Oscar Mathisen
Mathisen in 1938
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| Born |
4 October 1888 Kristiania, Norway |
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| Died | 10 April 1954 (aged 65) Norway |
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| Country | Norway | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Speed skating | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Retired | 1916 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Oscar Wilhelm Mathisen (4 October 1888 – 10 April 1954) was a Norwegian speed skater and celebrity, almost rivalling Roald Amundsen and Fridtjof Nansen as symbols for a young nation (Norway became independent in 1905). He represented Kristiania Skøiteklub (now Oslo Skøiteklub).
Oscar Mathisen was born in Kristiania (now Oslo) as the youngest of seven children. His parents, Carl Anton Mathisen (born in Østre Toten in 1852) and Pauline Mathisen (born in Vang, Hedmark in 1853), had five sons and two daughters: Carl Markus (1875), Petter Jørgen (1877), Johan Ingval (1879), Agnis Pauline (1880), Sigurd Valdemar (1883), Margit Antoni (1885), and Oscar Wilhelm (1888), all born in Kristiania.
Oscar Mathisen was National Champion in 1907 at the age of 18, and became World Champion the following year (four years after his brother Sigurd Mathisen), despite falling on the 500 m. During his career, he set 14 world records, with his 1,500 m record from 1914 standing unrivalled for 23 years. The day before he set that 1,500 m record, he had broken Jaap Eden's world record on the 5,000 m and thereby had become the world record holder on all distances. He became World Allround Champion five times, a record that stood until 2013 when it was broken by Sven Kramer, and European Allround Champion three times.
After World War I, he became a professional skater and he was Professional World Champion in 1920. He continued his skating career until 1929. In that last year of his career, then 40 years old, he went to Davos, where people were preparing for the European Championships, and proved that he could still skate fast by beating the world record times on both the 500 m and the 1,000 m, although his times were not recognised as world records because he was a professional skater.
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