You Are Here > SR/Olympics > Winter Games > 1948 Sankt Moritz > Speed Skating > Men's 1,500 metres

News: Sports-Reference.com Widgets - Our Stats, Your Site »post

Speed Skating at the 1948 Sankt Moritz Winter Games:

Men's 1,500 metres

Speed Skating at the 1948 Winter Games: Previous Winter Games ▪ Next Winter Games

Events:
Phases:

Host City: Sankt Moritz, Switzerland
Venue(s): Olympic Ice Stadium Badrutts Park, St. Moritz
Date Started: February 2, 1948
Date Finished: February 2, 1948

Gold: NOR Sverre Farstad
Silver: SWE Åke Seyffarth
Bronze: NOR Odd Lundberg

Summary

The metric mile in St. Moritz was predicted to be a Swedish-Norwegian affair. At both major Championships in 1947, the 1500 m had been won by Norway's Sverre Farstad. On both occasions, he beat Sweden's Åke Seyffarth, the 1947 European Champion. But neither had been undefeated in the 1948 season. Although Farstad had won his distance at the Norwegian Championships, he had been defeated by Odd Lundberg and Gunnar Konsmo, while Seyffarth had been bested by compatriot Göthe Hedlund. Hedlund had in fact clocked the best time of the season, setting 2.18,4 in a test race in St. Moritz shortly before the Games.

Again, the weather in St. Moritz was ideal, still and sunny, allowing for fine ice conditions and fast times. The first favorite in competition was Farstad. He sped to an excellent 2.17,6, shattering the Olympic Record as well as his personal best. This time seemed hard to beat. While Lundberg could go under 2.20 with 2.18,6, Hedlund couldn't approach his time from earlier in the week and only managed 2.20,7. Then Seyffarth started in pair 14. He went all out from the start, with the fastest opening of the day. At the bell, he was still leading over Farstad, but then started to fade. Farstad's final lap had been strong, and Seyffarth couldn't match it, finishing half a second behind the Norwegian. There was one more skater that beat 2.20 – World Champion Lassi Parkkinen – but his time was not good enough for a podium spot.

Hjalmar Andersen, Henry Wahl, and Sverre Farstad were known as the "Falken Trio", named after their Trondheim club, SK Falk. Farstad was the first person from Trondheim and the Trøndelag county to win an Olympic title. Apart from speed skating, he also excelled in other sports. He was twice runner-up in Norwegian weightlifting championships, and won a bronze in rowing.

Final Standings

Rank Athlete Age Team NOC Medal T 300m 700m 1100m
1 Sverre Farstad 27 Norway NOR Gold 2:17.6 29 1:04 1:40 OR
2 Åke Seyffarth 28 Sweden SWE Silver 2:18.1 28 1:03 1:39
3 Odd Lundberg 30 Norway NOR Bronze 2:18.9 30 1:07 1:43
4 Lassi Parkkinen 30 Finland FIN 2:19.6 29 1:05 1:42
5 Harry Jansson 31 Sweden SWE 2:20.0 29 1:05 1:42
6 Johnny Werket 23 United States USA 2:20.2 29 1:04 1:40
7 Kalevi Laitinen 28 Finland FIN 2:20.3 29 1:05 1:42
8 Göthe Hedlund 29 Sweden SWE 2:20.7 29 1:05 1:42
9 Kees Broekman 20 Netherlands NED 2:21.0 30 1:06 1:43
10T Gunnar Konsmo 25 Norway NOR 2:21.2 29 1:05 1:43
10T Iván Ruttkay 25 Hungary HUN 2:21.2 30 1:06 1:42
12 Antero Ojala 31 Finland FIN 2:21.4 29 1:04 1:41
13 Jan Langedijk 37 Netherlands NED 2:21.9 30 1:05 1:43
14 Kornél Pajor 24 Hungary HUN 2:22.2 30 1:05 1:43
15 Janós Kilián 25 Hungary HUN 2:22.5 29 1:05 1:42
16 Ivar Martinsen 27 Norway NOR 2:22.6 30 1:07 1:45
17 Mats Bolmstedt 27 Sweden SWE 2:22.8 29 1:04 1:42
18 Henry Howes 19 Great Britain GBR 2:23.0 30 1:06 1:43
19 Lee Hyo-Chang 25 South Korea KOR 2:23.3 31 1:06 1:43
20 Ray Blum 28 United States USA 2:23.4 29 1:05 1:43
21 Pentti Lammio 28 Finland FIN 2:23.9 30 1:06 1:44
22 Ken Henry 19 United States USA 2:24.6 30 1:09 1:46
23 Bruce Peppin 23 Great Britain GBR 2:24.7 31 1:06 1:45
24 Anton Huiskes 19 Netherlands NED 2:25.0 31 1:08 1:47
25 Aad de Koning 19 Netherlands NED 2:25.3 31 1:08 1:46
26 Vladimír Kolář 20 Czechoslovakia TCH 2:25.6 30 1:07 1:46
27 Frank Stack 42 Canada CAN 2:25.7 30 1:06 1:45
28 Bobby Fitzgerald 24 United States USA 2:27.0 30 1:08 1:47
29 Ab Hardy 37 Canada CAN 2:28.5 32 1:09 1:49
30 Dennis Blundell 26 Great Britain GBR 2:29.2 31 1:09 1:49
31 Choi Yong-Jin 25 South Korea KOR 2:29.8 32 1:10 1:48
32T Gordon Audley 19 Canada CAN 2:30.0 30 1:09 1:48
32T Enrico Musolino 19 Italy ITA 2:30.0 30 1:09 1:50
34T Giorgio Cattaneo 24 Italy ITA 2:30.5 30 1:08 1:48
34T Hanspeter Vogt 20 Switzerland SUI 2:30.5 31 1:09 1:48
36T Guido Caroli 20 Italy ITA 2:30.9 31 1:10 1:50
36T Lee Jong-Guk 26 South Korea KOR 2:30.9 31 1:08 1:48
38 Max Stiepl 33 Austria AUT 2:31.2 31 1:09 1:49
39 Gedeon Ladányi 34 Hungary HUN 2:31.3 31 1:09 1:49
40 Gustav Slanec 34 Austria AUT 2:31.9 30 1:08 1:49
41 Thomas Ross 20 Great Britain GBR 2:32.6 32 1:11 1:51
42 Rudolf Kleiner 23 Switzerland SUI 2:33.0 31 1:09 1:51
43 Sepp Rogger 32 Switzerland SUI 2:34.7 32 1:11 1:43
44 Ferdinand Preindl 35 Austria AUT 2:38.6 33 1:13 1:54
45 Pierre Huylebroeck 25 Belgium BEL 2:40.2 32 1:11 1:51