Olympic Speed Skating Lake Placid 1932
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
by body-building, but had the brawn and by the Olympic champion, decided that his strength of a athlete acquired through the goal was to prevent PADOU from rejoining his many hours toiled in the butcher shop. friends. “Well, it is an emergency, I have Sometimes, he was thought to be a very funny something to say to a friend, but I promise I man. In Paris, one hour before a very shall return very fast, and as a proof of my important match against Hungary during the good faith, I give you my hat.” 1931 European championships, he went up The policeman took the hat, and waited, the bleachers of the Tourelles swimming pool waited, waited. PADOU played and three hours (the one used for the 1924 Olympic Games) to later, they met again in the pool manager’s greet a friend from northern France. He was office. Henri Padou, the no-nonsense, tough, faced with a problem when wanting to return to kind hearted champion, very politely thanked the part of the pool destined for the the policeman for having kept an eye on his competition. A stubborn policeman who was property. obviously unaware of the popularity attained OLYMPIC SPEED SKATING LAKE PLACID 1932 by Ture Widlund Why Clas Thunberg did not enter not the conventional ISU rules. In the obituary of John “Jack” SHEA in no 2- 2002 Steve HARRIS is writing “when he [Clas Clas THUNBERG was THUNBERG) was told that the race would be run well in advance of under North-American Rules Thunberg angrily the 1932 Olympic dropped out of the competition”. When reading Winter Games aware this you get the impression that Clas THUNBERG of this, that the races did not learn about the mass start until in Lake should be conducted, Placid and then angrily dropped out. That was not under the not at all the case. conventional ISU rules but, under the Clas THUNBERG, FIN, was probably the greatest North American pack skater in the inter-war period and one of the style rules. ail-time greatest skaters. 5 times World Champion, 1923, 1925, 1928, 1929 and 1931, Clas THUNBERG had 4 times European Champion, 1922, 1928, been in USA and 1931 and 1932, 5 Olympic Gold medals and 1 Canada in 1925 and Silver and 1 Bronze medal (in spite of had then gained abstaining from the 1932 Games), 8 World experience of the Records and unbeaten for more than 10 years pack style. He knew on his favourite distance, 1.500m. that it was not the fastest skater over Clas THUNBERG At the congress of the International Skating the distance that won Union ISU, in Vienna May 1931, an important the race, but the one with the best tactical skill rule change had been adopted. The new rule over the last lap, with fair means or foul, like of a mass start in permitted the use pushing, elbowing, interference and shirt International Competitions on a single track. pulling, which won the race. Even if there The Amateur Skating Union of the United were rules against such unfair methods these States, the ISU member organising the speed rules were seldom enforced. He knew that the skating events of the III Olympic Winter Europeans, with no pack style experience, Games, voted in favour of the North American would stand no chance against the Americans racing rules, called pack style, and announced and Canadians unless they did something to that mass start over a single track would apply, Journal of Olympic History Volume 11 January 2003 Number1-p.44 Norwegian, side we would stand no chance in the carrousel of the Yankees. I did not think for a moment that I could win a single distance alone. And not the Norwegians either with their ‘European thinking’.” Needless to say Clas THUNBERG was right. The Europeans did not stand a chance against the tactics and trickery displayed by the Americans and Canadians. The mass-start They practically swept the offset their tactical inexperience. board winning 10 of the 12 medals at stake. The best European skaters at the time were The outcome might have been quite different the Norwegians and Clas THUNBERG. So, the had the Norwegians been wise enough to latter took the initiative to form a Finnish- accept the proposal of Clas THUNBERG for Norwegian alliance. He has written about this cooperation. in his autobiography Isen var mitt liv (The Ice The Organisation Was My Life): “I wrote privately to Gerhard Karlsen in Oslo – Were the competitions well organised and he was at the time President of the Norwegian smoothly run or were the organisation faulty Skating Association. I suggested the and did the rules give rise to unpleasant Norwegians a certain cooperation at the incidents? Let us look at some of the reports Olympic Games. With Oscar Mathiesen’s and of the skating events. my own bitter USA-experiences in mind I thought we should form a ‘European group’ to Sven LINDHAGEN, assistant manager of the offset the unpleasent-nesses of the ‘Yankees’. Swedish ski team and journalist at the So, I suggested that I, with all imaginable Swedish sports paper Idrottsbladet, is in his America-influenced tricks, should see to it that book Mina 13 olympiader (My 13 Olympiads), (Bernt) Evensen won 500 and 1.500m if the writing as follows: Norwegians in their turn would help me win “At these skating events... you noticed that 5.000 and 10.000m. After some time Karlsen’s everything was improvised. Among other things reply arrived. It was a message, short and to the they had forgotten (or not bothered) to recruit point, they were not interested. They would officials. The Organising Committee had to most likely do all right anyway.” inquire by the visiting teams whether they had any leaders that might officiate. Luckily there In an other book by Clas THUNBERG, Alene mot were some and it fell upon me to, for the first hele Norge (Alone against All Norway), he time in my life, act as a skating official: says: timekeeper. It certainly does seem strange to “I wrote to [Ivar] Ballangrud and [Michael] make one’s début as such at the Olympic Staksrud and appealed for cooperation and that Games. we should take turns to help each other to Officials and timekeepers were summoned to victory. But the Norwegian skaters had the Stadium half an hour before the 1st start (as confidence in themselves and meant that they I recall it 10.00). It was cloudy and you were should manage without the help of an old Finn.” sitting shivering waiting for something to Being unable to establish a Finnish- happen. The skaters were warming up but the Norwegian pact in Lake Placid Clas THUNBERG Organising management team was missing. decided not to enter the 1932 Olympic Winter They arrived at about 10, accompanied by the Games. He summed up his reasons as movie people. follows: - It is bad light, said the movie lords looking up “I clearly realised that without a certain kind of towards the sky. We can’t get any good team cooperation from our, i.e. Finnish- p. 45 - Journal of Olympic History Volume 11 January 2003 Number 1 pictures. We are postponing the competition an Their accounts agree, or complement each hour, then we will see whether the sun has other, except for some minor matters which emerged. are accounted for in the footnotes. Whereupon they went back to the hotel to carry Drawing of lots on with their interrupted breakfast. How the drawing of lots for the heats should After about an hour they returned. They still did not accept the light (still cloudy) and went back be carried out was apparently not covered, or to their breakfast again. unsatisfactorily covered, by the rules because it gave rise to long and drawn out discussions After another half hour wait did, thanks to between the representatives of the energetic European pressures, the competition participating nations. At last a proposal put start. forward by Norway was accepted. It first It would be a very gross distortion of the truth to gained the support of Sweden and Finland, say that these skating events were then of Japan and at last, after some characterized by ‘Olympic peace’. Strong hesitation, of Canada. irritation and protests were the (dis)order of the day.” The drawing of lots took place Sunday, January 31, 1932, in the Town Hall. The heats In Idrotfsbladet (IB), he wrote: were drawn by nation, then the nations, “The announcement of the results was badly independently of each other, allocated their handled. The press had to make do as well as skaters to the heats as they pleased. it could and all journalists had to take down the results as they were called out as there were The order at the starting line was decided by no scoreboards.” drawing of lots immediately before each race. According to the Official Report there were 9 500m timekeepers, 6 Americans, 1 from Sweden, This was the first event of the 3rd Olympic Sven LINDHAGEN, 1 from Norway, Carsten Winter Games, taking place immediately after MATHESON, and 1 from Canada, P.J. the Opening Ceremony. MULQUEEN, President of the Canadian Olympic Committee. As only the times of the The heats and the final were fair with the winners of the heats and finals were exception of the 3rd heat where Haakon published it does indeed seem strange to PEDERSEN, NOR, was obstructed by the have that many timekeepers. The question is American John O’NEIL FARRELL. There is, whether only the times of the winners were however, no reports of any protest against this taken (with 9 stopwatches?) or whether the interference.