Sverre Farstad
Encyclopedia
Sverre Farstad was a speed skater representing Sportsklubben Falken, Trondheim, as part of the Falken Trio also including Henry Wahl
and Hjalmar Andersen
. Farstad won one Olympic gold medal and one European Championship in his three-year international career.
He was born in Lademoen
, Trondheim
.
, Farstad was active in workers races, and came second in the Norwegian Workers' Championship on the 5,000 m in 1940. During the war, he trained weightlifting and gymnastics in Trondheim, and returned to international competition by winning bronze at the European Championship
1947, where he won the 1,500 metres, and silver at the World Championship, where he won both 500 and 1,500 m, and was 2.2 seconds from becoming world champion by virtue of winning three distances. Instead, he finished second in the overall standings after finishing 30.9 seconds behind Lassi Parkkinen
on 10,000 metres.
He was awarded Egebergs Ærespris
in 1947, having won two silver medals in Norwegian weightlifting championships, and he also won a bronze in rowing
. Farstad also competed in boxing
, cycling
, sport shooting, swimming
and amateur wrestling
.
at the 1948 Winter Olympics
at St. Moritz
, and was a favourite on the 1,500 m. He won the race with a time of 2:17.6; though Swede Åke Seyffarth
in a later pair was ahead on all three laps before the finish, but Farstad's final lap of 37.6 seconds was unbeatable, and Seyffarth finished 0.5 seconds behind. Farstad became the first person from Trøndelag
to win Olympic gold. He also finished sixth on the 500 metres event
.
Two weeks after the Games, Farstad took part in the European Championships at Hamar, finishing fourth after placing 11th and 12th on the two longest distances, though he won the 1,500 m again. He had a 22-second lead on Reidar Liaklev
after three distances, but failed to hold onto it after Liaklev's race of 17:24.9. At the World Championships in Helsinki two weeks later, however, Farstad fell down to seventh on the 1,500, two seconds behind winner John Werket
, and finished eleventh in the allround standings.
and finished second. However, returning to the canton of Graubünden
where he had already won one Olympic medal, Farstad won the 1949 European Championships. Farstad started by skating the 500 metres in 41.8 seconds, equalling Hans Engnestangen
's world record, and beating his closest competitor by 1.6 seconds. He was beaten by Kornél Pajor
on the 5,000 metres, who set a new world record, but still led by 2.2 points after the first day. By winning the 1,500 metres by 2.5 seconds, in a time one tenth of a second behind the world record, he had taken a lead of 3.03 points, more than a minute, before the final 10,000 metres. Thus, finishing eleventh out of twelve finishers did not matter; he won the championship by nearly a point, bettered the previous world best mark by two points, and set the first official world record for the big combination. The record stood for six years.
Two weeks later, Farstad, who had been taken ill after the European Championship, failed to qualify for the 10,000 metres at the World Championship in Oslo, which were arranged in warm weather. He was seventh after three distances, but his 16th place on the 5,000 meant he was not qualified for the final distance. That was his last international allround championship, but he won the 500 metres in the Norwegian Championship in 1950, as well as winning the 500 metres in national matches against Sweden in 1950 and 1951. This was combined with full-time work as a journalist for Arbeiderbladet, a job he kept until his death in 1978. He was also part-time national coach of the Italian team between 1957 and 1960, coaching Renato De Riva to become the first Italian to qualify for the 10,000 metres in an international championship after World War II.
Note that Farstad was the first world record holder on the big combination since this was the first time that the big combination was an official world record event, as decided by the International Skating Union
.
Remarkably, Farstad's personal record on the big combination (188.958) is the same as his Adelskalender score. This is because at the 1949 European Championships, he skated new personal records on all four big combination distances, an achievement that also made him the first official world record holder on the big combination. His highest ranking on the Adelskalender was a third place.
Henry Wahl
Henry Wahl was a Norwegian speed skater from Odda. He competed at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz. He was Norwegian all-round champion in 1947.-References:...
and Hjalmar Andersen
Hjalmar Andersen
Hjalmar "Hjallis" Johan Andersen is a former speed skater from Norway who won three gold medals at the 1952 Winter Olympic Games of Oslo, Norway. He was the only triple gold medalist at the 1952 Winter Olympics, and as such, became the most successful athlete there.-Short biography:Hjalmar...
. Farstad won one Olympic gold medal and one European Championship in his three-year international career.
He was born in Lademoen
Lademoen
Lademoen is a residential area in Trondheim, Norway about two kilometers east of the city centre located just east of Nedre Elvehavn, west of Leangen, south of Nyhavna and north of Rosenborg....
, Trondheim
Trondheim
Trondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of...
.
Pre St. Moritz
Before World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Farstad was active in workers races, and came second in the Norwegian Workers' Championship on the 5,000 m in 1940. During the war, he trained weightlifting and gymnastics in Trondheim, and returned to international competition by winning bronze at the European Championship
European Speed Skating Championships
The European Speed Skating Championships are a series of speed skating events held annually to determine the best allround speed skater of Europe. The International Skating Union has organised the European Championships for Men since 1893 and the European Championships for Women since 1970. The...
1947, where he won the 1,500 metres, and silver at the World Championship, where he won both 500 and 1,500 m, and was 2.2 seconds from becoming world champion by virtue of winning three distances. Instead, he finished second in the overall standings after finishing 30.9 seconds behind Lassi Parkkinen
Lassi Parkkinen
Lauri Rikhard Parkkinen was a Finnish speed skater.Lassi Parkkinen was born in Varkaus, an industrial town in the southeast of Finland. He made his debut at the World Allround Championships in 1938, finishing ninth...
on 10,000 metres.
He was awarded Egebergs Ærespris
Egebergs Ærespris
The Egebergs Ærespris is a prize awarded to Norwegian athletes who excel in more than one sport. The prize was created by Ferdinand Julian Egeberg, and consists of a bronze statuette modelled by sculptor Magnus Vigrestad.-History:...
in 1947, having won two silver medals in Norwegian weightlifting championships, and he also won a bronze in rowing
Sport rowing
Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...
. Farstad also competed in boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
, cycling
Cycling
Cycling, also called bicycling or biking, is the use of bicycles for transport, recreation, or for sport. Persons engaged in cycling are cyclists or bicyclists...
, sport shooting, swimming
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
and amateur wrestling
Amateur wrestling
Amateur wrestling is the most widespread form of sport wrestling. There are two international wrestling styles performed in the Olympic Games under the supervision of FILA : Greco-Roman and freestyle. Freestyle is possibly derived from the English Lancashire style...
.
1948 St. Moritz
Farstad was selected for the Norwegian teamNorway at the 1948 Winter Olympics
Norway competed at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland.-Medalists:- Alpine skiing:MenMen's combinedThe downhill part of this event was held along with the main medal event of downhill skiing. For atlethes competing in both events, the same time was used...
at the 1948 Winter Olympics
1948 Winter Olympics
The 1948 Winter Olympics, officially known as the V Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event celebrated in 1948 in St. Moritz, Switzerland. The Games were the first to be celebrated after World War II; it had been twelve years since the last Winter Games in 1936...
at St. Moritz
St. Moritz
St. Moritz is a resort town in the Engadine valley in Switzerland. It is a municipality in the district of Maloja in the Swiss canton of Graubünden...
, and was a favourite on the 1,500 m. He won the race with a time of 2:17.6; though Swede Åke Seyffarth
Ake Seyffarth
Åke Seyffarth was a Swedish speed skater who specialised in long distance events. He was born in Stockholm....
in a later pair was ahead on all three laps before the finish, but Farstad's final lap of 37.6 seconds was unbeatable, and Seyffarth finished 0.5 seconds behind. Farstad became the first person from Trøndelag
Trøndelag
Trøndelag is the name of a geographical region in the central part of Norway, consisting of the two counties Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag. The region is, together with Møre og Romsdal, part of a larger...
to win Olympic gold. He also finished sixth on the 500 metres event
Speed skating at the 1948 Winter Olympics - Men's 500 metres
The 500 metres speed skating event was part of the speed skating at the 1948 Winter Olympics programme. The competition was held on Saturday, January 31, 1948.Forty-two speed skaters from 15 nations competed.-Medalists:-Records:...
.
Two weeks after the Games, Farstad took part in the European Championships at Hamar, finishing fourth after placing 11th and 12th on the two longest distances, though he won the 1,500 m again. He had a 22-second lead on Reidar Liaklev
Reidar Liaklev
Reidar Liaklev was a speed skater from Norway who won the gold medal at the 1948 Winter Olympics of St. Moritz...
after three distances, but failed to hold onto it after Liaklev's race of 17:24.9. At the World Championships in Helsinki two weeks later, however, Farstad fell down to seventh on the 1,500, two seconds behind winner John Werket
John Werket
John "Johnny" Roland Werket was an American speed skater who competed in the 1948 Winter Olympics, in the 1952 Winter Olympics, and in the 1956 Winter Olympics....
, and finished eleventh in the allround standings.
Post St. Moritz
Farstad never became Norwegian Champion; in 1949 he was beaten by Reidar LiaklevReidar Liaklev
Reidar Liaklev was a speed skater from Norway who won the gold medal at the 1948 Winter Olympics of St. Moritz...
and finished second. However, returning to the canton of Graubünden
Graubünden
Graubünden or Grisons is the largest and easternmost canton of Switzerland. The canton shares borders with the cantons of Ticino, Uri, Glarus and St. Gallen and international borders with Italy, Austria and Liechtenstein...
where he had already won one Olympic medal, Farstad won the 1949 European Championships. Farstad started by skating the 500 metres in 41.8 seconds, equalling Hans Engnestangen
Hans Engnestangen
Hans Engnestangen was a Norwegian speed skater and world champion. He held the world records on both the 500 and 1500 meter distance for more than ten years....
's world record, and beating his closest competitor by 1.6 seconds. He was beaten by Kornél Pajor
Kornél Pajor
Kornél Pajor is a former speed skating World Champion from Hungary. He was born in Budapest.In early 1943, Pajor was a young and promising skater of 19 years old, but because World War II was in progress there were not many competitions. In Klagenfurt, Austria, at one of the few skating...
on the 5,000 metres, who set a new world record, but still led by 2.2 points after the first day. By winning the 1,500 metres by 2.5 seconds, in a time one tenth of a second behind the world record, he had taken a lead of 3.03 points, more than a minute, before the final 10,000 metres. Thus, finishing eleventh out of twelve finishers did not matter; he won the championship by nearly a point, bettered the previous world best mark by two points, and set the first official world record for the big combination. The record stood for six years.
Two weeks later, Farstad, who had been taken ill after the European Championship, failed to qualify for the 10,000 metres at the World Championship in Oslo, which were arranged in warm weather. He was seventh after three distances, but his 16th place on the 5,000 meant he was not qualified for the final distance. That was his last international allround championship, but he won the 500 metres in the Norwegian Championship in 1950, as well as winning the 500 metres in national matches against Sweden in 1950 and 1951. This was combined with full-time work as a journalist for Arbeiderbladet, a job he kept until his death in 1978. He was also part-time national coach of the Italian team between 1957 and 1960, coaching Renato De Riva to become the first Italian to qualify for the 10,000 metres in an international championship after World War II.
Medals
An overview of medals won by Farstad at important championships he participated in, listing the years in which he won each:| Championships | Gold medal | Silver medal | Bronze medal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winter Olympics Speed skating at the Winter Olympics Speed skating has been featured as a sport in the Winter Olympics since the first winter games in 1924. Women's events were added to the Olympic program for the first time in 1960.-History:... |
1948 (1,500 m) | – | – |
| World Allround World Allround Speed Skating Championships The World Allround Speed Skating Championships are a series of speed skating events held annually to determine the best allround speed skater of the world... |
– | 1947 | – |
| European Allround European Speed Skating Championships The European Speed Skating Championships are a series of speed skating events held annually to determine the best allround speed skater of Europe. The International Skating Union has organised the European Championships for Men since 1893 and the European Championships for Women since 1970. The... |
1949 | – | 1947 |
| Norwegian Allround | – | 1949 | – |
World records
Over the course of his career, Farstad skated one world record:| Event | Result | Date | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Big combination Samalog Samalog is a scoring system in speed skating. It is used in allround tournaments to convert results at various distances into points in order to determine an overall champion... |
188.958 | 6 February 1949 | Davos Eisstadion Davos Vaillant Arena is an arena in Davos, Switzerland. It is primarily used for ice hockey and is the home arena of HC Davos. It holds 7,080 people, of which 3,280 are seated... |
Note that Farstad was the first world record holder on the big combination since this was the first time that the big combination was an official world record event, as decided by the International Skating Union
International Skating Union
The International Skating Union is the international governing body for competitive ice skating disciplines, including figure skating, synchronized skating, speed skating, and short track speed skating. It was founded in Scheveningen, Netherlands in 1892, making it one of the oldest international...
.
Personal records
To put these personal records in perspective, the WR column lists the official world records on the dates that Farstad skated his personal records.| Event | Result | Date | Venue | WR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 500 m | 41.8 | 5 February 1949 | Davos Eisstadion Davos Vaillant Arena is an arena in Davos, Switzerland. It is primarily used for ice hockey and is the home arena of HC Davos. It holds 7,080 people, of which 3,280 are seated... |
41.8 |
| 1,000 m | 1:29.7 | 18 January 1950 | Gjøvik Gjøvik is a town and a municipality in Oppland county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Gjøvik.In 1861, the village of Gjøvik in the municipality of Vardal was granted town status and was separated from Vardal to form a separate municipality... |
1:28.4 |
| 1,500 m | 2:13.9 | 6 February 1949 | Davos Eisstadion Davos Vaillant Arena is an arena in Davos, Switzerland. It is primarily used for ice hockey and is the home arena of HC Davos. It holds 7,080 people, of which 3,280 are seated... |
2:13.8 |
| 3,000 m | 4:59.2 | 12 February 1949 | Trondheim Trondheim Trondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of... |
4:45.7 |
| 5,000 m | 8:15.4 | 5 February 1949 | Davos Eisstadion Davos Vaillant Arena is an arena in Davos, Switzerland. It is primarily used for ice hockey and is the home arena of HC Davos. It holds 7,080 people, of which 3,280 are seated... |
8:13.7 |
| 10,000 m | 17:39.7 | 6 February 1949 | Davos Eisstadion Davos Vaillant Arena is an arena in Davos, Switzerland. It is primarily used for ice hockey and is the home arena of HC Davos. It holds 7,080 people, of which 3,280 are seated... |
17:01.5 |
| Big combination Samalog Samalog is a scoring system in speed skating. It is used in allround tournaments to convert results at various distances into points in order to determine an overall champion... |
188.958 | 6 February 1949 | Davos Eisstadion Davos Vaillant Arena is an arena in Davos, Switzerland. It is primarily used for ice hockey and is the home arena of HC Davos. It holds 7,080 people, of which 3,280 are seated... |
none |
Remarkably, Farstad's personal record on the big combination (188.958) is the same as his Adelskalender score. This is because at the 1949 European Championships, he skated new personal records on all four big combination distances, an achievement that also made him the first official world record holder on the big combination. His highest ranking on the Adelskalender was a third place.