Sparebank is a Norwegian savings bank without external owners. The Norwegian sparebanks are a separate type of juridical entity that differ from commercial banks. There are a total of 123 savings banks in Norway.

The first savings bank was created in 1822, and in the following 75 years savings banks were set up in most municipalities of Norway. The banks had both a savings upbringing function for the commoners (so they didn't have to burden society when they got sick and old) and served an important part in local communities development and self-financing.

Historically the savings banks concentrated on private customers, combined with small businesses and the primary sector. Loans were financed through deposits. Today the difference between savings banks and commercial banks are smaller, partially because savings banks now can issue stock-like grunnfondsbevis where the owners are both given dividend and representation in the governing bodies of the banks. The savings banks can now also convert themselves to public limited companies, but so far only one bank, Gjensidige NOR, had done so. Part of this later merged to form DnB NOR while the rest of it returned to the savings bank form, becoming Gjensidige.

Petter Northug Jr. (born 6 January 1986) is a Norwegian cross country skier and double Olympic champion. He has 9 World Championship and Winter Olympic gold medals with 13 medals overall, and 11 individual FIS Cross-Country World Cup wins with 23 podium places.

During his first years, Northug was generally considered a star of the future. Whilst he was still a junior Verdens Gang newspaper reported in November 2005 that "the ski manufacturers are fighting to get Northug".Fischer won his signature, and his contract included a base salary (the first time ever for a junior), which would be multiplied by five if he made the Norwegian elite team for 2006/07, which he did. The contract also offered bonuses if he won medals in the junior World Championships.

Northug has six gold medals from junior World Championships. His first two gold medals came in 2004/05 in the pursuit and the 10 km freestyle in Rovaniemi, then in 2005/06 in Kranj he won gold in the 10 km classic, the pursuit, the sprint, and the relay. He also has two silver medals (one in the sprint, and one in the relay, both in 2004/05). His victories made him the first athlete ever to win five individual gold medals at the FIS Junior Nordic World Ski Championships. During 2005/06 he also took part in the Norwegian National Championships, and won the double pursuit race, beating Frode Estil by 1.9 seconds, and became the first junior to ever win a Norwegian National Championship.