Ivar Ballangrud

Ivar Ballangrud

Ballangrud at his skating store in 1949
Personal information
Born (1904-03-07)7 March 1904
Lunner, Norway
Died 1 June 1969(1969-06-01) (aged 65)
Trondheim, Norway
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Sport
Country Norway
Sport Speed skating
Club Oslo SK
Drammens SK
Retired 1939
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s) 500 m – 42.7 (1939)
1500 m – 2:14.0 (1939)
5000 m – 8:17.2 (1936)
10000 m – 17:14.4 (1938)[1]

Ivar Eugen Ballangrud (née Eriksen, 7 March 1904 – 1 June 1969) was a Norwegian speed skater, a four-time Olympic champion in speed skating. As the only triple gold medalist at the 1936 Winter Olympics, Ballangrud was the most successful athlete there.

Biography

Ivar Ballangrud was one of the best speed skaters in the world for a period of 15 years, from 1924 to 1939. Coming from the small place Lunner on Hadeland, he was a member of the famous "Hadeland Trio", consisting of himself, Michael Staksrud and Hans Engnestangen. He represented the club Trondhjems Skøiteklub.[2]

Ballangrud was four times World Allround Champion, four times European Allround Champion,[3] five times Norwegian Allround Champion,[4] and four times Olympic Champion.[1] He won three Olympic titles at the 1936 Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen: 500 m (quite surprisingly), 5000 m, and 10000 m. On the 1500 m during those Winter Olympics, he won silver – his teammate Charles Mathiesen being the only one to keep him from winning gold in all four speed skating events. Ballangrud had won his first Olympic gold 8 years earlier on the 5000 m at the 1928 Winter Olympics. In addition, he won a bronze medal (1500 m) in 1928 and a silver medal (10000 m) at the 1932 Winter Olympics. He would have been the favourite for winning more Olympic gold in 1932 if the races had been held in the normal European way, not the American packstyle way where all competitors are on the ice at the same time.

He made his international debut as a 19-year-old rising star in 1924, although it was too late to compete in the Winter Olympics that year. However, he was paired with Julius Skutnabb – who had just become the Olympic 10000 m Champion – in his first World Championships in Helsinki in 1924, and beat the champion on his homeground. In 1930, he dethroned Oscar Mathisen from the top of the Adelskalender and he would remain the number one on the Adelskalender for seven years.

In addition to his five official world records, Ballangrud skated 16:46.4 in a 10000 m packstyle test race before the Olympic Games in 1932. This time was 31 seconds below the then-current world record and it would stand unbeaten as the fastest 10000 m time for twenty years, until Hjalmar Andersen set his famous world record of 16:32.6.

Ballangrud was born as Ivar Eriksen. His mother changed his last name when she remarried following her husband's death. In retirement Ballangrud worked at his sporting good store in Drammen, and later in Trondheim. A statue in his honor was raised in his native Jevnaker.[1]

Records

World records

Over the course of his career, Ballangrud skated five world records:

DistanceTimeDateLocation
5000 m8:24.219 January 1929 Davos
5000 m8:21.611 January 1930 Davos
3000 m4:49.629 January 1935 Davos
5000 m8:17.218 January 1936 Oslo
10000 m17:14.46 February 1938 Davos

Source: SpeedSkatingStats.com[3]

Personal records

To put these personal records in perspective, the Notes column lists the official world records on the dates that Ballangrud skated his personal records.

Personal records
Men's speed skating
Event Result Date Location Notes
500 m 42.7 31 January 1939 St. Moritz 41.8
1000 m 1:29.3 24 February 1937 Oslo 1:28.4
1500 m 2:14.0 29 January 1939 Davos 2:14.9
3000 m 4:49.6 29 January 1935 Davos 4:59.1
5000 m 8:17.2 18 January 1936 Oslo 8:18.9
10000 m 17:14.4 6 February 1938 Davos 17:17.4

Source: EvertStenlund.se[5]

Note that Ballangrud's personal record on the 1500 m was not a world record because Hans Engnestangen skated 2:13.8 at the same tournament.

Ballangrud has an Adelskalender score of 188.806 points. He was number one on the Adelskalender for a total of 3,675 days, divided over two periods between 1930 and 1942.[6][7]

Medals

An overview of medals won by Ballangrud at important championships he participated in, listing the years in which he won each:

Championships Gold medal Silver medal Bronze medal
Winter Olympics 1928 (5000 m)
1936 (500 m)
1936 (5000 m)
1936 (10000 m)
1932 (10000 m)
1936 (1500 m)
1928 (1500 m)
World Allround 1926
1932
1936
1938
1928
1929
1930
1935
1931
1933
1934
European Allround 1929
1930
1933
1936
1927
1938
Norwegian Allround 1926
1929
1930
1936
1939
1932
1935

Source: SpeedSkatingStats.com[3] & Skoyteforbundet.no[4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Ivar Ballangrud". sports-reference.com. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
  2. Bryhn, Rolf (2007). "Trondhjems Skøiteklub". In Henriksen, Petter. Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 5 March 2009.
  3. 1 2 3 "Ivar Ballangrud". SpeedSkatingStats.com. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  4. 1 2 "National Championships results Norges Skøyteforbund (Norwegian Skating Association)" (PDF). Retrieved 6 March 2012.
  5. "Ivar Ballangrud, 7 March 1904". evertstenlund.se. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
  6. "Evolution of Adelskalendern 1 July 1929 – 1 July 1939". evertstenlund.se. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
  7. "Evolution of Adelskalendern 1 July 1939 – 1 July 1949". evertstenlund.se. Retrieved 6 March 2012.

Further reading

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ivar Ballangrud.
Records
Preceded by
Himself with Finland Clas Thunberg
Athlete with the most medals at Winter Olympics
2 February 1964 – 5 February 1964
With: Clas Thunberg
Sixten Jernberg
Succeeded by
Sweden Sixten Jernberg
Preceded by
Finland Clas Thunberg
Athlete with the most medals at Winter Olympics
14 February 1936 – 2 February 1964
With: Clas Thunberg
Succeeded by
Himself with Finland Clas Thunberg and Sweden Sixten Jernberg
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