1936 Winter Olympics / Speed ​​Skating

Speed ​​skating at the IV Winter Olympics
information
venue	Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Competition venue	Rießersee
Nations	16
Athletes	52 (52 men)
date	11-14 February 1936
decisions	4th
← Lake Placid 1932 St. Moritz 1948 →

At the IV Olympic Winter Games in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in 1936 , four speed skating competitions were held. The venue was the Rießersee natural ice rink .

Balance sheet

Medal table

space	country				total
1	Norway	4th	2	-	6th
2	Finland	-	2	2	4th
3	Austria	-	-	1	1
	United States	-	-	1	1

Medalist

competitor	gold	silver	bronze
500 m	Ivar Ballangrud	Georg Krog	Leonard Freisinger
1500 m	Charles Mathiesen	Ivar Ballangrud	Birger Wasenius
5000 m	Ivar Ballangrud	Birger Wasenius	Antero Ojala
10,000 m	Ivar Ballangrud	Birger Wasenius	Max Stiepl

Results

500 m

space	country	athlete	Time (s)
1	NOR	Ivar Ballangrud	43.4
2	NOR	Georg Krog	43.5
3	United States	Leonard Freisinger	44.0
4th	JPN	Shozo Ishihara	44.1
5	United States	Delbert Lamb	44.8
6th	AUT	Karl Leban	44.8
	United States	Allan Potts
8th	FIN	Antero Ojala	44.9
	FIN	Jorma Ruissalo
	FIN	Birger Wasenius
13	AUT	Karl Wazulek	45.1
19th	GER	Willy Sandner	46.2
21st	AUT	Ferdinand Preindl	46.4
24	AUT	Gustav Slanec	46.7
28	GER	Heinz Sames	47.0

February 11, 1936, 10:00 a.m.
36 participants from 14 countries, 35 of them in the valuation.

In the first competition, Norway won a gold medal for the first time after it had not worked in the alpine area, despite the respective guidance after the downhill runs, and the day before in the cross-country relay. The favorite, however, was the world record holder from 1933, Hans Engnestangen , who was expected by the Scandinavian press to bring back the world record set by Allan Potts on January 18, 1936 in Oslo . Engnestangen started around noon, hurried out of his opponent Heinz Sames extremely quickly and came into the target curve with a large margin when he fell lengthways. In general, all fast runners had a lot of trouble in the corners. The temperature of −20 ° C that morning might have been detrimental to the quality of the ice. In view of these circumstances, Ballangrund started cautiously and did not allow himself to be tempted to go fast. His 43.4 s were not outstanding for the current conditions (world record: 42.4 s), but were enough to equalize Clas Thunberg's Olympic record from 1928 and ultimately to victory. The point of criticism of the organization was that the competition was handled slowly, which was doubly uncomfortable for the audience in the cold.

1500 m

space	country	athlete	Time (min)
1	NOR	Charles Mathiesen	2: 19.2 ( OR )
2	NOR	Ivar Ballangrud	2: 20.2
3	FIN	Birger Wasenius	2: 20.9
4th	United States	Leonard Freisinger	2: 21.3
5	AUT	Max Stiepl	2: 21.6
6th	AUT	Karl Wazulek	2: 22.2
7th	NOR	Harry Haraldsen	2: 22.4
8th	NOR	Hans Engnestangen	2: 23.0
9	FIN	Ossi Blomqvist	2: 23.2
	FIN	Antero Ojala
	NED	Dolf van der Scheer
12	AUT	Karl Leban	2: 24.3
16	GER	Willy Sandner	2: 25.3
25th	AUT	Ferdinand Preindl	2: 29.0
27	GER	Heinz Sames	2: 29.3

February 13, 1936, 10:00 a.m.
37 participants from 15 countries, all rated.

Around 2,000 spectators had gathered, the Norwegians were considered favorites. As in the previous competitions, the lead was almost always brought out in the corners. The feet touched down very close together, the body weight was completely inwards, the center of gravity remained absolutely unchanged and even the right arm often rowed less than in a straight line. The Japanese even ran the curves and straights with their arms back. Before the start, the court announcer had announced that the Scandinavians would try to undercut the world record of 2: 17.4. This project did not succeed because they did not meet full partners. Ballangrund met Freisinger, whom he had left behind after the first round, Mathiesen's opponent was Stiepl, and Wasenius's was Karl Leban.

5000 m

space	country	athlete	Time (min)
1	NOR	Ivar Ballangrud	8: 19.6 ( OR )
2	FIN	Birger Wasenius	8: 23.3
3	FIN	Antero Ojala	8: 30.1
4th	NED	Jan Langedijk	8: 32.0
5	AUT	Max Stiepl	8: 35.0
6th	FIN	Ossi Blomquist	8: 36.6
7th	NOR	Charles Mathiesen	8: 36.9
8th	AUT	Karl Wazulek	8: 38.4
9	NOR	Michael Staksrud	8: 38.5
10	NED	Dolf van der Scheer	8: 43.3
13	GER	Heinz Sames	8: 48.5
19th	AUT	Wilhelm Loewinger	8: 53.9
24	AUT	Karl Prochaska	9: 02.6

February 12, 1936, 10:15 a.m.
37 participants from 16 countries, 35 of them in the ranking.

Due to the good ice conditions, nine athletes were able to undercut the Olympic record set by Clas Thunberg in Chamonix on January 26, 1924 (8: 39.0) on this Wednesday morning . The Norwegians proved to be technically superior to their competitors, the Finns owed their good results to the use of all their strength. The Japanese were technically quite good, but were too severely handicapped due to their short legs, because one step of a Norwegian was usually two of a Japanese. Of the most promising runners, only the German Willy Sandner fell.

10,000 m

space	country	athlete	Time (min)
1	NOR	Ivar Ballangrud	17: 24.3 ( OR )
2	FIN	Birger Wasenius	17: 28.2
3	AUT	Max Stiepl	17: 30.0
4th	NOR	Charles Mathiesen	17: 41.2
5	FIN	Ossi Blomquist	17: 42.4
6th	NED	Jan Langedijk	17: 43.7
7th	FIN	Antero Ojala	17: 46.6
8th	United States	Eddie Schroeder	17: 52.0
9	POLE	Janusz Kalbarczyk	17: 54.0
10	NOR	Michael Staksrud	17: 56.7
11	AUT	Karl Warzulek	17: 57.1
12	GER	Willy Sandner	18: 02.0
15th	GER	Heinz Sames	18: 04.3

February 14, 1936, 9:00 a.m.
30 participants from 14 countries, 28 of them in the evaluation.

The start was in groups of two. The two favorites, Ivar Ballangrud and Birger Wasenius, ran directly against each other over 10,000 m. Initially, the two led alternately, but after five laps Ballangrud pulled away and gained an undisputed lead of 50 meters. He beat the previous Olympic record set by Canadian Alexander Hurd (17: 56.2) four years ago by more than half a minute. A further eight runners remained under this previous mark. The two US runners Delbert Lamb and Leonard Freisinger did not start .

Web links

• Speed ​​skating at the 1936 Winter Olympics in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• Official report of the 1936 Winter Olympics (PDF; 29.6 MB)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ «Norway comes to the first gold medal». In: Sport Zürich, February 12, 1936, p. 3.
2. ^ "Under the sign of the five rings" with the subtitle "The 1500 m speed skating on Thursday". In: Sport Zürich, February 17, 1936, p. 8.
3. ^ "Ballangrud's second Olympic victory". In: Sport Zürich, February 13, 1936, p. 3.
4. ^ "Ballangrud's third gold medal". In: Sport Zürich, February 15, 1936, p. 4.