The Maier Arena Tønsberg (formerly the Tønsberg Stadion and Tønsberg Kunstisbane) is a stadium and artificial ice skating rink in Tønsberg, used for

long-track speed skating 　 Long-track speed skating, usually simply referred to as speed skating, is the Olympic discipline of speed skating where competitors are timed while crossing a set distance. It is also a sport for leisure. Sports such as ice skating marathon, ...

. The track was previously also used for athletics. It is the home track for the speed skating group of Tønsberg's Gymnastics Association and the rink is located 57 meters above sea level.

History

The arena opened on 27 January 1924 for speed skating. Tønsberg Stadion (as it was known at the time) hosted

motorcycle speedway Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four clockwise, anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that ...

, when it held the finals of the 1950 and 1957

Norwegian Individual Speedway Championship The Individual Speedway Norwegian Championship is an annual speedway event held each year organised by the Norges Motorsportforbund (NMF). The first championship was held in 1938 in Trondheim and saw Ragnar C. Erichsen as winner. History ...

. The most important event to be held at the stadium was the 1961

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 wer ...

. In 1996, the natural ice rink was converted into an artificial rink. In 2002, the rink organised the Norwegian sprint championship. In 2012, the rink organised the Norwegian all-round championship.

In 2015, the stadium was renamed, taking the name of Tønsberg's Gymnastics Association's Olympic champion

Fred Anton Maier __NOTOC__ Fred Anton Maier (15 December 1938 – 9 June 2015) was a speed skater from Norway. He was among the dominating skaters throughout the 1960s, specialising in the longer distances. Maier won four Olympic medals: silver on the 10,000&nb ...

, who died later that year. A statue of Maier was erected at the stadium's south entrance.

Major Championships

*1926 - National Championships NK all-round men *1938 - National Championships NK all-round women *1949 - National Championships NK all-round men *1961 - World Allround Women's World Championships *1964 - National Championships NK all-round men *1972 - National Championships all-round men

References

{{Motorcycle speedway tracks Speed skating in Norway Speed skating venues Speedway venues in Norway Sports venues completed in 1924 1924 establishments in Norway Tønsberg Buildings and structures in Vestfold