Grönman was born and trained in Pori, on the west coast of Finland.

He won a silver medal at the 1984 European Championships, which was followed soon after by his first appearance in the Olympics.

[1] Due to the Soviet boycott, the top four placed lifters from the World Championships were absent for the 1984 Olympics, so Grönman came into the event as one of the favorites.

He had the final lift of the competition, and although he got bar to his shoulders was unable to get it over his head to China's Yao Jingyuan.

[2] Instead he won a bronze medal from his earlier 312.5 kg effort, the same total of the silver medalist Andrei Socaci, who got second place on account of his body weight being less than Grönman's.