Sverre Farstad
| Given name | Sverre |
| Surname | Farstad |
| Sex | Male |
| Born | 8 February 1920 |
| Died | 27 March 1978 |
Sverre Farstad, from Lademoen in Trondheim, was one of the best Norwegian speed skaters in the first years after the second World War. He became Olympic champion on 1500 m in St.Moritz 1948 and European champion in Davos 1949.
He made his international debut in 1947, with a very surprising bronze medal in the European Championship and a very popular silver medal in the World Championship at Bislett. He was only 9th in the national championship, two weeks before the European Championship, and he was only qualified because several of the best Norwegian skaters renounced from competing. Very surprisingly he won the 1500 m in his first international championship, 0.1 second ahead of European champion Åke Seyffarth. In the World championship less than two weeks later, he won both the 500 m and the 1500 m, and he was only beaten by the Finn Lassi Parkkinen on the 5000 m, by 2.2 seconds. But he was no stayer, and he lost the championship on the last distance.
However, he made up for this two years later, by becoming European champion in Davos. He won the too shortest distances in a wide margin, and even though Hjalmar Andersen set a new world record on 10000 m, he was still almost 1 point behind Farstad. Farstad's total points was a new allround World Record, the first to be recognized by the ISU. The serie 41,8 - 8.15,4 - 2.13,9 - 17.39,7 gave a total of 188.958 points, almost 2 points lower than the previous world best, set by Ballangrud in Davos exactly 11 years earlier.
Sverre Farstad was an allround athlete, with medals in national championships also in weightlifting and rowing. He was awarded "Egebergs Ærespris" (Honorary Price of Egeberg) in 1947 for his achievements in different sports. He was a member of the most successfull sports club in the history of Olympic speed skating - "Falken" (the falcon) from Trondheim. Falken brought up two more Olympic champions: Hjalmar Andersen (triple Olympic champion 1952) and Jan Egil Storholt (Olympic champion 1976).
Highest rank on the Adelskalender: 3 (1949-1950)
Last updated on 26 November 2005 by Bjarte Hetland.International Championship Results
| Result | Distance | Date | Tournament | Venue | |
| NC14 | Allround Men | 3 February 1946 | Unofficial European Championships 1946 | Trondheim | |
| 3 | Allround Men | 7 February 1947 | European Championships Men 1947 | Stockholm |
| 2 | Allround Men | 16 February 1947 | World Championships Men 1947 | Oslo |
| 6 | 500 m Men | 31 January 1948 | Olympic Winter Games 1948 | Sankt Moritz | |
| 1 | 1500 m Men | 2 February 1948 | Olympic Winter Games 1948 | Sankt Moritz |
| 4 | Allround Men | 15 February 1948 | European Championships Men 1948 | Hamar | |
| 11 | Allround Men | 29 February 1948 | World Championships Men 1948 | Helsinki | |
|
| 1 | Allround Men | 6 February 1949 | European Championships Men 1949 | Davos |
| NC13 | Allround Men | 20 February 1949 | World Championships Men 1949 | Oslo |
World Records
| Distance | Time | Rink | Date |
| Allround Men | 188.958 | Davos | 6 February 1949 |