Understanding Olaf
Bringing out the best in the single-minded single sculler requires a different set of
skills as a coach. No one knows this better than Norway’s tore ovrebo. ovrebo is
the coach of two-time olympic Champion olaf tufte.
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technical side; he came from the strength/
endurance side. His style has evolved through
the years. We have worked with the whole of
the stroke very systematically and now we
are close to the best stroke for Olaf. It uses his
strength to his advantage.”
© 2008 Getty Images
Norway is in a unique rowing situation - it
does not have a large population and the
group of elite rowing athletes is tiny. Tufte
is essentially in a single because, at his level,
there is no one else for him to row with.
Ovrebo has used this unique situation to help
lead Tufte to back-to-back Olympic golds.
Tufte believes in sticking to what works for
him, and Ovrebo respects this.
“It’s the boat speed that counts,” says Ovrebo.
“I don’t have one picture. I like to develop the
individual’s stroke.” Ovrebo concedes that it
means different styles in a crew, but for Tufte
who is in the single, this is not a consideration.
Ovrebo is himself an Olympian and can draw
on his own national team experience as a rower
when coaching. He had barely finished with
elite rowing when he was pulled into coaching,
beginning at regional level. A year later, in 1992,
Ovrebo was brought in to assist the national
coach, the legendary Frank Hansen.
Ovrebo says that as a coach of a skilled
athlete one of his main objectives is to work
with the athlete as a whole. This includes the
wholeness of the stroke as well as that of the
athlete’s entire life.
Olaf Tufte of Norway
Tufte’s rowing style has changed since Ovrebo
first saw him. “Olaf didn’t come from the
Tufte, a former motocross rider, first made
the national team in 1997 and that is when
Ovrebo, who had by then become the head
coach, began working with him. Stories
abound describing Tufte’s huge capacity
to work and train and his annual Farmers
Challenge sheds light on the physical nature
of Tufte’s life. Ovrebo soon recognised there
was no point in holding back on >>
