Biography of Havard Lorentzen, a Norwegian Speed Skater
Havard Lorentzen made a great breakthrough in 2017/18 season by winning 2 medals at Winter Olympics and becoming the world champion. The athlete’s efforts have been finally awarded and he definitely deserves this success. Let’s discover more about Havard.
Career Start and International Achievements
Havard Lorentzen poster
Havard Lorentzen was born on October 22, 1992, in Bergen, Norway. When he was 8, he started cycling and later, decided to combine this kind of sports with speed skating. However, at 13, Havard made the decision to proceed in speed skating only.
Participating in 2012 World Junior Championships, Lorentzen claimed gold in 1000 m. In 2011/12 season, he debuted at the World Sprint Championships and finished on the overall 29th place. In 2014/15, he rose to the overall 13th place, but was 22nd in 2015/16.
In 2016/17 season, the speed skater became an overall silver medalist at the World Sprint Championships in addition to the 5th overall place at the European Sprint Championships. In 2017/18, he gained his first overall gold medal.
Havard Lorentzen made a World Cup debut in 2010/11 season. He rose to his first podium in 2013/14 after gaining a bronze medal in team pursuit. His first gold medal was earned in 2017/18 season. That year, the athlete won the overall World Cup title after being the best in four 500 m races, 1000 m and team sprint. In total, at the World Cup events, Lorentzen earned 6 gold, 5 silver and 6 bronze medals.
2018 Winter Olympics
Havard Lorentzen poster
Havard made an Olympic debut at 2014 Sochi. He didn’t gain any medals. He was 32nd in 500 m, 16th in 1500 m, 11th in 1000 m and 5th in team pursuit.
However, at 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, he claimed gold in 500 m, finishing the race in 34.41 and setting the track and Olympic record. He was also a silver medalist in 1000 m, finishing in 1:07.99, just 0.04 milliseconds later than the winner, Kjeld Nuis.
By his victory in 500 m, Lorentzen returned Norway to the Olympic podiums in speed skating, which were often occupied by Dutch athletes. Havard said: “We don't like it when the Dutch win that much. It is good to beat them. This is as a good as it gets”.
He also shared some statistics: “It's been 20 years since the last Olympic gold medal [Adne Sondral won 1500 m at 1998 Witer Olympics]. It is 70 years since the 500 meters [Finn Helgesen won at the 1948 St. Moritz Games]. Long enough”.
Personal Records
Havard Lorentzen poster
Here are the personal bests of the Norwegian speed skater:
500 m – 34.41 (9 December 2017, Salt Lake City)
1000 m – 1:06.98 (2 December 2017, Calgary)
1500 m – 1:44.45 (15 November 2013, Salt Lake City)
5000 m – 6:39.99 (7 November 2010, Hamar)
10000 m – 14:40.65 (24 February 2013, Hamar)
In short, Havard Lorentzen is a very talented speed skater, who has just recently started to show his skills. We are sure that the following seasons, he will gain much more medals and titles.
