Record again!
Like the last few seasons, KSK arranged national races the week before the national championship, this time including a 10000m. It was cloudy and a southerly draught had brought some humid air, but the temperature was ideal, −3-4 degrees, and the ice shone with an inviting glare. The club had bought out every flag in their possession to decorate the Frogner rink, and the crowd was counted in thousands even though it was a Saturday. Unlike the Trønders, who had been having fine ice conditions since early December for a change, the Kristiania skaters only had a bit over a couple of weeks of ice training behind them. But at least there was one who was in shape.
He was ready on the starting line with Einar Berntsen in the other lane, a fast, but not dangerously fast opponent. This time the audience was his own home audience, the Kristianensers. Not quite as packed as in his former glory days, but still there were thousands, much for a Saturday. The flag fell, Oscar shot out from the line and skated as hard as he could down the first straight and through the first outer curve, exiting from it nearly level with Berntsen, who, taken by surprise, fell straight on his belly, sprawling madly along the ice. Oscar only barely managed to keep out of harms way, and staggered for a moment, but found his balance again and kept on. And the result was good. The time was 44,9, new national record again. And the applause was wild, eclipsing the storm of praise from Hamar last weekend completely. He sailed around the curve and drank it in, it was like ambrosia after the long pause from competing.
Results 500m seniors: 1.Oscar Mathisen.KSK 44,9 NR RR LR 2.Martin Sæterhaug.TSK 46,0 3.Henning Olsen.KSK 46,8 4.Bjarne Frang.KSK 47,0 pb 5.Trygve Lundgreen.KSK 48,0 eq pb 6.Thoralf Thoresen.KSK 48,6 Magnus Hereth.KSK 48,6 8.Einar Staff.KIF 48,7 9.Reidar Gundersen.KSK 49,1 10.Aksel Mathiesen.KSK 49,2 11.Stener Johannessen.KSK 49,6 Einar Berntsen.KSK og Ludvig Engebretsen.KIF fall
The 10000m started after a short break, with Stener Johannessen and Einar Berntsen in the first pair, the latter a debutant like several others here. Outside the international championships the Scandinavian mile hadn’t been skated in Norway for nearly 10 years, and was pulled out here on the occasion of its introduction in the national championship due next week. Johannessen won the pair as expected, but in over 19 minutes. And Berntsen still did not enter Adelskalenderen, as he had yet to skate a 5000m. Oscar skated a well-measured race, finishing not far from Lundgreen’s national record. Olsen skated well too, and looked threatening for a while, but the distance fell to Oscar again. And now, having won the shortest and the longest distance in the programme, he felt he might manage the two remaining ones as well.
10000m 1.Oscar Mathisen 18.35,8 lowland pb 2.Henning Olsen 18.41,1 3.Trygve Lundgreen 19.01,3 4.Stener Johannessen 19.06,7 5.Martin Sæterhaug 19.07,0 6.Einar Berntsen 19.41,6 pb 7.Aksel Mathiesen 19.42,4 pb 8.Ludvig Engebretsen 21.03,5 pb 9.Einar Staff 21.11,6 pb Bjarne Frang dnf
Overall after day one: 1.Oscar Mathisen 2 2.Henning Olsen 5 3.Trygve Lundgreen 7 Martin Sæterhaug 7 5.Stener Johannessen 11 6.Aksel Mathiesen 12 Einar Staff 12
Darkness fell during the 10000m, and the whole of the junior 1500m was skated in lamplight. The newspapers complain unanimously over the size of the junior class, which numbered 34. Standing outside in the cold and dark watching mediocre lap by mediocre lap while most of the audience had gone home must have tired them substantially. Still, they were put there to report on any event of interest in the junior class, too, and had to stay to the last pair, which reached the finishing line around half past six. Suggestions were made to arrange selection races a couple of days before the event and let the 4-6 best juniors skate in the weekend. Otherwise the sympathy for skating gradually vanish from the throngs encircling the tracks, they proclaimed. And if the enthusiasm eventually did go out, the job of kindling it again would be all the much harder, the commenters concluded.
With all those rookies on the ice the organisers may perhaps be excused for organising somewhat less smoothly than usual. Often the skaters were not where they were supposed to be, and the meet was drawn out even further when someone had to go and summon them. The journalist from Morgenbladet opines that if the starter had done his duty, many juniors would have to go home without skating, but richer in experience. The club even had managed to print a programme with incorrect starting numbers, so the audience had to rely on the speaker to find out who was skating. In the senior class the applause would often drown him out.
Results 1500m 1.Karl Gulbrandsen.KSK 2.37,8 pb 2.Ivar Fyhn.TSK 2.37,9 pb 3.Gunerius Schou.KSK 2.39,0 4.Jacob Sæterhaug.TSK 2.41,0 5.Trygve Aulie.KSK 2.41,7 Thoralf Hansen.KSK 2.41,7 7.Johan Evensen.KSK 2.42,6 8.Sigurd Syversen.KSK 2.42,8 9.Ragnvald Mathiesen.KSK 2.43,6 10.Yngvar Jacobsen.KSK 2.44,3 11.Hans Brandt.KIF 2.44,8 12.Lars Larsen.HSK 2.45,4 13.Alf Lundaas.HSK 2.46,5 Wilhelm Wolff.KSK 2.46,5 pb 15.Thorolf Hansen.KSK 2.47,1 pb 16.Melvin Johansen.HSK 2.47,2 pb 17.Jonas Syversen.KSK 2.49,0 18.Wilhelm Bertelsen.KIF 2.50,0
Unfortunately we know no more results, as those poor freezing journalists didn’t care to write them down.
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