Julius Skutnabb

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Men’s Speed skating
Olympic medal record
Silver	1924 Chamonix	5,000 m
Gold	1924 Chamonix	10,000 m
Bronze	1924 Chamonix	Allround
Silver	1928 St. Moritz	5,000 m

Julius Ferninand Skutnabb (born 12 June 1889 in Helsinki – died 26 February 1965 in Helsinki) was a Finnish speed skater.

Julius Skutnabb, a fireman, made his international debut at the World Allround Championships in 1914, but his promising career on an international level was promptly interrupted by World War I. He kept skating on a national level, though, becoming Finnish Allround Champion in 1914, 1916, and 1917. International competition resumed in 1922 and Skutnabb, already 32 years old, finished 5th at the World Allround Championships that year. After finishing 6th in those championships the following year, his best year came in 1924.

At the 1924 Winter Olympics in Chamonix, he first won silver on the 5,000 m behind compatriot Clas Thunberg and the next day, he became Olympic Champion on the 10,000 m, while Thunberg took silver. Since these were the first Winter Olympics to be held, his 10,000 m time automatically was the Olympic record. These performances, combined with his 500 m and 1,500 m times during those Olympics, were good enough for a third place in the allround competition (which was also an Olympic speed skating event – for the first and only time – that year), and Skutnabb returned home with 3 medals – one of each colour.

Later that same year, Skutnabb won bronze at the 1924 World Allround Championships and in 1926, he became European Allround Champion. Skutnabb participated in the Winter Olympics again in 1928 and he managed to win his second 5,000 m Olympic silver medal (this time behind Ivar Ballangrud) at the age of 38 years and 246 days.

[edit] Medals

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

Championships	Gold medal	Silver medal	Bronze medal
Winter Olympics	1924 (10,000 m)	1924 (5,000 m) 1928 (5,000 m)	1924 (Allround)
World Allround			1924
European Allround	1926
Finnish Allround	1914 1916 1917