interest in sport

King Harald was often a spectator at sports events both in Norway and abroad, and was always in attendance in the Royal Box during the Holmenkollen ski jumping competition.

He had impressive staying power, and could stand for hours in the driving snow to watch the final finish – even after most others had gone home – often along with his sister, Princess Astrid. There were many moments of celebration in the Royal Box after a race was completed where the King and the medal winner appeared to be equally delighted.

King Harald, then Crown Prince, served as chair of the Advisory Board for the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in 1982. And when Norway hosted the Olympic Winter Games in Lillehammer in 1994, he was actively involved as the honorary chair of the Lillehammer Olympic Organising Committee.

In 2016, as part of the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the ascension of King Harald and Queen Sonja to the Norwegian throne, a large winter sports event was organised in the Palace Square in cooperation with the Government and the Norwegian Sports Confederation. The King and Queen invited children to participate in a wide variety of skiing and other winter activities. The event was the Government’s gift to the King and Queen.

A lifetime of sailing

King Harald sailed competitively throughout most of his life, and distinguished himself on several occasions in national and international sailing competitions. He got his first sailboat in 1948, a gift from his grandfather, King Haakon VII.

King Harald remained an active yachtsman until the autumn of 2022, and won gold medals in both World and European Championships.

In Kiel in 1987, King Harald and his crew won the World Championships with his one-ton yacht, the Fram X. In 2005 they won the European Championships with the Fram XV, and in the summer of 2008 King Harald, by then 71 years old, took gold in the Sira class, for classic 8 metre yachts. The championships took place in familiar waters near Hankø, and the King sailed the Sira, formerly Kong Olav’s yacht, which had been restored for the occasion.

At the age of 85 King Harald participated in his last World Championships for 8 metre yachts in Geneva, Switzerland. In the world sailing community he received accolades as an accomplished sailor of international distinction with a keen competitive instinct.

Like King Olav, King Harald devoted time to projects to elevate the sport and promote training of young sailors. He helped to initiate the establishment of the Norwegian Sailing Federation in 1970, and served as the federation’s first chair.

King Harald referred to himself a “sports fanatic”, and realised his passion for sport throughout his life, both in the private sphere and as part of his service as the country’s King. He acknowledged this himself in his speech at the celebration of his and the Queen’s 80th birthdays:

“In addition to being allowed to work for the benefit of Norway and the Norwegian people at home and abroad, I have been fortunate to have been able to pursue my hobbies, such as sailing, and to fully exercise the ‘sports fanatic’ in me. Luckily, sport is such an important part of Norway’s ethos that it is also a natural part of a King’s duties.”