Axel Paulsen
Encyclopedia
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
figure skater
Figure skating
Figure skating is an Olympic sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform spins, jumps, footwork and other intricate and challenging moves on ice skates. Figure skaters compete at various levels from beginner up to the Olympic level , and at local, national, and international competitions...
and speed skater. He is the inventor of the figure skating Axel jump
Axel jump
The Axel is a figure skating jump with a forward take-off. It is named after the Norwegian skater Axel Paulsen, who first performed the jump in 1882. An Axel jump has an extra ½ rotation in the air due to its forward take-off...
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Biography
Paulsen first publicly executed the Axel jumpAxel jump
The Axel is a figure skating jump with a forward take-off. It is named after the Norwegian skater Axel Paulsen, who first performed the jump in 1882. An Axel jump has an extra ½ rotation in the air due to its forward take-off...
in 1882 at the World Championships in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
while wearing speed skates
Speed skating
Speed skating, or speedskating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in traveling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skating...
. At the Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
World Championships Paulsen won both the speed skating and fancy (figure) skating events becoming the World Champion.
In the winter of 1883 Paulsen went to North America to participate in a series of skating events. On February 8, 1883 a race was held at the open air rink in Washington Park, Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. Paulsen defeated 17 picked skaters, the fastest from Norway, Canada, England and the United States and set the following records at the race:
1 mile: 3 minutes, 34 3/5 seconds
5 miles: 19 minutes, 10 seconds
10 miles: 39 minutes, 7 3/5 seconds
Paulsen was a professional skater competing in races and meets that offered the winners prize purses and metals; he was the World Professional Speed Skating Champion from 1882 to 1889. He lost the title on February 1, 1890 to Canadian professional speed skating champion Hugh J. McCormick
Hugh J. McCormick
Hugh J. McCormick was the World Professional Speed Skating Champion from 1890 to 1891.Hugh McCormick was born at McCormick House on Kennebecasis Island, New Brunswick, Canada which is located at the confluence of the St. John River and Kennebecasis River...
at a 3-race meet in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
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