Geir Karlstad

Geir Karlstad

Geir Karlstad
Personal information
Born 7 July 1963
Skedsmo, Akershus, Norway
Sport
Country Norway
Sport Speed skating

Geir Karlstad (born 7 July 1963) is a Norwegian former speed skater.

Biography

Although best at the longest distances (the 5,000 m and the 10,000 m), Geir Karlstad became Junior World Allround Champion in 1982 and, as a senior, won bronze in both the World and European Allround Championships in 1989. Among the dominating speed skaters in the 1980s, Karlstad competed at the 1984 and 1988 Winter Olympics, winning no medals. At the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, he won the gold medal on the 5,000 m and the bronze on the 10,000 m while skating for Lillestrøm SK. He also represented Aktiv SK.

A severe back injury forced him to end his career before the 1994 Winter Olympics of Lillehammer held in his homeland. He had originally intended to end his career at those Winter Olympics. From 1998 to 2002, he was the national team coach of the Norwegian speed skating team. Karlstad received the Oscar Mathisen Award in 1986.

Medals

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

Championships Gold medal Silver medal Bronze medal
Winter Olympics 1992 (5,000 m) 1992 (10,000 m)
World Allround 1989
European Allround 1989
Norwegian Allround 1989
1990
1985
1986
1988
1991
1992
Norwegian Single Distance 1987 (5,000 m)
1987 (10,000 m)
1988 (5,000 m)
1992 (5,000 m)
1990 (1,500 m)
1990 (5,000 m)

Records

World records

Over the course of his career, Karlstad set five world records:

DisciplineTimeDateLocation
10,000 m14.12,1416 February 1986Germany Inzell
10,000 m14.03,9215 February 1987Netherlands Heerenveen
5,000 m6.45,4422 November 1987Netherlands Heerenveen
5,000 m6.43,594 December 1987Canada Calgary
10,000 m13.48,516 December 1987Canada Calgary

Source: SpeedSkatingStats.com[1]

Personal records

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

EventResultDateVenueWR
500 m39.4117 January 1992Heerenveen36.45
1,000 m1:22.525 January 1981Notodden1:13.60
1,500 m1:55.2422 March 1992Calgary1:52.06
3,000 m3:59.7819 March 1987Heerenveen4:03.22
5,000 m6:43.594 December 1987Calgary6:45.44
10,000 m13:48.2919 January 1992Heerenveen13:43.54
Big combination160.18919 January 1992Heerenveen157.396

Karlstad's personal record on the 3,000 m was not a world record because Leo Visser skated 3:59.27 at the same tournament.

Karlstad has an Adelskalender score of 159.596 points. His highest ranking on the Adelskalender was seventh place.

References

  1. "Geir Karlstad". SpeedSkatingStats.com. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
Awards
Preceded by
Netherlands Hein Vergeer
Oscar Mathisen Award
1986
Succeeded by
Soviet Union Nikolay Gulyayev