John Røen

John Røen (22 April 1903 – 18 March 1979) was a Norwegian cross-country skier. He competed in the 50 km at the 1928 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz.

He grew up in Rindal Municipality, Norway, as a brother of Sigurd Røen. His skiing club was SK Troll. In 1925 he made his national breakthrough with silver medals in the Hovedlandsrennet (the national championship), both in the 17 and 30 kilometre races. In 1926 he finished ninth in the 50 kilometres race at the Holmenkollen ski festival, followed by a tenth place in 1927. At the 1927 Holmenkollen ski festival he also finished 12th in Nordic combined. He also finished second in the Gråkallen race the same year.

John Røen's training improved when his farm had electric light installed. He was able to ski in slopes around the farmhouse, studying his own technique by looking at his own shadow.

The Olympic trials were held on 15 January, with Ole Hegge and Olav Kjelbotn being outstanding. Røen finished third ahead of Ole Stenen. The Norwegian Skiing Federation then took into consideration, wrote P. Chr. Andersen, that "Røen is from Nordmøre, having grown up in Rindalen, and is a better skier than the impression given by the prize lists. Often, Røen has not had the opportunity to participate in the big races here in Southern Norway".

The Norwegian Olympic squad assembled in Oslo to travel by train to Trelleborg, then by boat to Germany and train from Hamburg to Basel. Instead of continuing straight to St. Moritz, the Norwegian leader Olaf Helset rented a private car to take a small party including Røen to Chamonix in order to gain experience from the Coupe de France event. Here, John Røen won the 50 kilometres ahead of compatriot Johan Støa and the three Frenchmen Évariste Prat, Camille Tournier and Henri Millan. He then finished second in the 18 kilometres race. The experience was deemed a success, but the Olympic 50 kilometre race was a failure. Røen forfeited the race, having struggled with bad equipment (as did several other racers) and "stomach cramps", perhaps from food poisoning. By now, however, he was too exhausted to contend the Hovedlandsrennet in 1928.

Cross-country skiing results Olympic Games Year Age 18 km 50 km 1928 24 —