Göran Claeson

Rolf Göran Claeson (born 4 March 1945) is a former speed skater from Sweden.

Göran Claeson
Göran Claeson in 1970
Personal information
Full nameRolf Göran Claeson
Born (1945-03-04) 4 March 1945
Älvsjö, Sweden
Height1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Weight82 kg (181 lb)
Sport
SportSpeed skating
ClubSödermalms IK, Bromma
Medal record
Men's speed skating
Representing  Sweden
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place1972 Sapporo 1,500 m

Claeson participated in the 1,500 m at the 1968 Winter Olympics of Grenoble, but finished only 20th.[1] In 1969, at the first European Allround Championships in which Claeson participated, he won bronze. Three weeks later, at the first World Allround Championships in which he participated, he won silver. More international medals followed during the next few years, but none of them were gold. Then, after the 1971–1972 season, two of the world's top skaters, Ard Schenk and Kees Verkerk, joined a newly formed professional league. Another top skater, Dag Fornæss, retired from speed skating. The following season, Claeson promptly became both European and World Allround Champion.

Claeson won several more medals, including a bronze medal on the 1,500 m at the 1972 Winter Olympics of Sapporo.[1] In 1975, he entered the European Allround Championships as the reigning European Champion, but he finished only 11th. He retired from speed skating that same year.

Medals

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

Championships Gold medalSilver medalBronze medal
Winter Olympics––1972 (1,500 m)
World Allround19731969
1971		1974
World Sprint–––
European Allround1973
1974		–1969
1970

In addition, Claeson won a total of 25 Swedish National Championships titles:

  • Swedish Championships 1,500 m: 1969, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1974, and 1975.
  • Swedish Championships 5,000 m: 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, and 1975.
  • Swedish Championships 10,000 m: 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, and 1974.
  • Swedish Championships Allround: 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, and 1975.

Records

World record

Over the course of his career, Claeson skated one world record:

DisciplineTimeDateLocation
Big combination171.7582 March 1969Inzell

Source: SpeedSkatingStats.com[2]

Personal records

To put these personal records in perspective, the column WR lists the official world records on the dates that Claeson skated his personal records.[1]

EventResultDateVenueWR
500 m39.2 15 January 1972Davos38.0
1,000 m1:20.2 3 March 1971Notodden1:18.8
1,500 m2:00.1 17 January 1971Inzell1:58.7
3,000 m4:17.4710 January 1973Misurina4:08.3
5,000 m7:17.0 1 March 1969Inzell7:16.7
10,000 m15:18.7 14 February 1971Gothenburg15:03.6
Big combination171.7582 March 1969Inzell172.058

Claeson has an Adelskalender score of 168.868 points. His highest ranking on the Adelskalender was a second place.

References
  1. Göran Claeson. sports-reference.com
  2. "Göran Claeson". SpeedSkatingStats.com. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
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