Pål Sverre Benum (3 August 1935 – 23 September 2021) was a Norwegian long-distance runner. He specialized in the longest track distances, 5000 and

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship-level events. The ...

, eventually competing at the 1964 Olympic Games. He also competed in

cross-country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open cou ...

. On the track he became national champion three times, in addition to nine titles in cross-country. After his active career he became a professor of medicine.

Athletic career

He was born in

Verdal Municipality Verdal is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Innherad Districts of Norway, region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the List of towns and cities in ...

as an older brother of historian Edgeir Benum. He moved to Oslo and represented the club IL i BUL. His personal best times were 8:09.6 in the

3000 metres The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000 m sho ...

(1964), 9:19.2 in the

3000 metre steeplechase The 3000 metres steeplechase or 3000-meter steeplechase (usually Abbreviation, abbreviated as ) is the most common distance for the steeplechase (athletics), steeplechase in track and field. It is an obstacle race over the distance of the 3000 met ...

(1963), 14:06.6 in the 5000 metres (1964) and 29:13.6 in the 10,000 metres (1964). In middle distance races he had 1:54.8 in the

800 metres The 800 metres, or 800 meters (American and British English spelling differences#-re.2C -er, US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of a ...

(1959), 3:47.6 in the

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1500-metre run is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilomet ...

(1959) and 4:13.1 in the

mile run The mile run (1,760 yards, 5,280 Foot (unit), feet, or exactly 1,609.344 metres) is a middle-distance running, middle-distance foot race. The history of the mile run event began in England, where it was used as a distance for gambling ...

(1959). His only international outing came at the

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subseq ...

, where he placed nineteenth in the 10,000 metres. On the track he became Norwegian champion in the 5000 metres in 1962 and 1964. He also won a bronze medal in 1959 and silver in 1961. He won the 10,000 metres in 1963 ahead of reigning champion

Magnar Lundemo Magnar Lundemo (4 March 1938 in Meråker – 7 January 1987 in Meråker) was a Norwegian cross-country skier and track and field athlete. As a skier he participated in two Olympic Games and placed fourth at the 1962 World Championships. In t ...

, and then took a bronze medal in 1964. By 1964/1965, his teammate and competitor Thor Helland had established himself as dominant in the 5000 and 10,000 metres in Norway. Benum also co-held the Norwegian club record in the 4 x 1500 metres relay. With his club IL i BUL he broke

IK Tjalve Idrettsklubben Tjalve is a Norwegian athletics club from Oslo, founded on 27 December 1890. It is named after Þjálfi in Norse mythology. It is one of the most prominent athletics clubs in Norway, and numerous members have represented Norway in ...

's record in September 1958 at

Bislett stadion Bislett Stadium () is a sports stadium in Oslo, Norway. Bislett is Norway's most well known sports arena internationally, with 15 speed skating world records and more than 50 track and field world records having been set here. The original stadi ...

with the time of 15:53.4 minutes. Benum and BUL later smashed their own record, clocking in 15:40.0 in July 1959 at the same track. Tjalve later reclaimed it with the time 15:28.4 in 1965. Benum dominated Norwegian cross-country running in the early 1960s. He won the 3 kilometre cross-country championship in 1959, 1962, 1963 and 1964 and took the silver in 1961. In the now-defunct 8 kilometre event he won Norwegian titles in 1962, 1963 and 1964. He also won the road relay Holmenkollstafetten with IL i BUL. As a teenager, Benum was also a decent speed skater with personal bests of 49.1 in the 500 metres (1954), 2.38.8 in the 1500 metres (1952).

Medical career

Unlike his brother who became a professor of history, Benum studied medicine in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) 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 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

and

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

. He took the doctorate, the dr.med. degree, in 1974 and specialized in

orthopedics Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics (American and British English spelling differences, alternative spelling orthopaedics) is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgic ...

. From 1982 he was a professor of medicine at the St. Olav Hospital, connected to the

Norwegian University of Science and Technology The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU; ) is a public university, public research university in Norway and the largest in terms of enrollment. The university's headquarters is located in Trondheim (city), Trondheim, with region ...

. Here he headed the Orthopedics Department for many years, and for his achievements he was decorated as a Knight, First Class of the

Order of St. Olav The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav (; or ''Sanct Olafs Orden'', the old Norwegian name) is a Norwegian order of chivalry instituted by King Oscar I on 21 August 1847. It is named after King Olav II, known to posterity as St. Olav. Just be ...

in 2006. He was a fellow of the

Norwegian Academy of Technological Sciences The Norwegian Academy of Technological Sciences (, NTVA) is a learned society based in Trondheim, Norway. Founded in 1955, the academy has about 500 members. It is a member of the International Council of Academies of Engineering and Technologica ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Benum, Pal 1935 births 2021 deaths Sportspeople from Verdal Norwegian male long-distance runners Norwegian male steeplechase runners Athletes (track and field) at the 1964 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Norway Norwegian orthopedic surgeons University of Oslo alumni University of Bergen alumni Academic staff of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology Members of the Norwegian Academy of Technological Sciences Athletes from Trøndelag 20th-century Norwegian sportsmen