Rolf Göran Claeson (born 4 March 1945) is a former

speed skater Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skating. ...

from

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. Claeson participated in the 1,500 m at the

1968 Winter Olympics The 1968 Winter Olympics, officially known as the X Olympic Winter Games (french: Les Xes Jeux olympiques d'hiver), were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 18 February 1968 in Grenoble, France. Thirty-seven countries participated. Frenchm ...

Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...

, but finished only 20th. In 1969, at the first European Allround Championships in which Claeson participated, he won bronze. Three weeks later, at the first World Allround Championships in which he participated, he won silver. More international medals followed during the next few years, but none of them were gold. Then, after the 1971–1972 season, two of the world's top skaters, Ard Schenk and

Kees Verkerk Cornelis Arie "Kees" Verkerk (born 28 October 1942) is a former speed skater from the Netherlands.

, joined a newly formed professional league. Another top skater,

Dag Fornæss Dag Fornæss (born 30 June 1948) is a former speed skater from Norway who won the Norwegian, European, and World Allround Championships in 1969. He was born in Hamar. Biography Representing Hamar Idrettslag (Hamar Sports Club), Fornæss had his ...

, retired from speed skating. The following season, Claeson promptly became both European and World Allround Champion. Claeson won several more medals, including a bronze medal on the 1,500 m at the

1972 Winter Olympics The 1972 Winter Olympics, officially the and commonly known as Sapporo 1972 ( ja, 札幌1972), was a winter multi-sport event held from February 3 to 13, 1972, in Sapporo, Japan. It was the first Winter Olympic Games to take place outside Europe ...

Sapporo ( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous city ...

. In 1975, he entered the European Allround Championships as the reigning European Champion, but he finished only 11th. He retired from speed skating that same year.

Medals

An overview of medals won by Claeson at important championships he participated in, listing the years in which he won each: In addition, Claeson won a total of 25 Swedish National Championships titles: * Swedish Championships 1,500 m: 1969, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1974, and 1975. * Swedish Championships 5,000 m: 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, and 1975. * Swedish Championships 10,000 m: 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, and 1974. * Swedish Championships Allround: 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, and 1975.

Records

World record

Over the course of his career, Claeson skated one

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

: Source: SpeedSkatingStats.com

Personal records

To put these personal records in perspective, the column ''WR'' lists the official world records on the dates that Claeson skated his personal records. Claeson has an Adelskalender score of 168.868 points. His highest ranking on the Adelskalender was a second place.

References

Göran Claeson at SpeedSkatingStats.com

Göran Claeson
from ''Deutsche Eisschnelllauf Gemeinschaft e.V.'' (the German Skating Association)
Personal records from Jakub Majerski's Speedskating Database

from the ''International Skating Union''
National Champions
from ''Svenska Skridskoförbundet'' (the Swedish Skating Association) {{DEFAULTSORT:Claeson, Goran 1945 births Living people Swedish male speed skaters World record setters in speed skating Olympic speed skaters for Sweden Olympic bronze medalists for Sweden Speed skaters at the 1968 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 1972 Winter Olympics Olympic medalists in speed skating Medalists at the 1972 Winter Olympics World Allround Speed Skating Championships medalists 20th-century Swedish people