The new Frogner: 43,7!
A hundred years ago today the annual migratory treks to Frogner finally had started again after a mild and shabby forewinter. But Frogner was not Frogner anymore. The good old Frogner rink that had given so much pleasure and entertainment to so many was gone. It had yielded to the centenary exhibition and to the new broad bouleward that become of the good old Kirkeveien. City planners had been at work in the freshly urbanised district, and a skating temple had been pushed aside.
But the city planners this time had included skating in their plans, and during the summer a new rink had been laid out, perpendicular to the old one and partially overlapping in the former northern corner. A fine new club house was built as well with modern changing rooms, including a not too unattractive fence framing the rink. The work had been a bit hasty, it must be admitted, and this would prove to have its consequences. But today a grand time was had by all, for now was the time for a full inauguration of the new rink with a national meet, which also served as KSK selection races for the national championship. And it had an international element too, in the shape of the Hungarian Ernö Komássy, who evidently had found the best place to go in order to learn about skating. The ice had been tested by a couple of small clubs is small meets last Wednesday, and they had found it faultless. The surface was quite level unlike the former rink, which sloped slightly to the south.
The club had printed a 24 page programme booklet—an all-time first as far as I know. It was published the last Friday before the meet, and of its various content I could mention (because it’s the only item I know) that Oscar, the great hero of the people, had been weighed in at 82.5 kg, 6 kg more than last year and apparently a record in its kind.
Saturday was a clear, cold winter day. A little too cold. When the meet started at 1 p.m., it still was 11 degrees below (centigrade). Few were optimistic enough to hope for records. The first event was the compulsory exercises of the figure skaters. Races were to start at half past two. Meanwhile spectators were flowing in, amounting to around 3000 as the first pair were ready on the starting line. Not bad for a Saturday when people mostly were at work.
Then they were off, Henning Olsen and Thoralf Hansen, the pair to inaugurate the new Kristiania skating stronghold. Whipping across the first straight, then a curve, applause greeting them. Chasing through the next straight, another curve and then the final fight, where Olsen turned out the stronger, not unexpectedly. The time was announced as 46,1, not bad for a season debut. And Hansen equalled his pb with 46,7. Rinkmaster Zacharias “Zakken” Johansen, already legendary, seemed to have been nursing his new ice paradise diligently.
In the 2nd pair the young Sigurd Syversen beat Trygve Lundgreen by 47,2 to 47,7, setting a new pb by half a second. In the 3rd pair, the KIF-skater Hans Brandt lead against Karl Gulbrandsen until he fell in the last curve and gave up. Gulbrandsen clocked 49,4. Then came the interesting Hungarian guest against the strong Østfolding Ole Mamen, who now had joined the hosting club KSK. Komássy, it is said, skated in a poor style and trailed Mamen from the start until he fell just before the end and gave up, possibly injured, as he did not appear for the other distances. Mamen finished in 49,5.
As for all the other participants except the Hortensians Strøm and Hvidsten, this meet was the season debut for Oscar Mathisen, now ready on the line with his clubmate Otto Christiansen. No meets before January this season. Christiansen, along with his more famous clubmate Lundgreen, had been under more or less continuous supervision the last few months from Dr.Torgersen, known as a skilful trainer and sport enthusiast. His advice has left its mark in several ways, primarily in a calm, measured pace and an aesthetic style, whereby his skating almost was like a work of art in appearance. In the other lane stood the hero of the nation, also well known for his powerful elegance, pushing away like a bolt of lightning as the flag finally fell.
Following the explosive start, which triggered all the energy collected during the summer and autumn months, the race continued easy and light, but with exceptional pace and power, and the aesthete lost meter by meter through the first straight, though he he did his utmost to keep pace. Then, a characteristic dive into the first curve, clipping through its bowed path and out on the back straight where he accelerated even more. What time could he expect? The leading time was 46,1. Under 45 now in the first race of the year on this hard ice would seem a possibility. The last curve went just as light and easy, then the energetic finish in front of the new main stand, filled with the most well-heeled as well as the noisiest spectators.
He glided through the curve on the built-up speed and had sat down on a bench on the back straight to put his guards on before the boy at the scoreboard had started to show any signs of activity. He heard the excited murmur spread out from the scattered handfuls with watched among the crowd, but it wasn’t before the numbers showed white on black before his eyes that he realised what it meant. 43,7, my goodness, who could have guessed that, on a cold, grey early January Saturday afternoon like this. All the extra kilogrammes of well-trained flesh that he had grown since last year had done their job. A world record in the first race of the season. New barrier broken, a new standard set, a new future drawn for the sport. And for the audience, who never had imagined any record today, the result was a shock. When they saw the 3 on the board, they first made a long-drawn “Oooooooo” and then produced a murmur increasing to a deafening roar. The crowd, unwittingly exposed to a moment of history, were ecstatic.
Christiansen finished in 48,5, missing his pb by a tenth. In the 6th pair, Gunerius Schou beat Stener Johannessen by 47,2 vs. 48,9. The 7th featured the Hortensians Strøm and Hvidsten, and with 48,1 and 48,4 both were rather close to their pbs, just like Schou. This was also the case with Thoralf Thoresen, who (probably) was paired with Frang, originally scheduled to skate alone in the last pair, as Thoresen’s pairmate, the Tr¿nder hero Sæterhaug did not start. And Frang used the opportunity well, skating a blistering race in pure Mathisen style, setting a fine new pb with 45,1, which gave him an 8th place in the all-time list and a 3rd place along with Strunnikov in the lowland all-time list. Thoresen clocked 47,2.
500m: 1.Oscar Mathisen 43,7 WR RR pb 2.Bjarne Frang 45,1 pb 3.Henning Olsen 46,1 4.Thoralf Hansen 46,7 eq. pb 5.Gunerius Schou 47,2 Thoralf Thoresen 47,2 Sigurd Syversen 47,2 pb 8.Trygve Lundgreen 47,7 9.Kristian Strøm 48,1 10.Arnulf Hvidsten 48,4 11.Otto Christiansen 48,5 12.Stener Johannessen 48,9 13.Karl Gulbrandsen 49,4 14.Ole Mamen 49,5 Hans Brandt and Ernö Komássy dnf
Not many personal bests as you can see, it looks like only the hero of the people disregarded the poor weather conditions completely. The distance was followed by a junior 1500 m that drew the usual complaints from the journalists about how tiresome and time-wasting these junior races were. Seems they didn’t care to allow the seniors any rest before the 10000 m. The winner of this 1500 was the promising Hamar skater Melvin Johansen in a new pb of 2.37,1, followed by the almost equally promising KSK skater Gustav Gulbrandsen, who clocked 2.38,9.
Unfortunately I don’t have the draw for this 10000 meter, skated in lamplight, but I do have a splittime protocol, shown with probable pairings:
Mathisen 46-1.30-2.14-2.55-3.38-4.22-5.04-5.46-6.29-7.12-7.55-8.38-9.22-10.05-10.50-11.35-12.18-13.02-13.44-14.28-15.11-15.55-16.39-17.22-18.02,5
The last lap indicates that he wasn’t totally spent exactly. Frang 46-1.30-2.15-2.58-3.43-4.28-5.14-6.00-6.47-7.35-8.23-9.12-9.59-10.48-11.36-12.25-13.15-14.03-14.53-15.43-16.34-17.25-18.15-19.04-19.52,5
Olsen 47-1.31-2.18-3.02-3.48-4.32-5.18-6.04-6.49-7.35-8.21-9.06-9.52-10.39-11.24-12.10-12.57-13.43-14.28-15.14-16.00-16.48-17.35-18.22-19.06,4 Hansen 49-1.34-2.20-3.09-3.57-4.46-5.35-6.24-7.14-8.05-8.56-9.47-10.40-11.29-12.20-13.10-14.00-14.51-15.42-16.33-17-25-18.17-19.10-20.00-20.49,0
Schou 52-1.37-2.23-3.07-3.53-4.40-5.27-6.14-7.01-7.51-8.38-9.27-10.16-11.06-11.51-12.38-13.25-14.10-14.58-15.46-16.34-17.22-18.10-18.55-19.40,5 Thoresen 48-1.32-2.16-3.00-3.51-4.40-5.29-6.19-7.09-7.59-8.48-9.38-10.28-11.18-12.07-12.58-13.49-14.39-15.29-16.20-17.12-18.04-19.00-19.50-20.37,8
Syversen 51-1.38-2.23-3.07-3.51-4.39-5.26-6.13-7.00-7.48-8.35-9.23-10.11-10.59-11.47-12.35-13.23-14.09-14.55-15.43-16.32-17.20-18.08-18.54-19.38,5 p Lundgreen 45-1.26-2.08-2.50-3.35-4.19-5.04-5.49-6.34-7.19-8.03-8.47-9.35?-10.15-11.00-11.44-12.30-13.17-14.01-14.46-15.31-16.15-17.00-17.44-18.26,9D Disqualified for skating four inner curves in a row. Tried to make amends by skating four outer curves in a row, but the referee was not mollified.
Strøm 44-1.27-2.11-2.51?-3.40-4.25-5.10-5.55-6.40-7.25-8.11-8.55-9.42-10.28-11.13-11.56-12.41-13.25-14.12-14.58-15.43-16.30-17.15-18.00-18.43,8 Hvitsten 46?-1.40-2.25-3.12-3.58-4.46-5.35-6.25-7.13-8.00-8.48-9.35-10.25-11.14-11.56-12.50-13.32-14.14-15.00-15.45-16.32-17.17-18.02-18.42?-19.34,8 p
Christiansen 47-1.30-2.12-2.55-3.39-4.23-5.07-5.52-6.38-7.24-8.10-8.55-9.41-10.28-11.15-12.02-12.49-13.35-14.21-15.08-15.55-16.41-17.28-18.14-18.57,5 p Johannessen 48-1.31-2.14-2.58-3.40-4.24-5.08-5.53-6.39-7.25-8.10-8.54-9.40-10.25-11.10-11.56-12.41-13.26-14.11-14.57-15.43-16.29-17.14-18.00-18.45,0
Gulbrandsen 50-1.35-2.21-3.07-3.54-4.42-5.30-6.18-7.07-7.54-8.42-9.30-10.17-11.05-11.52-12.39-13,26-14.13-15.00-15.47-16.35-17.22-18.07-18.54-19.39,8 p Mamen 47-1.30-2.14-3.00-3.45-4.31-5.17-6.03-6.49-7.36-8.21-9.06-9.52-10.38-11.24-12.10-12.56-13.41-14.27-15.12-15.58-16.44-17.30-18.15-18.59,0 p
Brandt 50-1.37-2.25-3.14-4.03-4.51-5.39-6.27-7.16-8.04-8.53-9.43-10.33-11.22-12.10?-13.01-13.51-14.40-15.30-16.19-17.08-17.57-18.47-19.34-20.17,3 p
10000m: 1.Oscar Mathisen 18.02,5 RR 2.Kristian Strøm 18.43,8 3.Stener Johannessen 18.45,0 4.Otto Christiansen 18.57,5 pb 5.Ole Mamen 18.59,0 pb 6.Henning Olsen 19.06,4 7.Arnulf Hvidsten 19.34,8 pb 8.Sigurd Syversen 19.38,5 pb 9.Karl Gulbrandsen 19.39,8 pb 10.Gunerius Schou 19.40,5 11.Bjarne Frang 19.52,5 12.Hans Brandt 20.17,3 pb 13.Thoralf Thoresen 20.37,8 14.Thoralf Hansen 20.49,0 Trygve Lundgreen 18.25,9D
Many debutants here. Best of them Christiansen, entering Adelskalenderen in 65th place and the lowland Adelskalender in 55th place.
Overall 1.Oscar Mathisen 2 2.Kristian Strøm 9 3.Bjarne Frang 12 Sigurd Syversen 12 5.Otto Christiansen 13 Stener Johannessen 13 7.Gunerius Schou 14 Arnulf Hvidsten 14 9.Thoralf Hansen 15 10.Thoralf Thoresen 16 11.Ole Mamen 17 12.Karl Gulbrandsen 19