Roald Morel Larsen (1 February 1898 – 28 July 1959) was a World Champion

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

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. He was born in Kristiania (now

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 ...

). Roald Larsen's parents were Hans Jacob Larsen, a

glazier A glazier is a tradesman responsible for cutting, installing, and removing glass (and materials used as substitutes for glass, such as some plastics).Elizabeth H. Oakes, ''Ferguson Career Resource Guide to Apprenticeship Programs'' ( Infobase: ...

born in Kristiania in 1870, and Lydia Larsen, born in

Porsgrunn is a city and municipality in Telemark in the county of Vestfold og Telemark in Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Grenland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Porsgrunn. The municipality of Porsgrunn was ...

in 1865. They had four children, all sons: Jaan Harald (1891), Lyder Ragnar (1895), Roald Morel (1898), and Gelgjermo Stone (1899). Representing ''Kristiania Skøiteklub'' (now ''Oslo Skøiteklub''), Larsen had his best year in 1924, when he became World Allround, European Allround, and Norwegian Allround Champion, in addition to winning two silver and three bronze medals at the

1924 Winter Olympics The 1924 Winter Olympics, officially known as the I Olympic Winter Games (french: Iers Jeux olympiques d'hiver) and commonly known as Chamonix 1924 ( frp, Chamôni 1924), were a winter multi-sport event which was held in 1924 in Chamonix, France ...

Chamonix Chamonix-Mont-Blanc ( frp, Chamôni), more commonly known as Chamonix, is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of southeastern France. It was the site of the first Winter Olympics in 1924. In 2019, it had ...

. One of those Olympic silver medals was on the ''allround'' event, a combination of the results of the 500 m, the 1500 m, the 5000 m, and the 10000 m – the only time in Olympic history that there was an allround event. Larsen won several more medals in the years that followed, including another bronze medal at the

1928 Winter Olympics The 1928 Winter Olympics, officially known as the II Olympic Winter Games (french: IIes Jeux olympiques d'hiver; german: II. Olympische Winterspiele; it, II Giochi olimpici invernali; rm, II Gieus olimpics d'enviern) and commonly known as St. M ...

of St. Moritz. Larsen often had to admit defeat to

Clas Thunberg Arnold Clas ("Classe") Robert Thunberg (5 April 1893 – 28 April 1973) was a Finnish speed skater who won five Olympic gold medals – three at the inaugural Winter Olympics held in Chamonix in 1924 (along with a silver and a bronze medal) and t ...

. This is illustrated by the fact that at none of the six events in which Larsen won an Olympic medal he managed to finish ahead of Thunberg. After 1928, Larsen's appearances and successes quickly became less, although he kept competing occasionally until 1936. After retiring from speed skating, Larsen followed in his father's footsteps and became a full-time

. He founded the glazier company ''Roald Larsen AS'' in Oslo in 1937. Larsen died in 1959, at the age of 62. , ''Roald Larsen AS'' still exists, and is a full-service construction company.

Medals

An overview of medals won by Larsen at important championships he participated in, listing the years in which he won each: Source: SpeedSkatingStats.com & Skoyteforbundet.no

Record

World records

Over the course of his career, Larsen 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: ISU.org

Personal records

Larsen's personal record on the 1000 m equalled

Oscar Mathisen Oscar Wilhelm Mathisen (4 October 1888 – 10 April 1954) was a Norwegian speed skater and celebrity, almost rivalling Roald Amundsen and Fridtjof Nansen as symbols for a young nation (Norway became independent in 1905). He represented ''Kristi ...

's 20-year-old world record on that distance. Larsen has an Adelskalender score of 194.655 points. His highest ranking on the Adelskalender was a second place.

References

Roald Larsen at SpeedSkatingStats.com

Roald Larsen
from ''Deutsche Eisschnelllauf Gemeinschaft e.V.'' (the German Skating Association)

from ''Roald Larsen AS – Glassmesterforretning'' (Roald Larsen Corp. – Glazier Association) {{DEFAULTSORT:Larsen, Roald 1898 births 1959 deaths Norwegian male speed skaters Speed skaters at the 1924 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 1928 Winter Olympics Olympic speed skaters of Norway Medalists at the 1924 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1928 Winter Olympics Olympic medalists in speed skating Olympic silver medalists for Norway Olympic bronze medalists for Norway World record setters in speed skating Sportspeople from Oslo World Allround Speed Skating Championships medalists