Reidar Liaklev

Olympic medal record
Men's speed skating
Representing Norway
	1948 St. Moritz	5,000 m

Reidar Liaklev (15 July 1917 – 1 March 2006) was a speed skater from Norway who won the gold medal at the 1948 Winter Olympics of St. Moritz. Liaklev was a long distance specialist, but still managed to win the European Allround Championships.

Liaklev won bronze at the junior Norwegian Championships in 1939, and like most athletes of his time, his career was interrupted by World War II. His first participation in an international senior championship was at the World Allround Championships in 1947, where he became fourth overall by finishing third on the 5,000 m and winning the 10,000 m.

In the first Winter Olympics after World War II, in St. Moritz in February 1948, Liaklev won the 5,000 m with a time of 8:29.4. He also participated in the 10,000 m, but he did not finish his rase due to breathing problems in the high altitude. Two weeks later, he won the European Championships in Hamar. In 1949, he became Norwegian Allround Champion, and the following year, he won silver at the European Allround Championships in Helsinki, after having won the 10,000 m.

Liaklev represented Brandbu Idrettsforening (Brandbu Sports Association). Following his speed skating career, Liaklev was a speed skating coach and member of the Norwegian Skating Association board for a while.

Medals

An overview of medals won by Liaklev at important championships he participated in, listing the years in which he won each:

Championships	Gold medal	Silver medal	Bronze medal
Winter Olympics	1948 (5,000 m)	–	–
World Allround	–	–	–
European Allround	1948	1950	–
Norwegian Allround	1949	1948	1950

Personal records

To put these personal records in perspective, the WR column lists the official world records on the dates that Liaklev skated his personal records.

Event	Result	Date	Venue	WR
500 m	44.0	5 February 1949	Davos	41.8
1,000 m	1:34.5	7 March 1949	Hamar	1:28.4
1,500 m	2:16.6	6 February 1949	Davos	2:13.8
3,000 m	4:58.0	23 February 1950	Jevnaker	4:45.7
5,000 m	8:18.0	25 February 1950	Gjøvik	8:13.5
10,000 m	17:24.9	15 February 1948	Hamar	17:01.5

Liaklev has an Adelskalender score of 191.578 points. His highest ranking on the Adelskalender was a ninth place.

References

• Reidar Liaklev at SkateResults.com
• Reidar Liaklev. Deutsche Eisschnelllauf Gemeinschaft e.V. (German Skating Association).
• Evert Stenlund's Adelskalender pages
• Historical World Records. International Skating Union.
• National Championships results. Norges Skøyteforbund (Norwegian Skating Association).