Holger Henry Nielsen (2 October 1910 – 18 November 1969) was a Danish middle- and

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires endurance, stamina as well as mental strength. Within e ...

. Nielsen held the 3000 m world record from 1934 to 1936 and placed third in men's

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The race ...

at the 1934 European Championships.

Career

Early in his career Nielsen trained in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, which was the leading distance-running country at the time, and learned from Finnish runners. He won his first Danish championship title at

5000 m The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stand ...

in 1930. Nielsen broke the 3000 m world record in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

on 25 July 1934; he faced Poland's

Janusz Kusociński Janusz Tadeusz Kusociński (15 January 1907 – 21 June 1940) was a Polish athlete, winner in the 10,000 meters event at the 1932 Summer Olympics. Biography Born in Warsaw into the family of a railroad worker, Janusz Kusociński, or ''Ku ...

, who held the previous record of 8:18.8, and defeated him. Nielsen's winning time was 8:18.3; as a world record, it was officially ratified as 8:18.4, since the

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

's rules required times at the distance to be rounded up to the next fifth of a second. Later that year, Nielsen won bronze in the

10,000 m The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The race ...

at the inaugural

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

, losing only to Finland's

Ilmari Salminen Ilmari R. Salminen (21 September 1902 – 5 January 1986) was a Finnish long-distance runner, winner of the 10,000 metres at the 1936 Summer Olympics. Salminen became one of the best long-distance runners in the 1930s when he began his internati ...

and

Arvo Askola Arvo Askola (2 December 1909, Valkeala – 23 November 1975) was a Finnish long-distance runner. He won silver medals in the 10,000 m The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part o ...

; he was Denmark's only medalist in the meet. Nielsen competed in the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...

in the

, but failed to qualify from the heats. He was eventually excluded from

amateur sports Amateur sports are sports in which participants engage largely or entirely without remuneration Remuneration is the pay or other financial compensation provided in exchange for an employee's ''services performed'' (not to be confused with givi ...

for breaking amateur rules by receiving monetary prizes. His world record was broken by Finland's

Gunnar Höckert Gunnar Mikael Höckert (12 February 1910 – 11 February 1940) was a Finnish runner, winner of the 5000 m race at the 1936 Summer Olympics. Biography Born in Helsinki to a wealthy family, Gunnar Höckert had only one great season, in 1936. ...

, who ran 8:14.8 in September 1936.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nielsen, Henry 1910 births 1969 deaths People from Nørresundby Danish male middle-distance runners Danish male long-distance runners Olympic athletes of Denmark Athletes (track and field) at the 1936 Summer Olympics European Athletics Championships medalists World record setters in athletics (track and field) Sportspeople from the North Jutland Region 20th-century Danish people