A 100 years ago today, Sarah Bernhardt, the world’s first female actor-superstar, and her new boyfriend, the 37 years younger Lou Tellegen, were visiting the US to record her play La dame aux camélias on moving film. Meanwhile, German merchant vessels were experimenting with long-range radiotelegraphy on the high seas.
At the same time, it was beginning to dawn on public media and the public itself that the likelihood of any new encounters with Oscar Mathisen, the darling of the nation, was beginning to get highly unlikely. A frustrated reader writes this letter to Bergens Tidende, published on Christmas Eve:
Oskar Mathiesen, den verdenskjendte skøiteløper vil iaar neppe komme til at delta i skøiteløpene, da han efter det internationale skøiteforbunds regler ikke kan delta som amatør.
Denne meddelelse har vakt for(tørnelse?) i vide kredse, og der er allerede gjort flere anstrengelser for at faa den avholdte og dygtige unge skøiteløber tilbake til amatørrætten.
Oskar Mathiesen er absolut vor hurtigste skøiteløper, og ved sine mange glimrende seire rundt omkring i Europa har han virkelig gjort vort land ære. Oskar Mathiesen har i de sidste 2-3 aar været vor skøiteidræts bærende kraft, og uten ham vil det vistnok være vanskelig i kommende sæson at hævde det ry som nordmændene har paa skøiteidrættens omraade samt erobre tilbake de mesterskaper som ifjor ved forskjellige omstendigheter gik til utlandet.
Oskar Mathiesen har hverken mottat engagement som skøiteløper eller startet i professionelt løp, men han har ikke strengt nok fulgt de internationale forbundsregler. Efter sigende skulde det dog ikke være saa overvættes vanskelig at skaffe han hans amatørskap tilbake, hvis der fra Kristiania Skøiteklubs side var arbeidet energisk herfor; dette er imidlertid ikke gjort. Man ymter om at der inden skøiteklubben findes størrelser, som helst ser, at Oskar Mathiesen blir borte, da de ikke har taalt at være vidne til den populære Mathiesens mange triumfer. De vil med andre ord helst se, at den staute skøiteløper ikke faar delta i konkurranserne. Det viser et daarlig kameratskap og en lidet(?) kollegial følelse blandt skøiteløperne i Kristiania, hvis dette er tilfældet.
Vi vil haape, at arbeidet for at ordne Oskar Mathiesens amatørskap vil lønnes med held tiltrods for alt.
(Oskar Mathiesen, the world famous skater, will hardly participate in skating races this year, as he cannot participate as an amateur according to the rules of the international skating federation.
This announcement has caused consternation in wide circles, and already several efforts have been made in order to return the popular and talented young skater to amateur rights.
Oskar Mathiesen is definitely our fastest skater, and with his many brilliant victories around Europe, he has really glorified our country. Oskar Mathiesen for the past 2-3 years has been the mainstay of our skating sport, and in his absence it probably will be difficult to uphold the reputation of the Norwegians in the field of skating this coming season and win back the championships that were lost abroad last year under various circumstances.
Oskar Mathiesen neither has received any salary as skater nor started in professional races, he only failed to follow the international federation rules strictly enough. Reportedly it would not have been so exceedingly difficult to restore his amateur status if Kristiania Skøiteklubs had spent a bit of energy to that end; but this has not been done. It is rumoured that there are figures within the skating club who would like to see Oskar Mathiesen removed, as the many triumphs of the popular Mathiesen has been intolerable to them. In other words, they would rather see that the fine skater were banned from competition. It reveals a poor sense of fellowship and a lack of collegial sense amongst the skaters in Kristiania if this is true.
Let us hope that the efforts to restore Oskar Mathiesen’s amateur status will be rewarded with success in spite of all.)
Back in Kristiania the skating season had opened at Frogner two weeks ago, apparently without any noticeable decrease in public attention, but with no remarkable results either. This Monday, Boxing Day was celebrated with races at Bislett as well as Frogner. No really remarkable results ensued this time either, and the reason why I’m including them in the diary is the unusual concentration of Olympic medallists in the 12-14 year class at Frogner, in a meet where Caspar Møller skated the best result with his 1000m at 1.53,4 in the class above. But anyhow, the 12-14 year class, who skated a 500m, ended as follows:
1.Oskar Olsen 61,4 2.Olaf Christian Ditlev-Simonsen 62,2 3.Jacob Tullin Thams 64,6 4.Josef Børresen 64,8 5.Alf Solheim 66,8 6.Odin Enger 69,8
#3 here, the most highly decorated of them all, is registered with only this single result in speedskating. The class in total had 17 participants, but the newspaper only printed these 6.