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| Event type

1,500 metres, Men

Date 2 February 1948 — 9:30
StatusOlympic
LocationOlympia-Eisstadion Badrutts Park, St. Moritz
Participants45 from 14 countries
Olympic Record 2:19.2 / Charles Mathiesen NOR / 13 February 1936
StarterHerman SchöllkopfSUI
RefereeOssi BlomqvistFIN

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.

PosPairCompetitorNOCTime
18ISverre FarstadNOR2:17.6GoldOR
214IÅke SeyffarthSWE2:18.1Silver
311IOdd LundbergNOR2:18.9Bronze
417OLassi ParkkinenFIN2:19.6
56OHarry JanssonSWE2:20.0
611OJohnny WerketUSA2:20.2
717IKalevi LaitinenFIN2:20.3
812IGöthe HedlundSWE2:20.7
915IKees BroekmanNED2:21.0
=109IGunnar KonsmoNOR2:21.2
=105OIván RuttkayHUN2:21.2
122OAntero OjalaFIN2:21.4
131OJan LangedijkNED2:21.9
1412OKornél PajorHUN2:22.2
152IJános KiliánHUN2:22.5
1622IIvar MartinsenNOR2:22.6
1714OMats BolmstedtSWE2:22.8
1813IHenry HowesGBR2:23.0
193OLee Hyo-ChangKOR2:23.3
2020ORay BlumUSA2:23.4
2116IPentti LammioFIN2:23.9
2210IKen HenryUSA2:24.6
231IBruce PeppinGBR2:24.7
2415OAnton HuiskesNED2:25.0
2519IAad de KoningNED2:25.3
263IVladimír KolářTCH2:25.6
278OFrank StackCAN2:25.7
2810OBobby FitzgeraldUSA2:27.0
2923OAb HardyCAN2:28.5
3013ODennis BlundellGBR2:29.2
3119OChoi Yong-JinKOR2:29.8
=3223IGordon AudleyCAN2:30.0
=3218IEnrico MusolinoITA2:30.0
=345IGiorgio CattaneoITA2:30.5
=346IHans-Peter VogtSUI2:30.5
=3616OGuido CaroliITA2:30.9
=369OLee Jong-GukKOR2:30.9
3820IMax StieplAUT2:31.2
3922OGedeon LadányiHUN2:31.3
404IGustav SlanecAUT2:31.9
417ITommy RossGBR2:32.6
424ORudolf KleinerSUI2:33.0
437OSepp RoggerSUI2:34.7
4421OFerdinand PreindlAUT2:38.6
4521IPierre HuylebroeckBEL2:40.2
DNSAage JustesenDEN