Birger Wasenius

Birger Wasenius (7 December 1911 – 2 January 1940) was a Finnish World Champion in speed skating. He was born in Helsinki.

Birger Wasenius

Birger Wasenius (1939)
Medal record
Representing Finland
Men's speed skating
Olympic Games
	1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen	1,500 m
	1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen	5,000 m
	1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen	10,000 m

Wasenius reached the world top in 1933 when he won a silver medal at the European Allround Championships. More medals soon followed, including two silver medals and one bronze medal at the 1936 Winter Olympics of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, but none of them were gold. Most of the gold medals those days went to Norwegian skater Ivar Ballangrud. In fact, four of the six silver medals Wasenius won at the Winter Olympics, the World Allround Championships, and the European Allround Championships were behind Ballangrud. Finally, at the 1939 World Allround Championships of Helsinki, his city of birth, Wasenius became World Allround Champion, winning the 1,500 m and finishing second on the other three distances.

At the end of 1939, the Winter War between Finland and the Soviet Union broke out, and Wasenius was killed early 1940 while fighting for the Finnish army on the islands of Lake Ladoga.

Medals

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

Championships	Gold medal	Silver medal	Bronze medal
Winter Olympics	–	1936 (5,000 m) 1936 (10,000 m)	1936 (1,500 m)
World Allround	1939	1934 1936 1937	–
European Allround	–	1933	1935 1937

In addition, Wasenius won the Finnish National Allround Championships in 1933, 1934, 1935, 1937, 1938, and 1939 – a total of six times.

Personal records

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

Event	Result	Date	Venue	WR
500 m	43.4	5 February 1938	Davos	42.3
1,500 m	2:18.2	31 January 1937	Davos	2:17.4
3,000 m	4:55.7	30 January 1937	Davos	4:49.6
5,000 m	8:21.3	31 January 1937	Davos	8:17.2
10,000 m	17:28.2	14 February 1936	Garmisch-Partenkirchen	17:17.4

Wasenius has an Adelskalender score of 192.006 points. His highest ranking on the Adelskalender was a third place.

External links

• Birger Wasenius at SkateResults.com
• Evert Stenlund's Adelskalender pages at the Wayback Machine (archived February 12, 2007)
• Historical World Records from the International Skating Union
• The Winter War 1939-1940 from Puolustusvoimat (the Finnish Defence Forces)
• Birger Wasenius at Olympics.com
• Birger Wasenius at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)