Kurt Robert Stille (born 19 November 1934) is a former

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

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. ...

, who competed at top international levels from 1957 to 1964. He was born in Copenhagen, but lives in Norway. He participated in both the

1960 Winter Olympics The 1960 Winter Olympics (officially the VIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Squaw Valley 1960) were a winter multi-sport event held from February 18 to 28, 1960, at the Squaw Valley Resort (now known as Palisades Tahoe) in Squaw Vall ...

and

1964 Winter Olympics The 1964 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IX Olympic Winter Games (german: IX. Olympische Winterspiele) and commonly known as Innsbruck 1964 ( bar, Innschbruck 1964, label=Austro-Bavarian), was a winter multi-sport event which was celebr ...

. Stille was the only Danish participant in the 1960 Olympics. His 9th place in the 1964 10,000-m was his best result; this was also the best result by any Dane in an individual event in the Winter Olympics history until

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, when Viktor Hald Thorup placed fifth in the men's mass start speed skating. At the end of his career, Stille held the Danish speedskating records at all distances. These were 43.3 for 500 m (Karuizawa, 1963), 2:13.9 for 1,500 m (

Bislett

Bislett is a ne ...

, 1964), 4:39.0 for 3,000 m (Bislett, 1964), 7:56.1 for 5,000 m (Innsbruck, 1964), and 16:28.5 for 10,000 m (Bislett, 1964). These records lasted a record 41 years, until Oliver Sundberg skated 42.65 (500 m) and 2:06.51 (1500 m) in

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

on 19 March 2005. Sundberg also broke Stille's other records. Also Danish lady speedskater

Cathrine Grage Cathrine Grage (born 13 October 1976) is a Danish speedskater, inline skater and cyclist. As of January 2012, Grage has set a total of 61 successive national records, and holds all of the Danish women's records in speed skating, at all distances. ...

has over the time period 2005–2007 beaten all of Stille's national records. Although he is still alive, the choir "Sangkoret Lærken" at the

Norwegian University of Life Sciences The Norwegian University of Life Sciences ( no, Norges miljø- og biovitenskapelige universitet, NMBU) is a public university located in Ås, Norway. It is located at Ås in Viken, near Oslo, and at Adamstuen in Oslo and has around 5,200 stude ...

host "Kurt Stilles Mindeløp", a memorial race in his name, every year. Kurt Stille attends each year as a judge.

External links

*
Kurt Stille at SkateResults.com
Danish male speed skaters 1934 births Living people Speed skaters at the 1960 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 1964 Winter Olympics Olympic speed skaters for Denmark Sportspeople from Copenhagen {{Denmark-speed-skating-bio-stub