Nordic World Ski Championships 1950

Nordic World Ski Championships 1950
winner
Cross-country skiing 18 km	Karl-Erik Åström
Cross-country skiing 50 km	Gunnar Eriksson
4 × 10 km cross-country relay	Sweden
Ski jumping normal hill	Hans Bjørnstad
Nordic combination	Heikki Hasu
Competitions
Venues	Lake Placid / Rumford, Maine
Individual competitions	4th
Team competitions	1
← St. Moritz 1948	Oslo 1952 →

The 18th Nordic World Ski Championships took place from February 1 to 6, 1950 in Lake Placid ( New York State ) and Rumford ( Maine State ) in the USA . The entire event was originally planned for Lake Placid. But because of the lack of snow, the cross-country skiing competitions were held in Rumford, about 450 km away.

Thaw, lack of snow, relocation to Rumford

On January 26th, the venue reported a thaw, it was 10 degrees plus, the ski jump was closed. The snow literally melted away, at short notice there was a cancellation in the room, but several officials of the organizers drove to Rumford on January 28th, where there was 30 cm of snow; an alternative was Andover, also in the state of Maine, but both the accommodation and the premises in Rumford were more suitable. On January 30th the move to Rumford was finally decided.
Since it was still snowing in Lake Placid and the snowfall had stopped on Tuesday afternoon (January 31), the 18 km slope was then (again) inspected by members of the FIS committee cm of fresh snow as not passable, which is why the (final) march order to Rumford was issued.

opening

The opening was made by FIS President Nikolai Ramm Østgaard in front of the school in Lake Placid. The Northern Europeans wanted to postpone cross-country skiing as long as possible to get used to the conditions, while the Americans tried to start the competitions as soon as possible.

Scandinavian dominance

At these world championships, too, there was again the dominance of athletes from Scandinavia , which had lasted for decades . All medals went to Swedes , Norwegians and Finns . A single placement of a non-Scandinavian among the first six in the individual disciplines was achieved by the American Arnt Devlin in ski jumping. It should also be mentioned that at that time the number of starters per nation was not so limited (in later years it was basically only four, before the "defending champion regulation" took effect for the first time in 1982, giving a "qualified" possibility of five starters was allowed), whereby the Scandinavian countries provided the majority of the starters at the Nordic World Championships.

Germany and Japan were missing

At a meeting of the FIS committee on site, the question of the resumption of Germany and Japan was postponed to the 1951 Congress in Venice , so that German and Japanese athletes were still excluded from participation.
Only five of the 12 permanent members were present, which meant that not all issues could be addressed. An agreement with regard to Germany could not be reached because some members were of the opinion that the now West German federal state could not easily be put on an equal footing with other state structures. The proponents, however, said that the existing state has its own parliament that can legislate.

The Swiss team

Most of the members of the Swiss team were in the USA for the first time. The team did not have a competition diet, they particularly enjoyed the American breakfast (ham, eggs, fruit juices, cornflakes, bread, milk, coffee) from the food served in the hotel. They had to shell out their own journey to New York, the onward journey to Lake Placid was contested by the US federation, and here they had to pay for the hotel bill themselves until the start of the competition. The board price in the hotel called «St. Moritz », the third largest establishment in Lake Placid, was modest by US standards at five dollars, but the equivalent of 22 CHF.
“Sport-Zürich” drew a summary on page 2 of issue no. 17 of February 8, 1950 under the title “Swiss World Ski Championships balance so far unsatisfactory”, outlining the overall picture (including the following alpine competitions) was, all with the note that it was a preliminary balance sheet, one would still have to wait for the return of the team and supervisors and their analyzes. The mood during the training sessions was not very good, and there were also questions about the selection process (although other nations such as Sweden and Norway were also affected). Ultimately, instead of a fifth cross-country skier ( Franz Regli ), the alpine runner Olivia Ausoni was considered. The fact that the team then also had to make an emergency landing in Washington was not necessarily a failure , but it was also not a good start. It got worse because of the local separation of the competitions, especially from the SSV athletes it is known that they cannot easily digest such operational disturbances. The change in the betting program is also likely to have affected the solid structure of the team, which was clearly reflected in the relatively poor performance of the two combiners in the jump run. The result (12th place in Supersaxo with 31st place and 15th place Stump with 34 loss points on winner Slåttvik) have already decided on the further ranking. It was to be expected (also with the additional burden of changing location and program) that both runners would get under the wheels in the 18 km in the grueling wrestling against the Scandinavian running machines. It was also catastrophic that the 50 km run was scheduled only one day after the relay, which is why forfait had to be given for the relay . Bricker and Allenbach rested on Sunday (February 4th), Supersaxo and Stump had returned to Lake Placid for special jumping. The result in jumping was not overly satisfactory, there were quite large differences in distance. It was only possible to agree that Fritz Tschannen had been ailing for a few days and that Willy Klopfenstein had too few training opportunities to follow up on his previous year's form. Once again it was shown in the USA that the Swiss are inferior to the northerners by classes despite occasional individual successes, but this should not prevent the SSV from taking care of cross-country skiing and ski jumping as carefully as the alpine disciplines in the future.
A more detailed analysis, prepared by Dölf Freiburghaus, to be read under the title “Why was there a great performance by the Swiss in the USA” in “Sport Zurich” No. 20 from February 15, 1950, page 2, column 3, emphasizes that the athletes fought and gave what they could, but be it - like this time, as a fight for the top and connection between Sweden on the one hand and Finland vs. Norway, on the other hand, has found it difficult to classify within the Nordic countries. The climatic conditions in Rumford would have pleased the northerners better. In addition, the Swiss had trained in mountain air, so it was difficult to switch to heavy, humid lowland air - and during training there were irregular snow conditions, while in Scandinavia the favorable nature of the terrain allows for uninterrupted training even with a thin layer of snow; a training break of only three days could throw a top runner out of rhythm. In addition, active racing would mean a piece of their lives for the northerners, they would take part or all of their work during the last preparatory phase and the main competition time, which is not so difficult, since most employers and the people of the cause of racing are great Understanding. The fact that in Sweden an estimated 2 million people live in more or less snow-sure terrain, in Switzerland there are only 120,000, means a difference in quantity. In the mountain villages, the SSV had to look out for young people for cross-country skiing among nature-loving farmer's sons, train them technically, "plan" their muscles and get their heart and lungs used to speed.

Rumford

According to the description taken over from “United Press” by “Sport-Zurich” (title “Rumford - new venue for the cross-country world championships” in column 2, in issue no. 15 of February 3, 1950, page 2), Rumford was named Paper industry town in the state of Maine, which forms the northeastern corner of the United States, and which is located in an area that travelers from Europe call little Norway . The Scandinavian "snow scouts" who came here in search of the coveted snow had compared it to a provincial town near Oslo.
It was also stated: The 18 km cross-country ski run is at an altitude of 150 to 450 m, Rumford has 12,000 inhabitants and has the largest paper mill in the world, to which the majority of the population owes their work and bread. The town is located on the banks of the Androscoggin River , is surrounded by wooded hills of the White Mountains range, in winter usually represents a white island in the middle of an otherwise very snow-poor area and has hosted the East American ski championships several times (there is a 55 m Ski jump and a slalom slope). The FIS decision had the city in great excitement. The rescheduling wasn't child's play for the press representatives either. A dozen press people from all over the world had made themselves comfortable in Lake Placid, and around three-quarters of them received orders from their newspapers and agencies to follow the cross-country skiers. It was relatively easier for the competitors and officials because they were given autocars. As private individuals, the press had to make sure to get to Rumford themselves. However, since there was no transport connection (no bus, train or plane), they had to cope with the total of 600 km long journey by returning to New York for the time being to start there . The Western Union Telegraph Agency, which sent the press telegrams, had set up a large new office in Lake Placid, but much of the work was now in vain - they were faced with the task of establishing a branch in Rumford . Personnel and material were brought there from Boston, and the task was to set up "sufficient connection options" by the first competition on Friday, February 3rd. Because the special jumping in Lake Placid and the relay in Rumford were held on February 5th, the situation for the media people was particularly precarious. Because jumping obviously had priority, the relay competition was rather closed to the public .

Margin notes

• On Friday, January 20, both the 17-man Finnish and the 22-man Swedish team arrived in New York , from which the cross-country skiers went to Lake Placid and the jumpers to a ski jumping event in Salisbury .
• There weren't too many athletes at the opening in Lake Placid because most of them had already left for Rumford.
• The governor of Maine supported the world championships and had the racing office set up in a savings bank. 60 cross-country skiers from 6 nations, plus a staff of reporters and photographers, had arrived in the small town of Rumford, which pleased the merchants there, while those in Lake Placid were disappointed and hoped that the competitions would be postponed
• For the first time, each nation could field max. 8 participants per event. However, as there was no separate Nordic Combined 18 km event, a nation could field 16 competitors in the 18 km.
• For the first time, the Nordic Combined event began with ski jumping and finished with the 18 km race.

More balance sheets

In a résumé in column 4 under the title “The world champion nobody knew”, “Sport Zürich” reported in issue no. 17 of February 8, 1950, page 2, that the 18-km run was the big hit were who triumphed - No. 66 to 50; Fourth, Kiuru was 15 - and who knows what would have happened if he had a higher number. Norway's surprise man Nyås (34 years old!) Was 59, the fifth Lonkila was number 54. The Mora trio N. Karlsson, Törnqvist and G. Eriksson had waxed wrong. Regarding the gold medal winner, 25-year-old Åström, it is noted that nobody should be embarrassed if he has not known him, because his name has hardly been mentioned in connection with international events. He was considered a future runner and had already been taken as a reserve runner at the 1948 Olympics. He probably wouldn't have been taken at all this time, but Swedes living in the USA would have held a collection so that Svenska Skidförbundet could muster two more runners than intended. The 18 km were one of the last chances for a victory for many great runners, but it was won by this young competitor, who had been junior champion but, like Martin Lundström in 1948, did not even win the Swedish championship.

epilogue

On February 10th and 11th, New York - La Guardia Airport was in full swing as Swedes, Finns and Norwegians said goodbye to their American friends and started their journey home by air. Gunnar Eriksson was carrying nylon stockings and 50 pounds of coffee.

Cross-country men

• Detailed results

18 km

space	athlete	time
1	Karl-Erik Åström	1:06:16 h
2	Enar Josefsson	1:06:28 h
3	Arnljot Nyås	1:07:07 h
4th	August Kiuru	1:07:08 h
5	Paavo Lonkila	1:07:15 h
6th	Viljo Vellonen	1:07:32 h
7th	Harald Maartmann	1:07:35 h
8th	Martin Lundström	1:07:45 h
9	Nils Täpp	1: 08.37 h
10	Heikki Hasu	1: 08.34 h
34	Karl Bricker	1:13:02 h
37	Alfons Supersaxo	1:14:29 h
42	Theo Allenbach	1:16:22 h
62	Karl Martitsch	1:29:32 h
DNF	Niklaus Stump	-

World champion 1948 : Martin Lundström 

Date: February 3, 1950 Start: 10:00 a.m. CET

Participants: 68 (other information 62) skiers, 24 of them from the combination

Further placed: 13th place Nils Karlsson (SWE) 1:08:35; 25th place Sven-Olof Israelsson (SWE) 1:10:00; 28th place Bénoît Carrara (FRA) 1:10:45; Rank 38 Tone Razinger (YUG) 1:15:07; 40th place René Mandrillon (FRA) 1:15:35; Rank 41 Georges Forestier (FRA) 1:16:13; 1:16:40; Rank 44 Marius Mora (FRA) 1: 16.57

Weather: Before the race, a fresh, cold wind had thrown up whole clouds of snow, so the track had to be renewed, and William Halsey, the race boss, sent a track team on the journey 45 minutes before the start. The competition started with an icy north wind, which in places turned into a storm.

Route: The route had steep gradients with a height difference of 250 meters. The runners could be followed visually for around 400 meters from the starting point, then they disappeared in a bend.

Course of the race: Eero Rautiola (FIN) was already number two, followed by another Finn and the Swede Arthur Herrdin , then it was the turn of the first contender for Nordic combined, Simon Slåttvik . The first starter in Switzerland was Niklaus Stump with No. 20 (the others had the numbers 32 Bricker, 35 Altenbach and 40 Supersaxo). One behind the other came Nils Karlsson and defending champion Martin Lundström . A fight had developed on the route, but it was only contested by the northerners. The other representatives did not come.

Bricker held up quite well, but he had to leave the honor of being the best Central European to the Frenchman Bénoît Carrara .

Karl-Erik Åström's victory came as a surprise, but he said afterwards that he had known from the start that he would win, that he enjoyed the track and that he felt in great shape. The Swedish coach, Gösta Öllander , is said to have commented on this, because Åström is in the best of physical shape in the “Sverige team”. Association President Björn Kjellström added that Åström had been set up to complete the team; he originally did not want to accept his nomination and only came to the USA after using all the persuasion skills.

50 km

space	athlete	time
1	Gunnar Eriksson	2:59:05 h
2	Enar Josefsson	3:00:01 h
3	Nils Karlsson	3:00:10 h
4th	Törnkvist is different	3:00:55 h
5	Harald Maartmann	3:01:49 h
6th	Pekka vannins	3:02:15 h
7th	Magnar Estenstad	3:04:19 h
8th	Pekka Kuvaja	3:06:20 h
9	Martin Lundström	3:06:30 h
10	Martin Karlsson	3:06:53 h
20th	Theo Allenbach	3:25:41 h
DNF	Karl Bricker	-

World champion 1948 : Nils Karlsson 

Date: February 6, 1950

Gold Gunnar Eriksson 2:59:05 h (41:35; 1:28:28; 2:12:28)
Silver Enar Josefsson 3:00:01 h (41:36; 1:28:40; 2:13: 18)
Bronze Nils Karlsson 3:00:10 h (41:48; 1:28:54; 2:13:02)
4. Anders Törnkvist 3:00:55 h (41:31; 1:28:25; 2nd : 12: 90)
5. Harald Mårtmann 3:01:49 h (40:56; 1:27:25; 2:11:30)
6. Pekka Vanninen 3:02:15 h (42:59; 1:29 : 22; 2:14:28)
Further placements:
7th Magnar Estenstad (NOR) 3:04:19 h (40:38; 1:27:43; 2:12:29)
8th Pekka Kuvaja (FIN) 3 : 06:20 h (42:36; 1:30:35; 2:16:59)
9. Martin Lundström (SWE) 3:06:30 (42:10; 1:30:35; 2:16:40 )
10. Martin Karlsson (SWE) 3:06:53 (41:44; 1:30:29; 2:15:50)
11. ex aequo
August Kiuru (FIN) & Edvin Landsem (NOR) 3: 07.31 (41 : 33; 1:29:07; 2:15:57 or 42:06; 1:30:43; 2:17:06)
Other important places or best in their countries (ranks 13 to 18 were each ranked second Sweden, Norwegians and Finns occupied): 19th Tone Rasinger (YUG) 3:24:53 (45:06; 1:33:23; 2:28:12)
20th Theo Allenbach (SUI) 3:25:41 ( 43:45; 1:34:51; 2:26:04)
22. Olari Alakulppi (USA) 3:34:56 (46 : 58; 1:41:18; 2:35:23)
(times after 10, 25 and 35 km in brackets)
26 runners classified - retired: Karl Bricker (SUI) after 10 km; further u. a. Ottmar Gjermundshaug (NOR)

Participants: 33 started; 26 rated;

Course:
The start of the race was 2.5 km from Rumford city center, the track was 25 km and had to be run twice. It more or less followed the 18 km slope, but had an additional loop of 7 km, the highest point of which was at 300 m. A 20-man track team was sent out early on Monday morning, but it was certain that the first runners (No. 1 had Gunnar Karlsson , SWE) would be quite handicapped. The weather conditions were initially good (cold, clear weather), the snow depth was around 60 cm.
Among the spectators were most of the jumpers and Nordic Combined athletes who had traveled from Lake Placid to receive their prizes after this 50 km run in Rumford.

The race:
Nils Karlsson was the clear favorite. Sweden had changed their team (according to the statement of their team captain Björn Kjellström) "for tactical reasons" by using Martin Lundström instead of Nils Täpp . The snowfall announced by the weather stations began a quarter of an hour before the start, which took place at 10 a.m. (4 p.m. CET). The temperatures rose above zero and some runners were still growing. 31 runners tackled the first lap. In the increasingly thick snowstorm, the first stop at 10 km was that Magnar Estenstad (NOR) in 40:38 before Siplilä (FIN) in 40.48, Arthur Herrdin (SWE) in 40:48 and Mårtmann (NOR) in 40: 56 in the lead - and only one minute behind did Törnqvist, Nisse and Martin Karlsson and Kiuru follow; Gunnar Karlsson only had 42.31. One had the impression that the "great tenors" were waiting. The leading runners, now Mårtmann first (1:27:25) ahead of Herrdin (1:28:03), Sipilä (1:28:08), Törnqvist (1:28:52), Nilss Karlsson (1:28: 54), were still in good shape. A little later, 1:27:43 for Estenstad meant that in fact two Norwegians led half. Unexpectedly, Mårtmann held first place in the last time information at 35 km, and with 2:11:30 he was surprisingly clear ahead of Gunnar Eriksson (2:12:28) and Törnqvist (2:12:30). Nils Karlsson then had good prospects with 2:13:02, but he complained about poorly prepared slats. Vanninen had 2:14:28. With a general attack, the Swedes, dressed in their traditional white dress, caught the exhausted Norwegian. However, there were still follow-up checks of the times, and it was found that those of Josefsson and “Nisse” were one minute too bad, with both of them moving up one rank and Törnqvist falling back to 4th place. The new world champion ran the first loop in 1:28:27, the second in 1:30:38 - he had not yet won a championship title in his home country. The determination of the results dragged on. Winner Eriksson arrived around 1 p.m., most of the following competitors had crossed the finish line within 30 minutes, but not even at 5 p.m. the officials were able to give the press an exact ranking list (the ranking of the top 10 had meanwhile been completed changed three times). There were also doubts about the length of the course, even FIS President Østgaard was skeptical, the Finnish supervisor Ake Sevensk claimed that the runners had only run 22.5 km twice. When comparing to 1948, where Nisse needed 3:47:58 (now Eriksson 2:59:05), a very large flat section had to be taken into account here in Rumford.
The two Swiss runners Bricker and Allenbach did surprisingly well in the first part of the route; With 1:31:35 Bricker was 4:10 slower than Mårtmann, Allenbach had 1:34:51. Allenbach then crossed the finish line while Bricker was out - and the reasons for this were not known. The Swiss supervisor Hans Brunner finally explained about the entire World Cup that it could have gone better, but he doesn't want to complain that the event was held in a sporty spirit, the best won.

4x10 km relay

space	country	athlete	time
1	Sweden	Nils Täpp Karl-Erik Åström Martin Lundström Enar Josefsson	2:39:59 h
2	Finland	Heikki Hasu Viljo Vellonen Paavo Lonkila August Kiuru	2:41:51 h
3	Norway	Martin Stokken Eilert Dahl Kristian Björn Henry Hermansen	2:47:19 h
4th	France	Marius Mora Georges Forestier René Mandrillon Bénoît Carrara	2:56:35 h
5	United States	Silas Dunklee Ralph Townsend Lloyd Hawkenson Don Johnson	3:20:05 h
6th	Canada	Claude Richer Jack Wahlberg Alec Alain Tom Dennie	3: 24.28 h

World Champion 1948 : Sweden ( Nils Östensson , Nils Täpp , Gunnar Eriksson , Martin Lundström ) 

Date: February 5, 1950

Participants: 7 teams named; 6 teams started; 6 teams rated. The Swiss team withdrew their entry shortly before the start.

Route: The skiers first had a 250 m long, flat section in front of them. After a sharp turn the «Swains Road» was passed, after which a gradient of around 280 meters had to be mastered. After another 500 m flat run, there was a short descent. After about 5 km another climb had to be mastered. After 6 km the culmination point was reached, after a 2 km descent and a longer undulating terrain, it was the finish.

Course of the race: The starting order was Canada (Richer), Norway (Stokken), Finland (Hasu), USA (Dunklee), Sweden (Täpp) and France (Mora), with the Swede immediately taking the lead, closely followed by Stokken and Hasu. After 5 km, Täpp was leading in 24: 21.4 ahead of Hasu (24: 22.4) and Stokken (24: 36.0), while Mora was already three minutes behind. Hasu then turned it up, snapped Täpp on the target tape and handed over to Vellonen with 39: 52.0, who was followed by Åström with a gap of 7 seconds. Stokken handed over to Dahl with 41: 06.0, Forestier was only able to set off about five minutes later. Vellonen extended his lead to 1:11 up to kilometer 5, Dahlström was within 13 seconds of Åström. At the second change the time of the Finns was 1: 19,58; Sweden's Lundström followed 7 seconds later - the fight was now in its crucial phase because it was known that Lonkila would hardly be able to hold the Olympic champion. Norway was already 3 minutes behind, France even 9 minutes. After 5 km Lundström caught up with the Finn, left him behind after a short duel, increased his lead, which 1:59:44 meant that Josefsson could start the last section with a one and a half minute lead. Norway had continued to lose ground. Kiuru fought like a lion, but could not prevent Sweden's renewed season victory.

Ski jumping men

Detailed results

Normal hill

space	athlete	country	Width 1	Width 2	grade
1	Hans Bjørnstad	Norway	68.0 m	68.5 m	220.40
2	Thure Lindgren	Sweden	66.5 m	65.0 m	214.40
3	Arnfinn miner	Norway	66.5 m	66.0 m	213.50
4th	Christian Mohn	Norway	65.0 m	63.5 m	212.40
5	Torbjørn Falkanger	Norway	64.5 m	66.5 m	211.90
6th	Kind of Devlin	United States	67.5 m	67.0 m	211.00
7th	Petter Hugsted	Norway	64.0 m	64.5 m	210.10
8th	George Thrane	Norway	63.5 m	65.5 m	207.90
9	Matti Pietikäinen	Finland	64.0 m	66.5 m	207.70
10	Vidar Lindboe-Hansen	Norway	62.0 m	63.5 m	206.20

World champion 1948 : Petter Hugsted 

Date: Saturday February 4, 1950

Ski jumping facility: MacKenzie Intervale Ski Jumping Complex ( K -70)

In contrast to the ski jumping for the Nordic combined, there were only two valuation runs here. None of the 40 starters fell. The highest approach speed was achieved by Bietilä (USA), Däscher and Thrane with 81.95 km / h each

The Norwegian team captain Birger Ruud had spoken out in favor of taking Hans Bjørnstad with him, even though his victory came as a surprise. His fall was somewhat reminiscent of the 18 km winner Karl-Erik Åström .
The competition was held in a disruptive wind and very cold, so that a large part of the 10,000 spectators (other information is 8,000 - as United Press also gave other information about the weather conditions and the warming winter sun, temperatures significantly risen above freezing point - and the Schanze was in excellent condition despite this higher temperature) did not last until the end. Birger Ruud himself also jumped, but only as a forerunner (out of competition); he reached 65 (according to UP: 59) meters. It was also sensational that the North Americans delivered better results than the Central Europeans. Holger Karlsson (SWE), Robert Faure (FRA), Vieeko Nylund (FIN), Rolf Borde (NOR) and Guttorm Paulsen (USA) were nominated as jumping judges.
Petter Hugsted had the number 1, who came to 201 feet, which is 61.5 m. Supersaxo dropped significantly. Gordon Wren was the first of the US team to jump 62 m, the Canadians jumped properly, but couldn't get close to the top people. The favorite Bjørnstad landed after a quiet jump on 68 m, there were twice 18 and three times 18.5 points. Asbjørn Ruud slightly disappointed with 60.5 m. Christian Mohn's jump was more convincing than Bjørnstad's (two times 19, three times 18.5), but it was only 65 m. After Thrane (63.5) and Kuronen (64.5), Fritz Tschannen was 62 m. Picard (CAN) surprised with 61.5 m, and the 64.5 from Janez Polda (YUG) was considered a smooth sensation, Devlin and Barber (both USA) also did great with 67 m and 68.5 m, they had to but accept larger deductions of points. 62.5 m for Andreas Däscher were also surprising, depending on his performance. Thure Lindgren (SWE) was marked for his 66.5 m high (two times 18, three times 18.5 points).
Hugsted was (as was usual at the time - and this until much, much later - with regard to the starting order) again the first to open the second round, and he achieved a promising 64.5 m. For Supersaxo it was 54.5 meters. Bjørnstad went all out again, massive jump, 68 m - four times 18.5, once 17.5. So the Norwegian was the first contender for gold. Arthur Tokle 's 67 meters elicited a sustained howl of enthusiasm from his US compatriots. Pietikäinen also showed his class with 67 m. Mohn fell short of expectations: Stylistically good (four times 18, once 18.5), but only 63.5 m. Thrane improved his position significantly with 66.5 m. Tschannen could not bring the hoped-for special performance with only 59 m. Polda now jumped 62 m, and after Devlin (67 m) and Barber (63.5 m) the young Swiss Däscher could hold his own with 63 m. Evert Karlsson came to the fore with 67 m, Lindgren was a clean 65 m, Stump was able to improve slightly with 56.5 m, and Bergmann, one of the favorites, was rated four times 18 and one time 17.5 for his 66. (as well as please see AZ footnote on the 50 km run)

Nordic combined men

Detailed results

Individual (normal hill / 18 km)

space	country	athlete	Points
1	Finland	Heikki Hasu	455.2
2	Norway	Ottar Gjermundshaug	452.0
3	Norway	Simon Slåttvik	451.8
4th	Norway	Per Sannerud	-
5	Sweden	Sven-Olof Israelsson	-
6th	Norway	Kjetil Mårdalen	-

Date: February 1, 1950 (jumping), February 3, cross-country skiing (included in the 18 km special cross-country skiing)

Olympic champion 1948 : Heikki Hasu 4 Per Sannerud 448.0 5 Sven-Olof Israelsson 447.6 6 Kjetil Mårdalen 442.9 further placements in the top ten or other important placings or best of their nations: 7th Martti Huhtala (FIN) 441 , 1 8. Ellert Dahl (NOR) 436.7 9. Clas Haraldsson (SWE) 429.7 10. Per Gjelten (NOR) 427.7  

Jumping with 25 participants - wonderfully clear, sunny weather (approx. Minus 8 degrees Celsius), 800 spectators
The jumping was held in Lake Placid, contrary to the originally planned program, because of the lack of snow before the 18 km cross-country skiing (that was for the uncommon at the time), running on February 3rd in Rumford, Maine , 450 km away ; the number of spectators when jumping was low because of the cold. The hill, which was opened for training on the morning of January 31, was in excellent condition and the run-up was extremely fast. The judges were Holger Karlsson (Swedish team captain), Rolf Borde (NOR), Veikko Nylund (the head of the Finnish jumpers) and Granström (USA) (a fifth man is not listed).

In the jumping with three rounds (of which the best two counted) five Norwegians, u. between Simon Slåttvik 231.0 points (63.5 / 68.0 / 68.0 m), Per Sannerud 223.4 (65.0 / 65.0 / 64.5 m), Ottmar Gjermundshaug 220.8 (65.0 / 66.0 / 65.5 m), Kjetil Mårdalen 219.8 (63.5 / 62 / 64.0 m) and Per Gjelten 216.6 (63.5 / 66.0 / 65.5 m). This was followed by the Finn Heikki Hasu 215.2 (65.5 / 61.5 / 61.5 m), the Swedes Sven-Olof Israelsson 213.7 and Haraldsson 212.9 as well as Perry Smith from the USA 212.1 and the Finn Martti Huhtala 204.8. In 12th place was the first Central European, u. between Alfons Supersaxo from Switzerland with 199.6 (87.5 / 86.5), Niklaus Stump was in 15th place with 197.2 (56.0 / 50.0). - The Austrian Karl Martitsch took 18th place out of 24 participants with a grade of 189.8 (57.0 / 59.0 / 58.5 m).
In the first round, starting at 13:00 local time and No. 1 Dundee (USA) with 48 m, the national anthem was played for the first jumper in each country. There was a faux pas with the Austrian Martitsch (no hymn; the organizers apologized by not having received a record), and the Canadians asked for their own “Au Canada” instead of “God Save the King”.
The Norwegians let go from the start - Slåttvik jumped 63.5 m into the track in a powerful jump - no doubt what to expect from them. Stump was convincing stylistically, but remained behind with 56 m. Another jump over 60 m through Mårdalen, and then his compatriot Sannerud at 65 m! Israelsson secured a say with 63.5 m, Perry Smith (USA) surprised with a 63.5 m . Supersaxo, the Swiss champion, came to 56 m, Heiki Hasu reported his aspirations with 61.5, the Austrian Martitsch with 57 m. Gjermundshaug managed 65 m, his compatriot Per Gjelton was too far behind in 63.5. The US jumpers Pauly and Johnson finished the first series with two mediocre jumps that went without a fall. The Norwegians retained their supremacy in the second round: Slåttvik had 67 m, Mårdalen 62 m, Sannerud 65 m, Gjermundshaug 66.5 m, Gjelden 66 m - of the others, Haraldsson came 62 m and Israelsson 65 m (the only two participants the blue-yellow ), Heiki Hasu on 61.5 m, Sipponen on 58 m, Smith on 62.5 - from the Swiss, Supersaxo recorded an increase to 57.5 m, while Stump remained standing on 56 m. In the third attempt, too, not much changed in the end result (especially not with regard to the top ranks). Rather, Slåttvik had the longest jump of the day with 68 m - Stump climbed to 59 m, Supersaxo reached 58.5 m. Other important jumps: Mårdalen 64.0 m; Sannerud 64.5 m; Israelsson 62.5 m; Perry-Smith 64.0 m; Haraldsson 63.0 m; Gjermundshaug 66.5 m; Gjelden 65.5 m. - The Norwegians made a lasting impression on this first competition, they had already dominated the training event on Sunday (January 29th). Winner Slåttvik began his career as a cross-country skier in 1939, but nothing more was heard from him until 1947, before he came to the fore again with his victory in the Nordic combined championships. In the Olympic year he did not succeed, but in 1949 he reached his top form, repeated his championship victory and also won the Nordic combined at the Nordic Games in Kiruna . In an interview given before cross-country skiing, he said that “he will run for his life on Friday because this is a very great opportunity for Norway”. From the Swedish point of view, "both players jumped not badly, but were clearly inferior to the Norwegians: Haraldsson had reached good lengths, but he had trouble controlling the skis and landing, which resulted in huge points deductions". Heikki Hasu also saw expert reports as very promising.

The cross-country competition was held as part of the 18-km special cross-country race, which began at 10 a.m. Silas Dundee (USA), a combined skier, was the first to go on the trail.
Despite the Norwegian five-fold lead, the overall ranking went to Olympic champion Finn Hasu, who was around five minutes faster than jumping winner Slåttvik. The Norwegians had to accept another defeat in their very own domain. The first reports from the checkpoints gave little information about the special cross-country skiers, but one got the impression that Hasu was seriously well on the way to gaining a victory that had already been believed to be lost through a phenomenal cross-country performance. He had been able to beat his rival Slåttvik second by second, kilometer by kilometer, and the tough Finn got through it splendidly. Even Gjermundshaug could not hold the bar against the unleashed Finn, but secured the silver medal. The Swiss were completely lost in this “northern private race”: St. Moritz's Olympic champion , Niklaus Stump , soon complained of stomach pains that intensified, so that he had to lay down his arms halfway. The best Central European was Alfons Supersaxo in 13th place with 418.2 points. Karl Martitsch was only 62nd overall in 1: 29.32; he had been in North America for a long time but had not been able to train because of the lack of snow.
The best cross-country skier of the combiners was Anders Törnqvist (SWE) in 1:07:58 in 9th place in the overall ranking of cross-country skiing, but Heikki Hasu was already 10th in 1:08:13; Martti Huhtala had 1:09:21 (20th place); Ellert Dahl 1:09:30 (rank 23); Ottmar Gjermundshaug 1:10:47 (rank 29); Simon Slåttvik 1:13:49 (rank 36); Alfons Supersaxo 1:14:29 (rank 37); Per Gjelten 1:16:40 (rank 43).
There is obviously a difference between the official time for the 18 km cross-country skiing and the overall ranking including the combined runners with regard to Messrs Hasu and Nils Täpp, because according to another source (also reported in "Sport Zurich"), this is ranked 9th with 1:08:37, followed by Hasu in tenth in 1:08:34.

Medal table

Nations

space	nation
01	Sweden	3	3	1	7th
02	Norway	1	1	4th	6th
03	Finland	1	1	0	2

athlete

space	athlete
01	Karl-Erik Åström	2	0	0	2
02	Enar Josefsson	1	2	0	3
03	Heikki Hasu	1	1	0	2
04th	Hans Bjørnstad	1	0	0	1
	Gunnar Eriksson	1	0	0	1
	Nils Täpp	1	0	0	1
	Martin Lundström	1	0	0	1
08th	Ottmar Gjermundshaug	0	1	0	1
	Thure Lindgren	0	1	0	1
	Viljo Vellonen	0	1	0	1
	Paavo Lonkila	0	1	0	1
	August Kiuru	0	1	0	1
013	Simon Slåttvik	0	0	1	1
	Arnfinn miner	0	0	1	1
	Arnljot Nyås	0	0	1	1
	Nils Karlsson	0	0	1	1
	Martin Stokken	0	0	1	1
	Eilert Dahl	0	0	1	1
	Kristian Bjorn	0	0	1	1
	Henry Hermansen	0	0	1	1

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} column 4, middle: «Lake Placid sinks into the water» . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna January 27, 1950, p. 5 ( Arbeiter-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
2. ↑ ^{a b} «Where to get snow from and not steal it?» In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna January 29, 1950, p. 7 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
3. ↑ ^{a b} «Cross-country skiing moved to Rumford» . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna January 31, 1950, p. 7 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
4. ^ "Rumford stays for the running competitions"; “Sport Zürich” No. 15 of February 3, 1950, page 2, column 2
5. ↑ "A miracle: it snows in Lake Placid" . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna February 1, 1950, p. 5 ( Arbeiter-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
6. ↑ «The Norwegians are dismayed», last paragraph . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna February 4, 1950, p. 7 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
7. ^ «Germany and Japan have to wait»; “Sport Zürich” No. 16 of February 6, 1950, page 6, column 3
8. ^ "Interview with Hans Brunner"; “Sport Zürich” No. 15 of February 3, 1950, page 3, column 1
9. ^ "Are the World Ski Championships the greater effort for competitors or press people?"; “Sport Zürich” No. 15 of February 3, 1950, page 2, column 3
10. ^ «Worry days for the World Cup organizers»; «Sport Zürich» No. 10 from January 23, 1950, page 7 - column 3
11. ↑ "Rumford Hype" . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna February 2, 1950, p. 7 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
12. ^ "All about the World Championships" with the second title "In Newyork-La Guardia: Départe in all directions"; “Sport Zürich” No. 20 of February 15, 1950, page 2, column 1
13. ↑ FIS World Championships - Men 18k on fis-ski.com
14. ^ "Unheard of Scandinavians struggle for victory in the 18 km run for the world championship"; “Sport Zürich” No. 16 of February 6, 1950, page 5
15. ↑ FIS World Championships - Men 30k on fis-ski.com
16. ^ "Swedish triumph in the ski marathon" . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna February 7, 1950, p. 7 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
17. ↑ "Fantastic ski marathon for the world championship"; “Sport-Zürich” No. 17 of February 8, 1950, pages 1 and 2
18. ↑ FIS World Championships - Men's TE on fis-ski.com
19. ↑ Ski World Championships. Swedish success in the 4x10 km relay in: Mittelbayerische Zeitung, issue no.17 of February 8, 1950, p. 8
20. ↑ from column 2: "Murderous duel between Sweden and Finland in relay"; “Sport Zürich” No. 16 of February 6, 1950, page 6
21. ↑ FIS World Championships - Men Ski Jumping on fis-ski.com
22. ^ "Hans Björnstad (Norway) world champion in ski jumping"; “Sport Zürich” No. 16 of February 6, 1950, pages 5 and 6, column 4
23. ↑ «The onslaught of the Norwegians» . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna February 3, 1950, p. 5 ( Arbeiter-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
24. ^ Reports in "Sport Zürich", No. 15 of February 3, 1950, page 2
25. ↑ «The Norwegians are dismayed» . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna February 4, 1950, p. 7 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
26. ↑ «The northerners are unbeatable» . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna February 5, 1950, p. 9 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).

literature

• Hermann Hansen, Knut Sveen: VM på ski '97. Alt om ski-VM 1925-1997. Adresseavisens Forlag, Trondheim 1996, ISBN 82-7164-044-5 .

Web links

• 18th Nordic World Ski Championships 1950 in Lake Placid, USA from ifosta.de, accessed on May 8, 2017
• The top three winners at the Olympic Winter Games & World Ski Championships , p. 27 on deutscherskiverband.de (PDF), accessed on May 8, 2017
• Medal winners - Nordic World Ski Championships, ski jumping on skispringen-news.de, accessed on May 8, 2017