# Roald Larsen

Roald Morel Larsen (1 February 1898 – 28 July 1959) was a World Champion speed skater from Norway. He was born in Kristiania (now Oslo). Roald Larsen's parents were Hans Jacob Larsen, a glazier born in Kristiania in 1870, and Lydia Larsen, born in Porsgrunn in 1865. They had four children, all sons: Jaan Harald (1891), Lyder Ragnar (1895), Roald Morel (1898), and Gelgjermo Stone (1899).
Representing Kristiania Skøiteklub (now Oslo Skøiteklub), Larsen had his best year in 1924, when he became World Allround, European Allround, and Norwegian Allround Champion, in addition to winning two silver and three bronze medals at the 1924 Winter Olympics of Chamonix. One of those Olympic silver medals was on the allround event, a combination of the results of the 500 m, the 1500 m, the 5000 m, and the 10000 m – the only time in Olympic history that there was an allround event. Larsen won several more medals in the years that followed, including another bronze medal at the 1928 Winter Olympics of St. Moritz.
Larsen often had to admit defeat to Clas Thunberg. This is illustrated by the fact that at none of the six events in which Larsen won an Olympic medal he managed to finish ahead of Thunberg. After 1928, Larsen's appearances and successes quickly became less, although he kept competing occasionally until 1936.
After retiring from speed skating, Larsen followed in his father's footsteps and became a full-time glazier. He founded the glazier company Roald Larsen AS in Oslo in 1937. Larsen died in 1959, at the age of 62. As of 2018, Roald Larsen AS still exists, and is a full-service construction company.

## Medals

An overview of medals won by Larsen at important championships he participated in, listing the years in which he won each:
| Championships | Gold medal | Silver medal | Bronze medal |
| Winter Olympics | – | 1924 (1500 m) 1924 (Allround) | 1924 (500 m) 1924 (5000 m) 1924 (10000 m) 1928 (500 m) |
| World Allround | 1924 | 1922 1926 | 1925 |
| European Allround | 1924 | 1925 | 1923 1928 1929 |
| Norwegian Allround | 1922 1924 | 1921 1923 1925 1927 1928 | 1926 |
Source: SpeedSkatingStats.com & Skoyteforbundet.no

## Record
### World records

Over the course of his career, Larsen skated one world record:
| Distance | Time | Date | Location |
| 500 m | 43.1 | 4 February 1928 | Eisstadion Davos, Davos |
Source: ISU.org

### Personal records

Personal records :
| Men's speed skating |||||
| Event | Result | Date | Location | Notes |
| 500 m | 43.1 | 4 February 1928 | Eisstadion Davos, Davos | World record until beaten by Clas Thunberg on 19 January 1929. |
| 1000 m | 1:31.8 | 3 February 1929 | Hamar stadion, Hamar | |
| 1500 m | 2:21.3 | 1 January 1928 | Frogner stadion, Oslo | |
| 3000 m | 5:21.7 | 5 March 1935 | Tønsberg | |
| 5000 m | 8:34.4 | 10 February 1924 | Idrætspladsen (Skytterbanen), Kongsberg | |
| 10000 m | 17:40.3 | 17 February 1924 | Frogner stadion, Kristiania | Oslo was called Kristiania before 1925. |
Larsen's personal record on the 1000 m equalled Oscar Mathisen's 20-year-old world record on that distance.
Larsen has an Adelskalender score of 194.655 points. His highest ranking on the Adelskalender was a second place.