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| Event type

4 × 10 kilometres Relay, Men

Date10 February 1936 — 9:02
StatusOlympic
LocationOlympia-Skistadion, Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Participants64 from 16 countries
DetailsCourse Length: ?
Height Differential: ?
Maximum Climb: ?
Total Climbing: ?

This event, new on the Olympic program, was introduced at the FIS World Nordic Skiing Championship in Innsbruck 1933, with Sweden as the winner, Norway and Finland not taking part. In Sollefteå, Sweden 1934, Finland won, but Artur Häggblad (Sweden) and Oddbjørn Hagen (Norway) on the anchor leg went off course and lost 10 minutes, allowing Germany to take the silver. In 1935 Finland won again in a tough fight against Norway.

The relay was the first Nordic skiing event in the 1936 Games. Sixteen teams were entered, far more than in the World Championships 1933-1935. Finland had two of their world champions from 1935 on their team, Sulo Nurmela and Klaes Karppinen, anchorman from 1935. Nurmela was now selected for the first leg. Norway had an almost identical team as the silver lineup from 1935, the only difference being that Trygve Brodahl was replaced by his younger brother, Sverre. The Norwegians also put their anchorman from 1935, Hagen, on the opening leg.

The cross-country relay developed into one of the most thrilling events of the Games. On the first leg Hagen, skiing for Norway, pulled away from Nurmela and Sweden’s John Berger when they both fell, and had a one minute lead on Finland and Sweden at the exchange. On the second leg, Olaf Hoffsbakken increased Norway’s lead to 1:23. Erik Larsson was able to catch Karppinen and brought Sweden into silver position, closely followed by Finland. On the third leg Brodahl passed the relay over to Bjarne Iversen with a 1:22 lead ahead of Finland, with Sweden almost another minute back, seemingly out of contention for the gold. On Finland’s anchor leg Kalle Jalkanen had noticed that Iversen, the less merited skier on the Norwegian team, was a good technician on the easier part of the course, but his weak point was obviously uphill. The first half of the course was mostly uphill, and Jalkanen decided to give all he had from the start. His tactics succeeded. He caught the nervous Iversen halfway, they stayed together for another 2-3 km., and then Jalkanen made his final move and was able to leave Iversen 30 m. behind. The winning margin for Finland was 6 seconds.

Jalkanen was the hero of the day with the fastest leg time of all participants. Two years later he was celebrated as world champion over 50 km. on his home ground in Lahti, but on September 5th 1941 he was killed in action on the Kareleian Isthmus in the Continuation War against Soviet Union.

PosNumberCompetitorsNOCTimeExchange
13FinlandFIN2-41:33– (–)Gold
Lead-Off3-1Sulo Nurmela 42:3442:34 (2)
2nd Leg3-2Klaes Karppinen 39:561-22:30 (3)
3rd Leg3-3Matti Lähde 39:492-02:19 (2)
Anchor3-4Kalle Jalkanen 39:142-41:33 (1)
213NorwayNOR2-41:39– (–)Silver
Lead-Off13-1Oddbjørn Hagen 41:3241:32 (1)
2nd Leg13-2Olaf Hoffsbakken 39:331-21:05 (1)
3rd Leg13-3Sverre Brodahl 39:522-00:57 (1)
Anchor13-4Bjarne Iversen 40:422-41:39 (2)
31SwedenSWE2-43:03– (–)Bronze
Lead-Off1-1John Berger 42:4942:49 (3)
2nd Leg1-2Erik Larsson 39:391-22:28 (2)
3rd Leg1-3Artur Häggblad 40:342-03:02 (3)
Anchor1-4Martin Matsbo 40:012-43:03 (3)
45ItalyITA2-50:05– (–)
Lead-Off5-1Giulio Gerardi 43:5943:59 (4)
2nd Leg5-2Severino Menardi 40:591-24:58 (4)
3rd Leg5-3Vincenzo Demetz 41:512-06:49 (4)
Anchor5-4Giovanni Kasebacher 43:162-50:05 (4)
52CzechoslovakiaTCH2-51:56– (–)
Lead-Off2-1Cyril Musil 45:5045:50 (5)
2nd Leg2-2Gustl Berauer 42:141-28:04 (5)
3rd Leg2-3Lukáš Mihalák 41:272-09:31 (5)
Anchor2-4František Šimůnek 42:252-51:56 (5)
616GermanyGER2-54:54– (–)
Lead-Off16-1Friedl Däuber 49:2249:22 (10)
2nd Leg16-2Willy Bogner 41:291-30:51 (7)
3rd Leg16-3Herbert Leupold 41:372-12:28 (6)
Anchor16-4Toni Zeller 42:262-54:54 (6)
74PolandPOL2-58:50– (–)
Lead-Off4-1Michał Górski 46:3746:37 (6)
2nd Leg4-2Marian Orlewicz 42:551-29:32 (6)
3rd Leg4-3Stanisław Karpiel 44:352-14:07 (7)
Anchor4-4Bronisław Czech 44:432-58:50 (7)
811AustriaAUT3-02:48– (–)
Lead-Off11-1Fred Rössner 49:1949:19 (9)
2nd Leg11-2Harald Bosio 45:001-34:19 (10)
3rd Leg11-3Erich Gallwitz 45:132-19:32 (10)
Anchor11-4Hans Baumann 43:163-02:48 (8)
910FranceFRA3-03:33– (–)
Lead-Off10-1Robert Gindre 47:1547:15 (7)
2nd Leg10-2Fernand Mermoud 46:061-33:21 (8)
3rd Leg10-3Léonce Crétin 44:232-17:44 (8)
Anchor10-4Alfred Jacomis 45:493-03:33 (9)
106YugoslaviaYUG3-04:38– (–)
Lead-Off6-1Leon Knap 48:3448:34 (8)
2nd Leg6-2Avgust Jakopič 47:221-35:56 (11)
3rd Leg6-3Alojz Klančnik 44:512-20:47 (11)
Anchor6-4Franc Smolej 43:513-04:38 (10)
118United StatesUSA3-06:26– (–)
Lead-Off8-1Berger Torrissen 49:2549:25 (11)
2nd Leg8-2Warren Chivers 44:241-33:49 (9)
3rd Leg8-3Richard Parsons 45:022-18:51 (9)
Anchor8-4Karl Magnus Satre 47:353-06:26 (11)
129JapanJPN3-10:59– (–)
Lead-Off9-1Ginzo Yamada 51:3851:38 (12)
2nd Leg9-2Tsutomu Sekido 45:491-37:27 (12)
3rd Leg9-3Shinzo Yamada 45:572-23:24 (12)
Anchor9-4Hiroshi Tadano 47:353-10:59 (12)
1315LatviaLAT3-26:08– (–)
Lead-Off15-1Herberts Dāboliņš 54:2554:25 (14)
2nd Leg15-2Pauls Kaņeps 50:151-44:40 (=13)
3rd Leg15-3Edgars Gruzītis 48:252-33:05 (13)
Anchor15-4Alberts Riekstiņš 53:033-26:08 (13)
1414RomaniaROU3-27:50– (–)
Lead-Off14-1Willi Zacharias 56:5656:56 (15)
2nd Leg14-2Iosif Covaci 50:231-47:19 (15)
3rd Leg14-3Ioan Coman 48:322-35:51 (14)
Anchor14-4Rudolf Kloeckner 51:593-27:50 (14)
1512BulgariaBUL3-29:39– (–)
Lead-Off12-1Hristo Kochov 52:3252:32 (13)
2nd Leg12-2Ivan Angelakov 52:081-44:40 (=13)
3rd Leg12-3Dimitar Kostov 53:592-38:39 (15)
Anchor12-4Racho Zhekov 51:003-29:39 (15)
DNF7TurkeyTUR– (–)
Lead-Off7-1Reşat Erceş 1-14:591-14:59 (16)
2nd Leg7-2Sadri Erkılıç 1-04:062-19:05 (16)
3rd Leg7-3Cemal Tigin 1-10:263-29:31 (16)
Anchor7-4Mehmut Şevket Karman – (–)