Hjalmar Andersen

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Men's speed skating
Olympic medal record
Gold	1952 Oslo	1,500 metres
Gold	1952 Oslo	5,000 metres
Gold	1952 Oslo	10,000 metres

Hjalmar ("Hjallis") Johan Andersen (born March 12, 1923) is a former speed skater from Norway who won three gold medals at the 1952 Winter Olympic Games in Oslo, Norway.

He was born on Rødøy, an island off the coast of Nordland in Norway. He grew up on Lademoen, a part of Trondheim where mostly workers lived, and where sport and friendship was an important part of life.

He made his international debut during the 1948 Winter Olympic Games in St. Moritz, Switzerland. He won the qualifying race for 1,500 m, but he was still not selected for the Norwegian team for this distance. He was selected for the 10,000 m team, but because of the terrible ice conditions he did not finish the race.

He was the best skater of the world in the period of 1950-1952. He was three times World Champion. He is on the exclusive list of four skaters who have won this title in three successive years. He was also three times European Champion in this period, in addition to winning three gold medals at the 1952 Olympic Games in Oslo (1,500 m, 5,000 m and 10,000 m).

He quit skating after the 1952 Olympics, but he was talked into a new try in 1954. He won both the 5,000 m and 10,000 m at the European Championships in Davos, Switzerland this year, and he was second in the total standings. He qualified for the 1956 Olympics and earned a 6th place in the 10,000 m.

During his career he set 5 World Records. His 10,000 m World Record in 1949 (16:57.4) was the first official World Record below 17 minutes on the distance.

He was also a great cyclist at a national level, and he was awarded the Egebergs Ærespris in 1951 for his achievements in speed skating and cycling.

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Leaders of the Adelskalender

Rudolf Ericsson - Peder Østlund - Jaap Eden - Oscar Mathisen - Ivar Ballangrud - Michael Staksrud - Åke Seyffarth - Nikolay Mamonov - Hjalmar Andersen - Boris Shilkov - Dmitriy Sakunenko - Juhani Järvinen - Knut Johannesen - Jonny Nilsson - Per Ivar Moe - Eduard Matusevich - Ard Schenk - Kees Verkerk - Magne Thomassen - Hans van Helden - Vladimir Lobanov - Jan Egil Storholt - Sergey Marchuk - Vladimir Belov - Eric Heiden - Viktor Shasherin - Andrej Bobrov - Nikolay Gulyayev - Michael Hadschieff - Eric Flaim - Johann Olav Koss - Falko Zandstra - Rintje Ritsma - Gianni Romme - Jochem Uytdehaage - Chad Hedrick