Sverre Farstad

Sverre Farstad (8 February 1920 – 27 March 1978) was a Norwegian speed skater representing Sportsklubben Falken, Trondheim, as part of the Falken Trio also including Henry Wahl and Hjalmar Andersen. Farstad won one Olympic gold medal and one European Championship in his three-year international career.

1948 St. Moritz Farstad was selected for the Norwegian team at the 1948 Winter Olympics at St. Moritz, and was a favourite on the 1,500 m. He won the race with a time of 2:17.6; though Swede Åke Seyffarth in a later pair was ahead on all three laps before the finish, but Farstad's final lap of 37.6 seconds was unbeatable, and Seyffarth finished 0.5 seconds behind. Farstad became the first person from Trøndelag to win Olympic gold. He also finished sixth on the 500 metres event. After the olympics, he received an overwhelming welcome in Trondheim, along with silver medalist Thomas Byberg and the other olympic skaters from Trøndelag.

Note that Farstad was the first world record holder on the big combination since this was the first time that the big combination was an official world record event, as decided by the International Skating Union.

Personal records To put these personal records in perspective, the WR column lists the official world records on the dates that Farstad skated his personal records.

Remarkably, Farstad's personal record on the big combination (188.958) is the same as his Adelskalender score. This is because at the 1949 European Championships, he skated new personal records on all four big combination distances, an achievement that also made him the first official world record holder on the big combination. His highest ranking on the Adelskalender was a third place.