Axel Paulsen (18 July 1855 – 9 February 1938) was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

figure skater Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...

and

speed skater Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skating. ...

. He invented the figure skating

Axel jump Axel may refer to: People * Axel (name), all persons with the name Places * Axel, Netherlands, a town ** Capture of Axel, a battle at Axel in 1586 Arts, entertainment, media * ''Axel'', a 1988 short film by Nigel Wingrove * ''Axel'', a Cirque d ...

and held the world title in speed skating from 1882 to 1890. In 1976 he was inducted into the

World Figure Skating Hall of Fame The World Figure Skating Hall of Fame serves as a repository for the sport of figure skating. The World Figure Skating Hall of Fame is where the greatest names in the history of the sport are honored. It is located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, ...

Biography

Paulsen was born in Aker near Christiania (today's Oslo) to Haagine Olsen (1822–1918) and the merchant Johan Peter Paulsen (1820–1887). He grew up in Oslo, where his father ran a coffee shop. He started skating at early age and by 1870 already competed both in speed skating and figure skating. In 1882 he won the World Championships in speed skating in

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and received an extra prize in figure skating for a new jump, which he performed while wearing speed skates and which was later named after him. In the winter of 1883 Paulsen went to North America to participate in a series of skating events. On 8 February 1883 a race was held at the open air rink in Washington Park,

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. Paulsen defeated 17 picked skaters, the fastest from Norway, Canada, England and the United States, and set the following records at the race: *1 mile: 3 minutes, 34 3/5 seconds *5 miles: 19 minutes, 10 seconds *10 miles: 39 minutes, 7 3/5 seconds In early 1885 he won both speed skating and figure skating competitions in

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, and on 26 February 1885 had a three-mile race against another famous speed skater

Renke van der Zee Renke () is a small village on the right bank of the Sava, Sava River in the Municipality of Litija in central Slovenia. The area is part of the traditional region of Lower Carniola. It is now included with the rest of the municipality in the Cent ...

at the

1885 speed skating race at Frognerkilen The speed skating race at Frognerkilen in 1885 was a duel between Norwegian skater Axel Paulsen and Dutch skater Renke van der Zee. The race took place on the fjord ice on the bay of Frognerkilen, Kristiania, on 26 February 1885. Paulsen had been na ...

Frognerkilen Frognerkilen is a bay in the inner Oslofjord of Norway, east of the Bygdøy peninsula. Its name stems from the neighbourhood Frogner, a name which was taken from a farm. It was formerly known, with Bestumkilen, under the name of Ladegaardsfjordene ...

. The race attracted 20,000–30,000 spectators and had a prize of 1800

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s. Paulsen won by more than one minute. Paulsen held the world speed skating title from 1882 to 1890, losing it on 1 February 1890 to

Hugh J. McCormick Hugh J. McCormick (1854–1910) was the World Professional Speed Skating Champion from 1890 to 1891. Biography Hugh McCormick was born at McCormick House on Kennebecasis Island, New Brunswick, Canada located at the confluence of the Saint John R ...

Hugh McCormick (D)
New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame at a three-race meet in

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. Besides inventing the Axel jump, he constructed the first modern speed skates with a metal blade fixed to the boot. After the death of his father, he took over his coffee shop and ran it until 1936 together with his brother Edvin. He married twice, first in 1885 to the Welsh woman Kathryn Williams, the marriage being dissolved in 1890; and second to Anna Elise Nicolaisen (1865–1935).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paulsen, Axel 1855 births 1938 deaths Norwegian male speed skaters Norwegian male single skaters Norwegian expatriates in the United States