Clas Thunberg

Clas Thunberg was a Finnish speed skater, born Arnold Clas Robert Thunberg in Helsinki on 5 April 1893, who won five Olympic gold medals: three at the first Winter Olympics, held in Chamonix in 1924, where he also took a silver and a bronze, and two at the 1928 Games in St. Moritz. He was the most successful athlete at both Games, and no other athlete has won such a high fraction of all Olympic events at a single Games. He took up the sport late, at eighteen, and from his first European Allround Championships at twenty-eight he was by far the most winning skater for ten years, with five World Allround titles and four European titles. He remains the only person to win Olympic allround gold, and at thirty-four he was the oldest Olympic speed skating champion.