The Norwegian Sports Badge: A 1915 Award Newly Opened to U.S. Service Members

Not every badge is a march. Norway's Sports Badge — the Idrettsmerket — tests the whole soldier-athlete: sprint, jump, throw, lift, and endure, all inside one calendar year, against standards set for your age and sex. It was founded in 1915, and for more than a century it belonged to Norway. In 2026, that changed: testing authority was granted to any member of the American uniformed services, anywhere in the world.

This guide explains the badge, its five test groups, its Bronze-to-Gold progression — and what is actually new about it for Americans.

First, the Name

The award discussed in the U.S. as "the Norwegian Sports Badge" is the Idrettsmerket — officially the Norwegian Sports Federation Sports Badge (NSFSB), in Norwegian Norges Idrettsforbunds idrettsmerke. It is civilian-founded and open to civilians and military personnel alike. Keep it distinct from the Norwegian Military Field Sports Badge, a separate armed-forces award that tests weapons handling, marksmanship, map reading, and orienteering. Similar names, different badges, different tests.

A Century of All-Round Fitness

The badge was established on 29 May 1915 by the Norwegian Sports Federation (Norges Idrettsforbund) and the Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee, to recognize achievement across sports disciplines, with fitness standards scaled by age and gender. It was originally restricted to men; women were permitted to test from 1934. The criteria have been revised several times across the century, and the badge remains one of Norway's oldest and most widely recognized fitness awards. Its philosophy is steady: compete against the standard for your age — not against the person next to you — and stay active for life.

The Test: Five Groups, One Year

To earn the badge, a candidate must pass one event in each of five groups, all within the same calendar year. Testing can be spread across days, weeks, or months; a failed event can be retaken, or swapped for another event in the same group, until it is passed. At least two people conduct the testing (an administrator and the participant), and for long-duration events a fitness app or device may record the activity, with the administrator verifying the result. The five groups, per the Royal Norwegian Embassy's testing procedures (May 2026):

• Group 1 — Sustained Physical Activity: at least 20 sessions of 30 minutes or more during the year — cycling, swimming, dancing, hiking, skiing, running, weight training, organized practice. For military personnel, this group is considered automatically fulfilled.
• Group 2 — Flexibility / Precision (Agility): standing long jump, five-step jump, running long jump, running high jump, seated precision throw, standing high jump.
• Group 3 — Speed: 60 m or 100 m sprint, 25 m swimming, 100 m ice skating, 400 m cycling, 120 m speedwalking, 200 m paddling, pushing events, and ball-sport options.
• Group 4 — Strength: shot put, small-ball and hand-grenade throws, slingball, discus, pull-ups, bench press, back squat, sit-ups, push-ups, leg raises.
• Group 5 — Endurance: running 1.5, 3, or 5 km; cycling 10 or 20 km; swimming; skiing; rowing machine; the Cooper 12-minute test — and, for ruckers, hiking or rucking 5 or 10 km.

Every event carries a performance standard set by age and gender; the complete tables are published in the Royal Norwegian Embassy's Consolidated Skill Badge Manual (Sports Badge procedures, May 2026), which is the document testing administrators work from. U.S. units are already running it: reported testing at Pabradė Training Area in Lithuania had American soldiers completing, in the coverage's words, "the sprint, the high jump and the ruck" — a fair summary of what this badge asks.

The Badge and Its Classes

The badge is a shield bearing the Lion of Norway, supported by two laurel branches, with a crown above the shield that serves as the suspension, on a green ribbon. It is struck in bronze, silver, or gold — and the metal records a journey measured in years, because only one award can be earned per calendar year:

• Bronze — your 1st through 4th annual awards
• Silver — your 5th through 8th annual awards
• Gold — your 9th annual award

Gold, in other words, means passing the full five-group test battery in nine separate years (silver and gold claims are documented through the badge's official Record Book). U.S. Army coverage of overseas testing reports the badge, once earned, as authorized for permanent wear on the U.S. Army uniform. Few fitness awards anywhere ask for a decade of consistency. This one does.

What Is Actually New in 2026

The badge itself is not new — it dates to 1915. What is new is access. Riding the popularity of the Norwegian Foot March program, the authority to conduct Sports Badge testing worldwide was granted to any member of the American uniformed services, as of 2026, and the badge received its own embassy-published testing manual (May 2026) within the Royal Norwegian Embassy's Consolidated Skill Badge Manual. Unlike the embassy-run badges, this program is administered independently by the Norwegian Sports Federation: no prior coordination or permission is required to conduct testing, and results are submitted to the Federation through its official webform.

Questions

Is this a military badge? No — and that is part of its character. It is a civilian sports award, founded by Norway's sports federation, open to everyone; service members earn the same badge under the same standards as Norwegian civilians.

Do I have to pass everything in one day? No. The five groups must be completed within one calendar year, and testing can be spread out — though no more than three events should be tested in a single assessment period.

Where does rucking fit? In Group 5, Endurance — hiking or rucking 5 or 10 km is one of the options. Pair it with the Norwegian Foot March Badge and Norway gives a rucker two very different standards to train for: a timed 30 km march, and a year-long all-round fitness test.