1,500 metres, Men

As in the 500 m, Hans Engnestangen’s pre-war world record had been broken on the miracle rink of Medeo early in the year. After being tied by Boris Shilkov, it was beaten by almost a second by Valentin Chaikin. In the absence of the USSR’s skaters, there was one clear favourite for the gold, Wim van der Voort of the Netherlands. He had won the 1,500 m at the 1951 World Championships and the 1951 and 1952 Europeans. In the international race at Hamar a week prior to the Olympics, he had also claimed the 1,500 m. Not competing in that race was his biggest opponent, Hjalmar Andersen. Andersen was the dominant all-round skater at that time, and had placed second behind Van der Voort during his distance victories. In fact, third place also seemed certain; at the same three championships, the bronze had been taken by Roald Aas, also from Norway.

Andersen was drawn in the first pair, which was considered to be unfavorable, giving Van der Voort the advantage of knowing the Norwegian’s time. Cheered on loudly by Bislett, Andersen clocked 2.20,4 – not his best Bislett time, but ice conditions were not optimal. But track conditions deteriorated as it began to snow after a few more pairs. Van der Voort, skating in pair five, seemed not to mind the weather, opening in the same time as Andersen. His next two laps were somewhat slower, but the Dutchman was known for his strong final lap. As expected, he closed in on the leading time, but not by enough: 2.20,6.

As the snow continued to fall, the other medal hopefuls were unable to approach the leading times. Lassi Parkkinen (Finland) and Carl-Erik Asplund (Sweden), both stranded at seconds behind the top duo. As expected, the “best of the rest” was Roald Aas, who finished a second behind Van der Voort. The snow halted during an ice preparation following pair 13, but all the favorites had already skated at that point, except for Ivar Martinsen. But with 2.23,4, he tied for 8th, together with Ericsson of Sweden, who also started on a clear track.