Roald Larsen

Roald Morel Larsen (1 February 1898 – 28 July 1959) was a World Champion speed skater from Norway. He was born in Kristiania (now Oslo). Roald Larsen's parents were Hans Jacob Larsen, a glazier born in Kristiania in 1870, and Lydia Larsen, born in Porsgrunn in 1865. They had four children, all sons: Jaan Harald (1891), Lyder Ragnar (1895), Roald Morel (1898), and Gelgjermo Stone (1899).

Roald Larsen
Personal information
Born(1898-02-01)1 February 1898
Died28 July 1959(1959-07-28) (aged 62)
Sport
CountryNorway
SportSpeed skating
Retired1928

Representing Kristiania Skøiteklub (now Oslo Skøiteklub), Larsen had his best year in 1924, when he became World Allround, European Allround, and Norwegian Allround Champion, in addition to winning two silver and three bronze medals at the 1924 Winter Olympics of Chamonix. One of those Olympic silver medals was on the allround event, a combination of the results of the 500 m, the 1500 m, the 5000 m, and the 10000 m – the only time in Olympic history that there was an allround event. Larsen won several more medals in the years that followed, including another bronze medal at the 1928 Winter Olympics of St. Moritz.

Larsen often had to admit defeat to Clas Thunberg. This is illustrated by the fact that at none of the six events in which Larsen won an Olympic medal he managed to finish ahead of Thunberg. After 1928, Larsen's appearances and successes quickly became less, although he kept competing occasionally until 1936.

After retiring from speed skating, Larsen followed in his father's footsteps and became a full-time glazier. He founded the glazier company Roald Larsen AS in Oslo in 1937. Larsen died in 1959, at the age of 62. As of 2018, Roald Larsen AS still exists, and is a full-service construction company.

Medals

An overview of medals won by Larsen at important championships he participated in, listing the years in which he won each:

Championships Gold medalSilver medalBronze medal
Winter Olympics1924 (1500 m)
1924 (Allround)
1924 (500 m)
1924 (5000 m)
1924 (10000 m)
1928 (500 m)
World Allround19241922
1926
1925
European Allround192419251923
1928
1929
Norwegian Allround1922
1924
1921
1923
1925
1927
1928
1926

Source: SpeedSkatingStats.com[1] & Skoyteforbundet.no[2]

Record

World records

Over the course of his career, Larsen skated one world record:

DistanceTimeDateLocation
500 m43.14 February 1928Eisstadion Davos, Davos

Source: ISU.org[3]

Personal records

Personal records
Men's speed skating
Event Result Date Location Notes
500 m43.14 February 1928Eisstadion Davos, DavosWorld record until beaten by Clas Thunberg on 19 January 1929.[4]
1000 m1:31.83 February 1929Hamar stadion, Hamar
1500 m2:21.31 January 1928Frogner stadion, Oslo
3000 m5:21.75 March 1935Tønsberg
5000 m8:34.410 February 1924Idrætspladsen (Skytterbanen), Kongsberg
10000 m17:40.317 February 1924Frogner stadion, KristianiaOslo was called Kristiania before 1925.

Larsen's personal record on the 1000 m equalled Oscar Mathisen's 20-year-old world record on that distance.

Larsen has an Adelskalender score of 194.655 points. His highest ranking on the Adelskalender was a second place.

References

  1. "Roald Larsen". SpeedSkatingStats.com. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  2. "Skoyteforbundet Allround results" (PDF). skoyteforbundet.no. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
  3. "Historical World Records" (PDF). ISU. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 February 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
  4. "Evolution of the world record 500 meters Men". www.speedskatingstats.com. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
Records
Preceded by
Himself with Charles Jewtraw, Oskar Olsen and Clas Thunberg
Athlete with the most medals at Winter Olympics
26 January 1924 – 14 February 1928
With: Clas Thunberg
Succeeded by
Clas Thunberg
Preceded by
First medal
Athlete with the most medals at Winter Olympics
26 January 1924 – 26 January 1924
With: Charles Jewtraw
Oskar Olsen
Clas Thunberg
Succeeded by
Himself and Clas Thunberg
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