Laila Schou Nilsen (18 March 1919 – 30 July 1998) was one of the foremost

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 ...

sportspeople of the 20th century, best known as a

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. ...

alpine skier Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike other types of skiing ( cross-country, Telemark, or ski jumping), which use skis with free-heel bindings. Whether for ...

, and

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player. She was one of the pioneers in women's speed skating, both in Norway and internationally, along with two other skaters from the ('Oslo Skating Club'), Undis Blikken and Synnøve Lie. Across her sporting career – which also included

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...

ski jumping Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along with jump length, competitor's aerial style and other factors also affect the final ...

cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...

, and

motorsport Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...

– Nilsen won 101 Norwegian Championship titles, of which 86 were in tennis.

Speed skating

Nilsen won the last of a series of three unofficial World Championships in speed skating for women that were organised by the at Oslo Frogner stadion in 1935, two weeks before her sixteenth birthday. At the 1937 edition of the

World Allround Speed Skating Championships for Women The International Skating Union has organised the World Allround Speed Skating Championships for Women since 1936. Unofficial championships were held in the years 1933–1935. History Distances used * In the years 1933–1935, three distances were ...

at the

Eisstadion Davos Eisstadion Davos is an indoor arena in Davos, Switzerland. It is primarily used for ice hockey and is the home arena of HC Davos. It holds 7,080 people, of which 3,280 are seated. Every year the Spengler Cup is played in this arena. Major renova ...

Davos , neighboring_municipalities= Arosa, Bergün/Bravuogn, Klosters-Serneus, Langwies, S-chanf, Susch , twintowns = } Davos (, ; or ; rm, ; archaic it, Tavate) is an Alpine resort town and a municipality in the Prättigau/Davos R ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, she set records in all four distances (500 m, 1,000 m, 3,000 m, and 5,000 m). She also won the 1938 World Championships in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

. Her 500 m record of 46.6 seconds held until 1955, when Tamara Rylova of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

beat it at the

Medeo The Medeu ( kk, Медеу, ''Medeu''), is an outdoor speed skating and bandy rink. It is located in a mountain valley ( Medeu Valley, or the valley of Malaya Almatinka River) on the south-eastern outskirts of Almaty, Kazakhstan. Medeu sits ...

track in

Alma Ata Almaty (; kk, Алматы; ), formerly known as Alma-Ata ( kk, Алма-Ата), is the largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population of about 2 million. It was the capital of Kazakhstan from 1929 to 1936 as an autonomous republic as part of t ...

. Her record for the 1,500 m was not bested until 1950. Nilsen was the Norwegian Allround Champion in speed skating in 1935, 1937, 1939, and 1940.

Medals

An overview of speed skating medals won by Laila Schou Nilsen at elite championships, listed with the years won. *''The World Allround Championships were unofficial from 1933 to 1935.''

Personal records

To put these personal records in perspective, the ''WR'' column lists the official world records on the dates that Laila Schou Nilsen skated her personal records.Eng et al. 1999, p. 292.

Alpine skiing

As speed skating for women was not included in the Olympic program for the

1936 Winter Olympics The 1936 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IV Olympic Winter Games (german: IV. Olympische Winterspiele) and commonly known as Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1936 ( bar, Garmasch-Partakurch 1936), were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 16 ...

, 16 year old Nilsen sought out other sports in which she could compete at the Olympics. She settled on alpine skiing, a sport in which she'd earned good results at the national level but not internationally. After just a month of intensive training in the lead-up to the Olympics, she won the

downhill Downhill may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Downhill'' (1927 film), a British film by Alfred Hitchcock * ''Downhill'' (2014 film), a British comedy directed by James Rouse * ''Downhill'' (2016 film), a Chilean thriller directed by Patrici ...

race and claimed Olympic bronze in the

alpine combined Combined is an event in Alpine skiing, alpine ski racing. A traditional combined competition consists of one run of Downhill (ski competition), downhill and two runs of Slalom skiing, slalom, each discipline runs on separate days. The winner is the ...

. No medals were awarded in sub-disciplines at the 1936 Olympic Games, so her gold medal-worthy downhill finish did not result in the honour it would have had it come at a later Olympics. After the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Nilsen competed in alpine skiing at the

1948 Winter Olympics The 1948 Winter Olympics, officially known as the V Olympic Winter Games (german: V. Olympische Winterspiele; french: Ves Jeux olympiques d'hiver; it, V Giochi olimpici invernali; rm, V Gieus olimpics d'enviern) and commonly known as St. Moritz ...

in St. Moritz, where she finished 7th in downhill and 14th in slalom.

Other

Nilsen was awarded the

Egebergs Ærespris The Egebergs Ærespris ("Honorary Prize of Egeberg") is a prize awarded to Norwegian athletes who excel in more than one sport. The prize was created by Ferdinand Julian Egeberg, and consists of a bronze statuette modelled by sculptor Magnus Vigr ...

in 1936 for "outstanding achievements in alpine skiing and speed skating and excellent achievements in tennis." Nilsen was also a member of the Norwegian women's national handball team and participated in the

Monte Carlo Rally The Monte Carlo Rally or Rallye Monte-Carlo (officially ''Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo'') is a rallying event organised each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco. The rally now takes place along the French Riviera in Monaco and southeast ...

in 1963.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* Eng, Trond. ''All Time International Championships, Complete Results: 1889 – 2002''. Askim, Norway: WSSSA-Skøytenytt, 2002. * Eng, Trond; Gjerde, Arild and Teigen, Magne. ''Norsk Skøytestatistikk Gjennom Tidene, Menn/Kvinner, 1999 (6. utgave)''. Askim/Skedsmokorset/Veggli, Norway: WSSSA-Skøytenytt, 1999. * Eng, Trond; Gjerde, Arild; Teigen, Magne and Teigen, Thorleiv. ''Norsk Skøytestatistikk Gjennom Tidene, Menn/Kvinner, 2004 (7. utgave)''. Askim/Skedsmokorset/Veggli/Hokksund, Norway: WSSSA-Skøytenytt, 2004. * Eng, Trond and Teigen, Magne. ''Komplette Resultater fra offisielle Norske Mesterskap på skøyter, 1894 – 2005''. Askim/Veggli, Norway: WSSSA-Skøytenytt, 2005. * Teigen, Magne. ''Komplette Resultater Norske Mesterskap På Skøyter, 1887 – 1989: Menn/Kvinner, Senior/Junior''. Veggli, Norway: WSSSA-Skøytenytt, 1989. * Teigen, Magne. ''Komplette Resultater Internasjonale Mesterskap 1889 – 1989: Menn/Kvinner, Senior/Junior, allround/sprint''. Veggli, Norway: WSSSA-Skøytenytt, 1989.

External links

*
Laila Schou Nilsen at SkateResults.com

Historical World Records
''International Skating Union''.
National Championships results
''Norges Skøyteforbund'' (Norwegian Skating Association). {{DEFAULTSORT:Nilsen, Laila Schou 1919 births 1998 deaths Norwegian female speed skaters Norwegian female alpine skiers World record setters in speed skating Olympic alpine skiers of Norway Norwegian female tennis players Norwegian female handball players Alpine skiers at the 1936 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 1948 Winter Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Norway Olympic medalists in alpine skiing Medalists at the 1936 Winter Olympics World Allround Speed Skating Championships medalists Sportspeople from Oslo