Ivar Ballangrud
Encyclopedia
Ivar Ballangrud (7 March 1904, Lunner
, Oppland
– 1 June 1969) was a Norwegian
speed skater
, a four-time Olympic champion in Speed Skating. As the only triple gold medalists at the 1936 Winter Olympics
, Ballangrud was the most successful athlete there.
on Hadeland
, he was a member of the famous "Hadeland Trio", consisting of himself, Michael Staksrud
and Hans Engnestangen
. He represented the club Trondhjems Skøiteklub
.
Ballangrud was four times World Allround Champion
, four times European Allround Champion
, five times Norwegian Allround Champion, and four times Olympic Champion. He won three Olympic titles at the 1936 Winter Olympics
in Garmisch-Partenkirchen
: 500 m (quite surprisingly), 5000 m, and 10000 m. On the 1500 m during those Winter Olympics, he won silver – his teammate Charles Mathiesen
being the only one to keep him from winning gold in all four speed skating events. Ballangrud had won his first Olympic gold 8 years earlier on the 5000 m at the 1928 Winter Olympics
. In addition, he won a bronze medal (1500 m) in 1928 and a silver medal (10000 m) at the 1932 Winter Olympics
. He would have been the favourite for winning more Olympic gold in 1932 if the races had been held in the normal European way, not the American packstyle way where all competitors are on the ice at the same time.
He made his international debut as a 19-year-old rising star in 1924, although it was too late to compete in the Winter Olympics that year. However, he was paired with Julius Skutnabb
– who had just become the Olympic 10000 m Champion – in his first World Championships in Helsinki in 1924, and beat the champion on his homeground. In 1930, he dethroned Oscar Mathisen
from the top of the Adelskalender and he would remain the number one on the Adelskalender for seven years.
In addition to his five official world records, Ballangrud skated 16:46.4 in a 10000 m packstyle test race before the Olympic Games in 1932. This time was 31 seconds below the then-current world record and it would stand unbeaten as the fastest 10000 m time for twenty years, until Hjalmar Andersen
set his famous world record of 16:32.6.
Note that Ballangrud's personal record on the 1500 m was not a world record because Hans Engnestangen
skated 2:13.8 at the same tournament.
Ballangrud has an Adelskalender score of 188.806 points. He was number one on the Adelskalender for a total of 3,675 days, divided over two periods between 1930 and 1942.
Lunner
Lunner is a municipality in Oppland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Hadeland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Roa...
, Oppland
Oppland
is a county in Norway, bordering Sør-Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. The county administration is in Lillehammer. Oppland is, together with Hedmark, one of the only two landlocked counties of Norway....
– 1 June 1969) was a Norwegian
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
speed skater
Speed skating
Speed skating, or speedskating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in traveling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skating...
, a four-time Olympic champion in Speed Skating. As the only triple gold medalists at the 1936 Winter Olympics
1936 Winter Olympics
The 1936 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IV Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1936 in the market town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria, Germany. Germany also hosted the Summer Olympics the same year in Berlin...
, Ballangrud was the most successful athlete there.
Biography
Ivar Ballangrud was one of the best speed skaters in the world for a period of 15 years, from 1924 to 1939. Coming from the small place LunnerLunner
Lunner is a municipality in Oppland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Hadeland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Roa...
on Hadeland
Hadeland
Hadeland is a traditional district in the south-eastern part of Norway. It is located around the southern part of lake Randsfjorden in Oppland county, and consists of the municipalities of Gran, Jevnaker and Lunner. Hadeland occupies the area north of the hills of Nordmarka close to the Norwegian...
, he was a member of the famous "Hadeland Trio", consisting of himself, Michael Staksrud
Michael Staksrud
Michael Staksrud was a Norwegian World Champion in speed skating.-Biography:Born in Gran, in the district of Hadeland, Staksrud started his speed skating career at Hamar Idrettslag . From 1937 onward, he represented Oslo Skøiteklub...
and Hans Engnestangen
Hans Engnestangen
Hans Engnestangen was a Norwegian speed skater and world champion. He held the world records on both the 500 and 1500 meter distance for more than ten years....
. He represented the club Trondhjems Skøiteklub
Trondhjems SK (skating)
Trondhjems Skøiteklub is a Norwegian sports club from Trondheim, founded in 1876. It has sections for figure skating and speed skating.Former members include Peder Østlund, Edvard Engelsaas, Oluf Steen, Martin Sæterhaug, Ivar Ballangrud, Magne Thomassen and Rolf Falk-Larssen....
.
Ballangrud was four times World Allround Champion
World Allround Speed Skating Championships
The World Allround Speed Skating Championships are a series of speed skating events held annually to determine the best allround speed skater of the world...
, four times European Allround Champion
European Speed Skating Championships
The European Speed Skating Championships are a series of speed skating events held annually to determine the best allround speed skater of Europe. The International Skating Union has organised the European Championships for Men since 1893 and the European Championships for Women since 1970. The...
, five times Norwegian Allround Champion, and four times Olympic Champion. He won three Olympic titles at the 1936 Winter Olympics
1936 Winter Olympics
The 1936 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IV Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1936 in the market town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria, Germany. Germany also hosted the Summer Olympics the same year in Berlin...
in Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Garmisch-Partenkirchen is a mountain resort town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the administrative centre of the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in the Oberbayern region, and the district is on the border with Austria...
: 500 m (quite surprisingly), 5000 m, and 10000 m. On the 1500 m during those Winter Olympics, he won silver – his teammate Charles Mathiesen
Charles Mathiesen
Charles Mathiesen was a speed skater whose speed skating career lasted for 18 years , while being at the world top during most of those years.-Biography:Mathiesen was born in Drammen, Norway...
being the only one to keep him from winning gold in all four speed skating events. Ballangrud had won his first Olympic gold 8 years earlier on the 5000 m at the 1928 Winter Olympics
1928 Winter Olympics
The 1928 Winter Olympics, officially known as the II Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated February 11–19, 1928 in St. Moritz, Switzerland. The 1928 Games were the first true Winter Olympics held on its own as they were not in conjunction with a Summer Olympics...
. In addition, he won a bronze medal (1500 m) in 1928 and a silver medal (10000 m) at the 1932 Winter Olympics
1932 Winter Olympics
The 1932 Winter Olympics, officially known as the III Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1932 in Lake Placid, New York, United States. The games opened on February 4 and closed on February 15. It would be the first winter olympics held in the United...
. He would have been the favourite for winning more Olympic gold in 1932 if the races had been held in the normal European way, not the American packstyle way where all competitors are on the ice at the same time.
He made his international debut as a 19-year-old rising star in 1924, although it was too late to compete in the Winter Olympics that year. However, he was paired with Julius Skutnabb
Julius Skutnabb
Julius Ferninand Skutnabb was a Finnish speed skater who won several Olympic medals. He was born in Helsinki and died there as well....
– who had just become the Olympic 10000 m Champion – in his first World Championships in Helsinki in 1924, and beat the champion on his homeground. In 1930, he dethroned Oscar Mathisen
Oscar Mathisen
Oscar Wilhelm Mathisen was a Norwegian speed skater and celebrity, almost rivalling Roald Amundsen and Fridtjof Nansen as symbols for a young nation...
from the top of the Adelskalender and he would remain the number one on the Adelskalender for seven years.
In addition to his five official world records, Ballangrud skated 16:46.4 in a 10000 m packstyle test race before the Olympic Games in 1932. This time was 31 seconds below the then-current world record and it would stand unbeaten as the fastest 10000 m time for twenty years, until Hjalmar Andersen
Hjalmar Andersen
Hjalmar "Hjallis" Johan Andersen is a former speed skater from Norway who won three gold medals at the 1952 Winter Olympic Games of Oslo, Norway. He was the only triple gold medalist at the 1952 Winter Olympics, and as such, became the most successful athlete there.-Short biography:Hjalmar...
set his famous world record of 16:32.6.
Medals
An overview of medals won by Ballangrud at important championships he participated in, listing the years in which he won each:| Championships | Gold medal | Silver medal | Bronze medal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winter Olympics Speed skating at the Winter Olympics Speed skating has been featured as a sport in the Winter Olympics since the first winter games in 1924. Women's events were added to the Olympic program for the first time in 1960.-History:... |
1928 (5000 m) 1936 (500 m) 1936 (5000 m) 1936 (10000 m) |
1932 (10000 m) 1936 (1500 m) |
1928 (1500 m) |
| World Allround World Allround Speed Skating Championships The World Allround Speed Skating Championships are a series of speed skating events held annually to determine the best allround speed skater of the world... |
1926 1932 1936 1938 |
1928 1929 1930 1935 |
1931 1933 1934 |
| European Allround European Speed Skating Championships The European Speed Skating Championships are a series of speed skating events held annually to determine the best allround speed skater of Europe. The International Skating Union has organised the European Championships for Men since 1893 and the European Championships for Women since 1970. The... |
1929 1930 1933 1936 |
– | 1927 1938 |
| Norwegian Allround | 1926 1929 1930 1936 1939 |
1932 1935 |
– |
World records
Over the course of his career, Ballangrud skated five world records:| Event | Result | Date | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5000 m | 8:24.2 | 19 January 1929 | Davos Eisstadion Davos Vaillant Arena is an arena in Davos, Switzerland. It is primarily used for ice hockey and is the home arena of HC Davos. It holds 7,080 people, of which 3,280 are seated... |
| 5000 m | 8:21.6 | 11 January 1930 | Davos Eisstadion Davos Vaillant Arena is an arena in Davos, Switzerland. It is primarily used for ice hockey and is the home arena of HC Davos. It holds 7,080 people, of which 3,280 are seated... |
| 3000 m | 4:49.6 | 29 January 1935 | Davos Eisstadion Davos Vaillant Arena is an arena in Davos, Switzerland. It is primarily used for ice hockey and is the home arena of HC Davos. It holds 7,080 people, of which 3,280 are seated... |
| 5000 m | 8:17.2 | 18 January 1936 | Oslo Oslo Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King... |
| 10000 m | 17:14.4 | 6 February 1938 | Davos Eisstadion Davos Vaillant Arena is an arena in Davos, Switzerland. It is primarily used for ice hockey and is the home arena of HC Davos. It holds 7,080 people, of which 3,280 are seated... |
Personal records
To put these personal records in perspective, the WR column lists the official world records on the dates that Ballangrud skated his personal records.| Event | Result | Date | Venue | WR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 500 m | 42.7 | 31 January 1939 | St. Moritz St. Moritz St. Moritz is a resort town in the Engadine valley in Switzerland. It is a municipality in the district of Maloja in the Swiss canton of Graubünden... |
41.8 |
| 1000 m | 1:29.3 | 24 February 1937 | Oslo Bislett stadion Bislett Stadion is a sports stadium in Oslo, Norway. Bislett is Norway's most well known sports arena internationally, with 15 speed skating world records and more than 50 track and field world records having been set here... |
1:28.4 |
| 1500 m | 2:14.0 | 29 January 1939 | Davos Eisstadion Davos Vaillant Arena is an arena in Davos, Switzerland. It is primarily used for ice hockey and is the home arena of HC Davos. It holds 7,080 people, of which 3,280 are seated... |
2:14.9 |
| 3000 m | 4:49.6 | 29 January 1935 | Davos Eisstadion Davos Vaillant Arena is an arena in Davos, Switzerland. It is primarily used for ice hockey and is the home arena of HC Davos. It holds 7,080 people, of which 3,280 are seated... |
4:59.1 |
| 5000 m | 8:17.2 | 18 January 1936 | Oslo Oslo Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King... |
8:18.9 |
| 10000 m | 17:14.4 | 6 February 1938 | Davos Eisstadion Davos Vaillant Arena is an arena in Davos, Switzerland. It is primarily used for ice hockey and is the home arena of HC Davos. It holds 7,080 people, of which 3,280 are seated... |
17:17.4 |
Note that Ballangrud's personal record on the 1500 m was not a world record because Hans Engnestangen
Hans Engnestangen
Hans Engnestangen was a Norwegian speed skater and world champion. He held the world records on both the 500 and 1500 meter distance for more than ten years....
skated 2:13.8 at the same tournament.
Ballangrud has an Adelskalender score of 188.806 points. He was number one on the Adelskalender for a total of 3,675 days, divided over two periods between 1930 and 1942.