Birger Wasenius

	Birger Wasenius
Full name	Birger Adolf Wasenius
nation	Finland
birthday	December 7, 1911
place of birth	Helsinki
date of death	January 2, 1940
Career
discipline	Speed skating
Medal table
winter Olympics
All around world championships
All-around European Championships

Birger Adolf Wasenius (born December 7, 1911 in Helsinki ; † January 2, 1940 ) was a Finnish speed skater .

Wasenius advanced to the top of the world in the mid-1930s. At the 1936 Olympic Games in Garmisch-Partenkirchen , he won bronze over 1500 meters and silver over 5000 and 10000 meters behind the dominant speed skater of the 1930s, Ivar Ballangrud .

In 1934, 1936 and 1937 the Finn won the silver medal at the all- around world championships . He was always defeated by a Norwegian; first Bernt Evensen , then Ivar Ballangrud and finally Michael Staksrud . At the 1939 World Championships in Helsinki , Germany, Wasenius finally won the gold medal.

Wasenius won the silver medal once (1933) and the bronze medal twice (1935 and 1937) at the all- around European championships and was subject to the same Norwegian competitors as at the world championships - but in a different order.

Wasenius was the last world champion before World War II . He was killed on an island in Lake Ladoga a year after winning the winter war between Finland and Russia .

Personal bests

route	time	date	place
500 m	43.4 sec	February 5, 1938	Davos
1500 m	2: 18.2 min	January 31, 1937	Davos
3000 m	4: 55.7 min	January 30, 1937	Davos
5000 m	8: 21.3 min	January 31, 1937	Davos
10,000 m	17: 28.2 min	February 14, 1936	Garmisch-Partenkirchen

Web links

Statistics at SpeedSkatingStats
Birger Wasenius in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )

personal data
SURNAME	Wasenius, Birger
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Wasenius, Birger Adolf
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Finnish speed skater
DATE OF BIRTH	December 7, 1911
PLACE OF BIRTH	Helsinki
DATE OF DEATH	January 2, 1940