Audun Boysen (10 May 1929 – 2 March 2000) was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

middle distance runner. Born in

Bjarkøy Bjarkøy is a former municipality in Troms county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until it was merged with Harstad Municipality on 1 January 2013. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Nergården on the ...

and raised in Rissa, he first represented Rissa IL and later

IK Tjalve Idrettsklubben Tjalve is a Norwegian athletics club from Oslo, founded on 27 December 1890. It is named after Þjálfi in Norse mythology. It is one of the most prominent athletics clubs in Norway, and numerous members have represented Norway in ...

in Oslo. Boysen was a prominent 800 metre runner in the 1950s, and he won a bronze medal at the 1956 Summer Olympics, a silver medal at the 1958 European Championships and another bronze at the 1954 European Championships. He set three world records over 1,000 metres, the last being 2:19.0 in 1955. The same year he ran 800 metres in 1:45.9, setting a new Norwegian record. Incidentally, the man who beat him in that race, Belgian

Roger Moens Roger Moens (born 26 April 1930) is a Belgian former middle-distance runner. In 1955 he broke Rudolf Harbig's long-standing world record over 800 meters. At the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome he won a silver medal in the 800 m. Biography On 3 Augu ...

, ran a world record time, with Boysen also under the old world record. That Norwegian record stood for 37 years until 3 July 1992 when it was broken by Atle Douglas (1:45.15) and Vebjørn Rodal (1:45.33). Rodal became Olympic champion four years later.

References

* Olympic athletes of Norway 1929 births 2000 deaths Norwegian male middle-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 1952 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Norway European Athletics Championships medalists Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) {{Norway-athletics-bio-stub