Odd Rasdal

During the 1930s Odd Rasdal was one of the best long-distance runners in Norway, becoming an 11-time national champion. He won his first medals at the Norwegian championships in 1934 with bronze in both the 10,000 metres and the cross-country race. One year later he won his first gold with victory in the cross-country, his first of five consecutive national titles in the discipline. In 1936 Rasdal ran in the 10,000 metres at the Berlin Olympics where he finished ninth. Back in Norway he was unbeatable in the 5,000 and 10,000 metres, doing the double in both events for three consecutive years from 1937 to 1939. With the national championships not being held following the outbreak of World War II, Rasdal was forced to retire from competitive running but returned after the war as an athletics administrator. He served with the Norwegian Athletics Association throughout the 1950s and was awarded with the King’s Medal of Merit in 1971.

Personal Best: 10000 – 31:02.4 (1939).