Rudolf Gundersen (6 December 1879 – 21 August 1946) was a

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 ...

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. ...

. He represented ''Kristiania Skøiteklub'' and was among the world's best skaters around the start of the 20th century. __NOTOC__ Gundersen made his Norwegian National Allround Championships debut in 1899 and promptly finished second, an achievement he would repeat the next year. In 1901, Gundersen became both Norwegian and European Allround Champion. In 1904, Gundersen won his second European Allround title and in 1906, he became European Allround Champion for the third and last time, while setting a new world record on the 500 m during those championships. His dominance at the European Allround Championships is illustrated by the fact that at the four European Allround Championships Gundersen participated in, he finished either first or second on every distance, finishing in first place ten times and in second place six times. In addition to winning prizes for speed, Gundersen also won several prizes for best skating style. After retiring from top skating, Gundersen skated veteran races for many years. In 1934, he was given honorary membership of his club, ''Oslo Skøiteklub''. Note that in 1925, the city

Kristiania 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 ...

was renamed to

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 ...

and as a result, ''Kristiania Skøiteklub'' was renamed to ''Oslo Skøiteklub''. Gundersen died in 1946 at the age of 66.

Medals

An overview of medals won by Gundersen at important championships he participated in, listing the years in which he won each. Note that he won only the medals given for the years that are not within parentheses. During the time that Gundersen participated in the World and European Allround Championships, silver and bronze medals were never awarded. In addition, an overall winner would not be declared if none of the skaters had been dominant enough, as measured in the number of first places on the individual distances. If the

samalog Samalog (or samalogue in UK spelling; sometimes sammenlagt in both Norwegian and Danish: "put together", "total sum") is a scoring system in speed skating. It is used in allround tournaments to convert results at various distances into points in o ...

system had been in use then, as it is today (), then Gundersen would have won the additional medals listed within parentheses:

World records

Over the course of his career, Gundersen 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: SpeedSkatingStats.com

Personal records

To put these personal records in perspective, the ''WR'' column lists the official world records on the dates that Gundersen skated his personal records. Gundersen has an Adelskalender score of 203.116 points. His highest ranking on the Adelskalender was a fourth place.

References

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Rudolf Gundersen at SpeedSkatingStats.com

Rudolf Gundersen
from ''Deutsche Eisschnelllauf Gemeinschaft e.V.'' (the German Skating Association)

Historical World Records
from the ''International Skating Union''
National Championships results
from ''Norges Skøyteforbund'' (the Norwegian Skating Association) {{DEFAULTSORT:Gundersen, Rudolf 1879 births 1946 deaths Norwegian male speed skaters World record setters in speed skating