Julius Ferninand Skutnabb (12 June 1889 – 26 February 1965) was a Finnish

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

. A fireman by profession, he made his international debut at the World Allround Championships in 1914, but his international career was interrupted by

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He kept competing nationally, becoming the Finnish Allround Champion in 1914, 1916, and 1917. International activity resumed in 1922 and Skutnabb, already 32 years old, finished fifth at the World Allround Championships that year. After placing sixth at the world championships the following year, his best year came in 1924.Julius Skutnabb
sports-reference.com At the

1924 Winter Olympics The 1924 Winter Olympics, officially known as the I Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Chamonix 1924 (), were a winter multi-sport event which was held in 1924 in Chamonix, France. Originally held in association with the 1924 Summer ...

Chamonix Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (; ; (no longer in use)), more commonly known simply as Chamonix (), is a communes of France, commune in the departments of France, department in the regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It was the site of the f ...

, he first won silver on the 5,000 m behind compatriot

Clas Thunberg Arnold Clas ("Classe") Robert Thunberg (5 April 1893 – 28 April 1973) was a Finnish speed skater who won five Olympic gold medals – three at the inaugural Winter Olympics held in Chamonix in 1924 (along with a silver and a bronze medal) and ...

; the next day he became Olympic Champion on the 10,000 m, while Thunberg took silver. Since these were the first Winter Olympics to be held, his 10,000 m time automatically was the Olympic record. These performances, combined with his 500 m and 1,500 m times during those Olympics, were good enough for a third place in the allround competition (which was also an Olympic speed skating event, but only in 1924), and Skutnabb returned home with three medals – one of each colour. Later in 1924 Skutnabb won a bronze medal at the World Allround Championships, and in 1926 he became European Allround Champion. Skutnabb participated in the

1928 Winter Olympics The 1928 Winter Olympics, officially known as the II Olympic Winter Games (; ; ; ) and commonly known as St. Moritz 1928 (; ), were an international winter multi-sport event that was celebrated from 11 to 19 February 1928 in St. Moritz, Swit ...

and won his second 5,000 m Olympic silver medal (this time behind

Ivar Ballangrud Ivar Eugen Ballangrud (né ''Eriksen'', 7 March 1904 – 1 June 1969) was a Norwegian speed skater, a four-time Olympic champion in speed skating. As the only triple gold medalist at the 1936 Winter Olympics, Ballangrud was the most successful a ...

) at the age of 38 years and 246 days.

Medals

An overview of medals won by Skutnabb at important championships he participated in, listing the years in which he won each:Julius Skutnabb
SpeedSkatingStats.com

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skutnabb, Julius 1889 births 1965 deaths Finnish male speed skaters Olympic speed skaters for Finland Olympic gold medalists for Finland Olympic silver medalists for Finland Olympic bronze medalists for Finland Speed skaters at the 1924 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 1928 Winter Olympics Speed skaters from Helsinki Olympic medalists in speed skating Medalists at the 1924 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1928 Winter Olympics World Allround Speed Skating Championships medalists