Clas Thunberg facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Clas Thunberg

Personal information
Born	(1893-04-05)5 April 1893 Helsinki, Finland
Died	28 April 1973(1973-04-28) (aged 80) Helsinki, Finland
Height	1.67 m
Weight	67 kg
Sport
Country	Finland
Sport	Speed skating
Medal record Men's speed skating Representing  Finland Olympic Games Gold 1924 Chamonix 1500 m Gold 1924 Chamonix 5000 m Gold 1924 Chamonix Allround Silver 1924 Chamonix 10000 m Bronze 1924 Chamonix 500 m Gold 1928 St. Moritz 500 m Gold 1928 St. Moritz 1500 m World Allround Championships Bronze 1922 Kristiania Allround Gold 1923 Stockholm Allround Gold 1925 Oslo Allround Silver 1927 Tampere Allround Gold 1928 Davos Allround Gold 1929 Oslo Allround Gold 1931 Helsinki Allround European Championships Gold 1922 Helsinki Allround Silver 1923 Hamar Allround Silver 1924 Kristiania Allround Silver 1927 Stockholm Allround Gold 1928 Oslo Allround Silver 1929 Davos Allround Gold 1931 Stockholm Allround Gold 1932 Davos Allround

Clas Thunberg (born April 5, 1893 – died April 28, 1973) was a famous Finnish speed skater. He won five gold medals at the Winter Olympics. Three of these were at the first ever Winter Olympics in Chamonix in 1924. He also won two more gold medals at the 1928 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz.

Clas Thunberg was the most successful athlete at both the 1924 and 1928 Winter Olympics. He shares the honor for 1928 with Johan Grøttumsbraaten from Norway. He was born and passed away in Helsinki, Finland.

Clas Thunberg's Skating Journey

Clas Thunberg started speed skating a bit later in life, when he was 18 years old. He decided to focus completely on his sport. From the age of 28, he became the most successful skater for the next ten years. This was when he first competed in the European Allround Championships.

Thunberg was best at shorter and middle distances, from 500 to 5000 meters. He never won a 10,000-meter race in international events. However, he did earn a silver medal in the 10,000 meters at the 1924 Winter Olympics. His fellow Finnish skater, Julius Skutnabb, beat him by just three seconds.

At the 1924 Olympics, Thunberg won three gold medals. These were for the allround event, the 1500 meters, and the 5000 meters. He is still the only person to win an Olympic gold medal in the allround speed skating event. This event was removed from the Olympics after 1928.

Thunberg won five World Allround Championships titles between 1923 and 1931. He also won four European Allround Championships titles. He added two more gold medals at the 1928 Winter Olympics, bringing his total to five Olympic golds. These two medals made him the oldest Olympic Speed Skating Champion at 34 years old.

Even with his amazing career, he sometimes struggled with the longer distances. If his 500-meter and 1500-meter races didn't go perfectly, he could be beaten. For example, in 1927, 22-year-old Bernt Evensen won both the World and European titles over him. However, Evensen did not have the long winning streak that Thunberg achieved.

Clas Thunberg never reached the very top of the Adelskalender. This is a special ranking system for speed skaters based on their best times. Another great skater, Oscar Mathisen, had better personal bests in the three longest distances. Mathisen became a professional skater during World War I. This meant he and Thunberg never competed against each other in official events.

Clas Thunberg's Records

Clas Thunberg set four world records during his career:

Source: SpeedSkatingStats.com

Personal Best Times

Here are Clas Thunberg's best times in different speed skating distances:

It's important to know that Thunberg's personal best time for the 3000 meters was not recognized as an official world record.

His Adelskalender score was 192.633 points. His highest position on the Adelskalender ranking was second place.

Clas Thunberg's Medals

Here is a summary of the medals Clas Thunberg won at major championships:

Source: SpeedSkatingStats.com

See also

• List of multiple Olympic gold medalists