Hjalmar Andersen

Hjalmar Andersen was a Norwegian speed skater, nicknamed Hjallis and King Glad, who won three gold medals at the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo and was the only triple gold medalist there, which made him the most successful athlete of the Games. Born on 12 March 1923 on the island of Rødøya and raised in Trondheim, he began skating at ten as a member of the workers sports club Falken. He made his international debut at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, set a 10,000 m world record in Davos and was the best skater in the world from 1950 to 1952, winning the World Allround Championship in each of those years. He opened a sports store in Trondheim in 1950, was among the most popular sportsmen in Norway, had four statues raised in his lifetime and was given a state funeral.