Ivar Ballangrud

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Medal record
Ivar Ballangrud after his 5,000 m victory in St. Moritz on 13 February 1928
Olympic Games
Competitor for Norway
Men’s Speed skating
Bronze	1928 St. Moritz	1,500 m
Gold	1928 St. Moritz	5,000 m
Silver	1932 Lake Placid	10,000 m
Gold	1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen	500 m
Silver	1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen	1,500 m
Gold	1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen	5,000 m
Gold	1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen	10,000 m

Ivar Ballangrud (born 7 March 1904 in Lunner, Norway – died 1 June 1969) was a Norwegian speed skater.

1 Biography
2 Medals
3 World records
4 Personal records
5 References
6 External links

[edit] 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.

Ballangrud was four times World Allround Champion, four times European Allround Champion, five times Norwegian Allround Champion, and four times Olympic Champion. He won three Olympic titles at the 1936 Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen: 500 m (quite surprisingly), 5,000 m, and 10,000 m. On the 1,500 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 5,000 m at the 1928 Winter Olympics. In addition, he won a bronze medal (1,500 m) in 1928 and a silver medal (10,000 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 coming star in 1924, although too late to compete in the Winter Olympics that year. However, he was paired with the Julius Skutnabb – who had just become the Olympic 10,000 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 10,000 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 10,000 m time for twenty years, until Hjalmar Andersen set his famous world record of 16:32.6.

[edit] 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 (5,000 m) 1936 (500 m) 1936 (5,000 m) 1936 (10,000 m)	1932 (10,000 m) 1936 (1,500 m)	1928 (1,500 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	–

[edit] World records

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

Event	Result	Date	Venue
5,000 m	8:24.2	19 January 1929	Davos
5,000 m	8:21.6	11 January 1930	Davos
3,000 m	4:49.6	29 January 1935	Davos
5,000 m	8:17.2	18 January 1936	Oslo
10,000 m	17:14.4	6 February 1938	Davos

[edit] Personal records

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

Event	Result	Date	Venue	WR
500 m	42.7	31 January 1939	St. Moritz	41.8
1,000 m	1:29.3	24 February 1937	Oslo	1:28.4
1,500 m	2:14.0	29 January 1939	Davos	2:14.9
3,000 m	4:49.6	29 January 1935	Davos	4:59.1
5,000 m	8:17.2	18 January 1936	Oslo	8:18.9
10,000 m	17:14.4	6 February 1938	Davos	17:17.4

Note that Ballangrud's personal record on the 1,500 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.

[edit] References

Eng, Trond. All Time International Championships, Complete Results: 1889 - 2002. Askim, Norway: WSSSA-Skøytenytt, 2002.
Eng, Trond; Gjerde, Arild and Teigen, Magne. Norsk Skøytestatistikk Gjennom Tidene, Menn/Kvinner, 1999 (6. utgave). Askim/Skedsmokorset/Veggli, Norway: WSSSA-Skøytenytt, 1999.
Eng, Trond; Gjerde, Arild; Teigen, Magne and Teigen, Thorleiv. Norsk Skøytestatistikk Gjennom Tidene, Menn/Kvinner, 2004 (7. utgave). Askim/Skedsmokorset/Veggli/Hokksund, Norway: WSSSA-Skøytenytt, 2004.
Eng, Trond and Teigen, Magne. Komplette Resultater fra offisielle Norske Mesterskap på skøyter, 1894 - 2005. Askim/Veggli, Norway: WSSSA-Skøytenytt, 2005.
Teigen, Magne. Komplette Resultater Norske Mesterskap På Skøyter, 1887 - 1989: Menn/Kvinner, Senior/Junior. Veggli, Norway: WSSSA-Skøytenytt, 1989.
Teigen, Magne. Komplette Resultater Internasjonale Mesterskap 1889 - 1989: Menn/Kvinner, Senior/Junior, allround/sprint. Veggli, Norway: WSSSA-Skøytenytt, 1989.