Kenneth Eldred Bartholomew (February 10, 1920 – October 9, 2012) was a speed skating champion from the United States. Bartholomew was born in Leonard, North Dakota.Kenneth E. Bartholomew
. ''Minnesota Sports Hall of Fame''. Retrieved on 2007-08-27. His parents were William N. Bartholomew and Clara U. Bartholomew. Bill and Clara had five children: Earl, Vern, Ken, Ardys, and Carl. Bill was the head timer at local, state, and national speed skating events for about 35 years and a member of the timing committees at the US Olympic speed skating trials in the 1950s.The Bartholome(w) Family
. ''St. Louis Park Historical Society''. Retrieved on 2007-08-27. Living in Minnesota, Bartholomew skated mostly at local, statewide, and national events, winning more than 1,000 medals and trophies. Among these were fourteen National Championships titles between 1945 and 1960, three North American outdoor titles, and one North American indoor title. In 1948, Bartholomew competed in the 500 m at the Winter Olympics of

St. Moritz St. Moritz (also german: Sankt Moritz, rm, , it, San Maurizio, french: Saint-Moritz) is a high Alpine resort town in the Engadine in Switzerland, at an elevation of about above sea level. It is Upper Engadine's major town and a municipality in ...

and finished second behind Finn Helgesen. He shared his second place with fellow United States team member Bob Fitzgerald and Norwegian skater

Thomas Byberg Thomas Hedvin Byberg (18 September 1916 – 13 October 1998) born in Hommelvik was a Norwegian speed skater. He represented ''Hommelvik Idrettslag'' and ''Trondhjems Skøiteklub''. At the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Byberg won a ...

. Bartholomew worked for

Northwestern Bell Northwestern Bell Telephone Company served the states of the upper Midwest opposite the Southwestern Bell area, including Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Nebraska. History Early beginnings It has never been definitively estab ...

, laying and repairing telephone lines. He also owned a tree service. In his later years, he competed in ski jumping and golf. Bartholomew and his wife Evelyn had five daughters. He was inducted in the ''Minnesota Sports Hall of Fame'' in 1959 and in the ''National Speedskating Hall of Fame'' in 1968.Speedskating Hall of Fame – Speed Skaters
. ''The National Speedskating Museum and Hall of Fame''. Retrieved on 2007-08-27. At the 1974 Senior Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, Bartholomew won gold medals in the 200 m, the 500 m, the 1,000 m, and the 1,500 m. His brothers Earl and Carl also were renowned in sports: Earl Bartholome – he dropped the final "w" from his surname in order to avoid confusion with Ken – was a professional ice hockey player, inducted in the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 1977, while Carl once held the world record for non-stop speed skating with a time of 54½ hours.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bartholomew, Ken 1920 births 2012 deaths American male speed skaters Speed skaters at the 1948 Winter Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the United States in speed skating Senior Olympic competitors People from Cass County, North Dakota Medalists at the 1948 Winter Olympics