Robert Sjursen

Robert Sjursen (full name Robert Emanuel Sjursen, later Rafto; 8 March 1891 – 21 July 1965) was a Norwegian gymnast who won a gold medal with the Norwegian team in the men's all-around free system event at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, and who later won the 1918 Norwegian decathlon championship in track and field.

Olympic gold in Stockholm, 1912

Sjursen competed for Bergens TF and was a member of the Norwegian men's gymnastics team at the 1912 Stockholm Games, where the team won the gold medal in the all-around free system event.¹ In this contest, five teams of between 16 and 40 gymnasts, from Norway, Finland, Denmark, the German Empire, and Luxembourg, performed simultaneously for one hour.

Sjursen's teammates on the gold-medal squad included Isak Abrahamsen, Hans Anton Beyer, Hartmann Bjørnsen, Alfred Engelsen, Bjarne Johnsen, Alf Lie, Tor Lund, Petter Martinsen, Jacob Opdahl, Frithjof Sælen, Georg Selenius, Sigvard Sivertsen, Einar Strøm, Gabriel Thorstensen, Thomas Thorstensen, and Nils Voss, among others.²

Track and field

Sjursen was also an accomplished all-around athlete outside gymnastics, winning the Norwegian decathlon championship in 1918.¹

Life outside sport

Sjursen worked in a series of occupations: he began as a machinist's apprentice and later worked as a dockworker, groundskeeper, and optician.¹ In 1920 he married Hjørdis Elisa Rafto Thistel, and the couple had two sons.¹ He changed his surname to Rafto in 1946.¹

The family name carried on his athletic tradition and gained wider prominence through his older son. Thorolf Thistel Rafto was, like his father, a Norwegian decathlon champion, taking the title in 1947, and became a human rights activist and professor of economic history at the Norwegian School of Economics in Bergen.¹

References

1. Robert Sjursen, Olympedia
2. Olympedia – Team (Free System), Men

Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Olympics and multisport subjects › Olympic gymnasts

Initially written Oct 20, 2026 · Edited: Oct 25, 2026

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