Laila Schou Nilsen

Laila Schou Nilsen ( born March 18, 1919 in Grefsen, Vestre Aker, † 30 July 1998 Lanzarote) was a Norwegian speed skater, skier, tennis player and handball player. Together with Undis Blikken and Synnøve Lie she was a pioneer of Norwegian and international speed skating event of the ladies.

Biography

Laila Schou Nilsen was an extremely versatile athlete. After she had shown as a child in Nordic skiing excellence, she focused first on the speed skating and won in 1935 the unofficial world championship of the ladies in the Frogner Stadium. Since the Speed ​​Skating Ladies' was not included in Garmisch -Partenkirchen in the Winter Olympic Games program in 1936, but for the first time alpine skiing competitions, she began in winter 1935/36, with intensive ski training and found within a very short time to connect to the international forefront. Finally she won at the Winter Games in 1936 with the fastest time in downhill bronze medal in the combination. After that, she was awarded as youngest athlete to date with the Egebergs Ærespris.

In the next few years Schou Nilsen was equally active in skiing and speed skating and also started with tennis. In the speed skating around World Championships 1937 in Davos and Oslo 1938 she became world champion. In Davos, she won all four distances and set four world records (500 m, 1000 m, 3000 m and 5000 m). The record for the 500 meters was broken only in 1955 by Tamara Rylova in Alma -Ata. The world record over 1500 meters she held until 1950 In the Alpine World Skiing Championships 1938 in Engelberg they finished sixth in the slalom, seventh in the combination and eighth in the downhill. ; a year later she scored at the World Ski Championships 1939 in Zakopane fifth place in the combination, finishing seventh in the slalom and tenth place in the exit. In addition to her international success, she was also Norwegian champion in speed skating in the years 1935, 1937, 1939 and 1940 and won from 1939 to 1948 ten Norwegian champion in alpine skiing, and in 1938 the Swiss Championship in downhill. In 1948 she participated in alpine skiing again at the Olympic Winter Games. In St. Moritz, Switzerland, she was seventh in the downhill, 13th in the combination and 14th in the slalom.

In tennis, Schou Nilsen was active until 1961. Overall, they won in this sport 85 times a Norwegian Championship, including 23 times in singles and 28 times in doubles. In Handball, she won four times the Norwegian Championship, they also played twelve caps for the Norwegian national handball team. In addition, they participated in four of the Monte Carlo Rally. In addition to her athletic career Schou Nilsen founded after the Second World War, a company in the sporting goods industry. In the 1960s and 70s she was Sportfunktionärin, among others, the Norwegian Olympic Committee.

Personal records in speed skating

  • 500 m - 46.4 s
  • 1000 m - 1.38,8 min
  • 1500 m - 2.38,1 min
  • 3000 m - 5.29,6 min
  • 5000 m - 9.28,3 min

Olympic statistics

  • Garmisch -Partenkirchen 1936: 3 combination
  • St. Moritz 1948: 7 departure, 13 combination, 14 Slalom
Slalom skiing Alpine skiing combined Alpine skiing at the 1936 Winter Olympics July 30 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1938 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1939 1948 Winter Olympics Store norske leksikon Norsk biografisk leksikon
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