Geir Karlstad

Personal information

Nationality

Norwegian

Born

7 July 1963 (age 60)
Skedsmo, Akershus, Norway

Height

1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)

Weight

80 kg (176 lb)

Sport

Country

Norway

Sport

Speed skating

Club

SK Ceres (1972/73–1981/82)
Ask SK (1982/83–1986/87)
Lillestrøm SK (1987/88–1991/92)

Turned pro

1981

Retired

1992

Achievements and titles

Personal best(s)

500 m: 39.41 (1992)
1000 m: 1:22.5 (1981)
1500 m: 1:55.24 (1992)
3000 m: 3:59.78 (1987)
5000 m: 6:43.59 (1987)
10 000 m: 13:48.29 (1992)

Medal record

Men's speed skating

Olympic Games
	1992 Albertville	5,000 m
	1992 Albertville	10,000 m
World Allround
	1989 Oslo	Allround
European Allround
	1989 Gothenburg	Allround
World Junior
	1982 Innsbruck	Allround
Norwegian Allround
	1989 Hundorp	Allround
	1990 Verdal	Allround
	1985 Trondheim	Allround
	1986 Jevnaker	Allround
	1988 Oslo	Allround
	1991 Hol/Gol	Allround
	1992 Savalen	Allround
Norwegian Single Distances
	1987 Stavanger	5,000 m
	1987 Stavanger	10,000 m
	1988 Hundorp	5,000 m
	1992 Trondheim	5,000 m
	1987 Stavanger	1,500 m
	1990 Brandbu	1,500 m
	1990 Brandbu	5,000 m

Geir Karlstad (born 7 July 1963) is a Norwegian former speed skater and national team speed skating coach.

Biography

Although best at the longest distances (the 5,000 m and the 10,000 m), Geir Karlstad became Junior World Allround Champion in 1982 and, as a senior, won bronze in both the World and European Allround Championships in 1989. Among the dominating speed skaters in the 1980s, Karlstad competed at the 1984 and 1988 Winter Olympics, winning no medals. At the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, he won the gold medal on the 5,000 m and the bronze on the 10,000 m while skating for Lillestrøm SK. He also represented Aktiv SK, but in his youth he represented SK Ceres.

A severe back injury forced him to end his career before the 1994 Winter Olympics of Lillehammer held in his homeland. He had originally intended to end his career at those Winter Olympics. From 1998 to 2002, he was the national team coach of the Norwegian speed skating team. Karlstad received the Oscar Mathisen Award in 1986.

Medals

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

Championships	Gold medal	Silver medal	Bronze medal
Winter Olympics	1992 (5,000 m)	–	1992 (10,000 m)
World Allround	–	–	1989
European Allround	–	–	1989
Norwegian Allround	1989 1990	1985 1986 1988 1991 1992	–
Norwegian Single Distance	1987 (5,000 m) 1987 (10,000 m) 1988 (5,000 m) 1992 (5,000 m)	1987 (1,500 m) 1990 (1,500 m) 1990 (5,000 m)	–

Records

World records

Over the course of his career, Karlstad set five world records:

Discipline	Time	Date	Location
10,000 m	14.12,14	16 February 1986	Inzell
10,000 m	14.03,92	15 February 1987	Heerenveen
5,000 m	6.45,44	22 November 1987	Heerenveen
5,000 m	6.43,59	4 December 1987	Calgary
10,000 m	13.48,51	6 December 1987	Calgary

Source: SpeedSkatingStats.com^[1]

Personal records

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

Event	Result	Date	Venue	WR
500 m	39.41	17 January 1992	Heerenveen	36.45
1,000 m	1:22.5	25 January 1981	Notodden	1:13.60
1,500 m	1:55.24	22 March 1992	Calgary	1:52.06
3,000 m	3:59.78	19 March 1987	Heerenveen	4:03.22
5,000 m	6:43.59	4 December 1987	Calgary	6:45.44
10,000 m	13:48.29	19 January 1992	Heerenveen	13:43.54
Big combination	160.189	19 January 1992	Heerenveen	157.396