Michael Staksrud was a
NorwegianNorway , 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...
World Champion in
speed skatingSpeed 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...
.
Biography
Born in
Granis 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 Jaren. There is also a village of Gran located within the municipality....
, in the district of
HadelandHadeland 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...
, Staksrud started his speed skating career at
Hamar IdrettslagHamar Idrettslag is a Norwegian sports club from Hamar. It has sections for bandy, curling, association football, athletics, sport shooting, rowing, speed skating, diving, swimming, tennis and gymnastics....
(Hamar Sports Club). From 1937 onward, he represented
Oslo Skøiteklub (Oslo Skating Club). Together with
Ivar BallangrudIvar Ballangrud 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.-Biography:Ivar Ballangrud was one of the best speed skaters in the world for a period of 15...
and
Hans EngnestangenHans 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 formed the famous
Hadeland Trio, three Norwegians who dominated both Norwegian and international speed skating in the 1930s. Seven of the nine
World Allround ChampionshipsThe World Allround Speed Skating Championships are a series of speed skating events held annually to determine the best allround speed skater of the world...
between 1930 and 1938, and six of the nine
European Allround ChampionshipsThe 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...
between 1929 and 1937 were won by a member of this Hadeland Trio, with Staksrud himself winning three World titles and two European titles.
Another illustration of the domination of the Hadeland Trio was the 1,500 m event at a tournament in
DavosDavos is a municipality in the district of Prättigau/Davos in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It has a permanent population of 11,248 . Davos is located on the Landwasser River, in the Swiss Alps, between the Plessur and Albula Range...
on 29 January 1939. Staksrud entered that tournament as the world record holder on that distance with a time of 2:14.9. He was paired with Ballangrud and skated 2:14.4, faster than his world record time, but Ballangrud had finished 0.4 seconds earlier in a time of 2:14.0. However, neither of them became the new world record holder, because Engnestangen skated 2:13.8 in his race.
Although Staksrud participated in several events at the
Winter Olympic GamesThe Winter Olympic Games is a sporting event, which occurs every four years. The first celebration of the Winter Olympics was held in Chamonix, France, in 1924. The original sports were alpine and cross-country skiing, figure skating, ice hockey, Nordic combined, ski jumping and speed skating...
of 1928, 1932, and 1936, he never managed to win any Olympic medals. In 1940, Staksrud drowned under tragic circumstances, only 32 years old.
Medals
An overview of medals won by Staksrud at important championships he participated in, listing the years in which he won each:
| Championships |
Gold medal |
Silver medal |
Bronze medal |
Winter OlympicsSpeed 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:...
|
– |
– |
– |
| World Allround 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...
|
1930
1935
1937 |
1932
1933 |
1929 |
| European Allround 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...
|
1934
1937 |
1930 |
– |
| Norwegian Allround |
1932
1934 |
1929
1930 |
1933
1936 |
World records
Over the course of his career, Staksrud skated two
world records:
| Event | Result | Date | Venue |
|
>
3,000 m |
4:59.1 |
25 February 1933 |
Hamaris a town and municipality in Hedmark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Hedmarken. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Hamar. The municipality of Hamar was separated from Vang as a town and municipality of its own in 1849...
|
| 1,500 m |
2:14.9 |
31 January 1937 |
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 Staksrud skated his personal records.
| Event | Result | Date | Venue | WR |
| 500 m |
42.8 |
30 January 1937 |
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...
|
42.4 |
| 1,000 m |
1:32.3 |
3 February 1929 |
Hamaris a town and municipality in Hedmark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Hedmarken. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Hamar. The municipality of Hamar was separated from Vang as a town and municipality of its own in 1849...
|
1:31.8 |
| 1,500 m |
2:14.4 |
29 January 1939 |
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 |
| 3,000 m |
4:55.2 |
30 January 1937 |
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...
|
4:49.6 |
| 5,000 m |
8:19.9 |
4 February 1933 |
Hamaris a town and municipality in Hedmark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Hedmarken. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Hamar. The municipality of Hamar was separated from Vang as a town and municipality of its own in 1849...
|
8:19.2 |
| 10,000 m |
17:23.2 |
5 February 1928 |
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...
|
17:22.6 |
Note that Staksrud's personal record on the 1,500 m was not a world record because
Hans EngnestangenHans 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.
Staksrud has an Adelskalender score of 189.750 points. His highest ranking on the Adelskalender was a first place, which he held for a total of 728 days between 1937 and 1939.
External links