Olympic decathlon champion Markus Rooth was the big winner at the 2025 Norwegian Sports Gala in Trondheim on Saturday (4) evening.
Rooth came away with three awards in total, including the Norwegian Sportsman of the Year trophy. Rooth follows in the footsteps of the likes of Karsten Warholm who has won the award three times (2017, 2019, 2021) and Jakob Ingebrigtsen (2022).
Rooth was also named Breakthrough Sportsperson of the Year as well as Name of the Year, an award which is voted for by the general public.
Rooth was the surprise winner of the Olympic decathlon title in Paris, totalling a national record of 8796 points to win gold in the Stade de France to move to seventh on the European all-time list. He also became the youngest winner of the Olympic decathlon title since Great Britain’s Daley Thompson in Moscow 1980.
“Now I can say a big thank you to the people too, it's absolutely crazy that you have chosen to vote for me as the name of the year. It feels a bit unreal,” said Rooth.
The Norwegian is planning a busy indoor season with the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn from 6-9 March among the competitions on his itinerary.
Olympic 5000m champion and double European champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen won the Athletes’ Award at the Norwegian Sports Gala for the third time, an award which is voted for solely by sportspeople.
“I would like to give a special thank you to all the children and young people who put on their sneakers and meet us out on the track. We may be an inspiration to you, but you are a very big inspiration to us. I never want to lose that kind of enthusiasm and joy of sports,” said Ingebrigtsen.