Valentine Bialas (January 10, 1903 in Boston, Massachusetts – March 9, 1965 in

Utica, New York Utica () is a Administrative divisions of New York, city in the Mohawk Valley and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The List of cities in New York, tenth-most-populous city in New York State, its population was 65,283 ...

) was an American

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 in 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 ...

, in 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 ...

and in the

1932 Winter Olympics The 1932 Winter Olympics, officially known as the III Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Lake Placid 1932, were a winter multi-sport event in the United States, held in Lake Placid, New York, United States. The games opened on February ...

. In 1924 he finished sixth in the 5000 metres event and eighth in the 10000 metres competition. Four years later he finished sixth in the 1500 metres event as well as sixth in the 5000 metres competition, and 17th in the 500 metres competition. He also started in the abandoned 10000 metres event. At the 1932 Olympics, he finished fifth in the 10000 metres competition. Val also won the International Speed Skating title in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

in 1926, and established a world record for two miles at

Lake Placid, New York Lake Placid is a village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,303. The village of Lake Placid is near the center of the town of North Elba, southwest of Plattsburgh. ...

, in 1929 with a time of 5:35.5. He qualified for the 1936 Olympic team as an alternate, but could not participate in those Olympics because he was injured in an auto/train collision which occurred in an icy downpour on the way home from a skating meet. He lost his leg in the collision. Fitted with an artificial leg, he continued to skate for recreation, play successfully in city tennis tournaments, and coach and guide young athletes, including his son John, also a speedskater and tennis player. Early morning skating sessions sometimes included shoveling snow off the frozen Barge Canal for a makeshift rink. He was inducted into th
Speed Skating Hall of Fame
on May 11, 1963. The Val Bialas Ski Center is in

, and is named in his honor.

External links

sports-reference.com

Speed skating 1924+1928+1932
1903 births 1965 deaths American male speed skaters Olympic speed skaters for the United States Speed skaters at the 1924 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 1928 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 1932 Winter Olympics {{US-speed-skating-bio-stub