(With thanks to Preben Gorud Petersen and Marnix Koolhaas for supplemental info.)

Originally, the conditions in Denmark were good for the development of skating. They had fjords, rivers, lakes and harbour areas that occasionally froze in the wintertime, and they were rarely bothered with snow covering the ice. And skating has been practised in Denmark for eons, the archaeologists find lots of ice-legs used by Vikings to cross the ice. The first clubs were founded in Copenhagen and Frederiksborg in 1869. In 1893, the Copenhagen club joined the ISU. National races were only held on lake or sea ice. On-land rinks were not made. As international speedskating grew, Danish skaters hampered by unreliable winters found it hard to compete with the foreigners, but they soon found a specialty: backwards skating, where some of their best times compared very well with the foreign ones. A 500 m in 59,0 by Vilhelm Hastrup in 1912 is especially remarkable.

The first races were held on January 23, 1871 on the Sortedamsøen lake in the heart of Copenhagen. Skating was enormously popular these early days, and the late 19th century was blessed with a string of good, cold winters. From 1885 and for many years afterwards, the adjacent 200 by 500 m Peblingesøen became the great speedskating centre in Denmark, regularly used in cold winters until 1956, and the national championships there always pulled thousands of spectators. But speedskating in Denmark is very exclusive to Copenhagen and just about unknown elsewhere. It is not known if the Frisians of the southwest have practised any speedskating in historic time.

The first Danish international skater was Thorvald Groth, an architect from Copenhagen who entered races in Denmark, Norway and Germany 1885-1888. One Emil Schou was entered in the Hamburg European championship 1891. He is listed as participating for Germany, but with Denmark in parentheses. And he was a skilled skater, finishing 5th in the shorter distances and 2nd in the 3 mile race ahead of the strong Hamar skater Adolf Norseng. Overall, he would have won a bronze medal if the reckoning that was introduced in 1908 were used.

The next Dane we hear from is Ejnar Sørensen, who appeared at the Stockholm 1905 European championship with a 10th place in the 10000 m. In 1907, he came to the worlds in Trondhjem, and he's even present in the famous world championship in Davos 1908, with a reasonably good 10000 m in 19.07.4, finishing 9th. Then he is gone until 1911, when he enters both championships, both of which take place in Norway. Now, he's improved considerably in the shorter distances, and makes his mark with a 5th place in the 1500 m at the European championship in Hamar and an 8th place overall in both championships. Besides speedskating he also practised other sports and is said to excel in rowing. Unfortunately, he died in 1912 from the Spanish flu at the height of his career.

Then there is quiet for a while. The Danish federation is formed 1912 and joins the ISU. However, the new system demanding pre-appointed meets suits the Danes poorly with their unstable winter conditions. Two world wars come and go. The 30s is a particularly bleak period with no skating winters at all. But a couple of the war winters are cold, and in 1941 and '42, the 6th and 7th Danish championships are held and won by Erik Hviid. The well known Norwegian skater Mons Mjelde is in the country coaching the Danes. 1947 also is a long, cold winter, and when the international championships resume, a couple of Danes are there, Niels Heilmann and Svend Erik Jacobsen. But their results are poor. Next year, Aage Justesen, who lived and skated in Switzerland from the late 30s, becomes Denmark's first Olympic participant at the St. Moritz games with a 29th place in the sprint at 46.4, with as many as 11 men behind him in the lists.

Then there is a series of mild winters until 1955 and 1956, when a few races were arranged, and at the world championship in Östersund 1957, the list of participant nations was extended with a Dane and a Spaniard, who formed the rear in the lists. But the Dane, Kurt Stille, was to return, he spent weeks training in Norway, and already next season he climbed considerably in the lists. At the Bislett European championship 1960, he achieved the first in a series of annoying 17th places in the 5000 m, just missing the qualification limit for the 10000. At the Squaw Valley games he had another of these 17th places in the 10000 m, at - you'll be damned - exactly 17 minutes. After a weaker season in 1961, the curse of the 17 still haunted him in 1962, when he achieved this position on the 5000 m in both championships. But the following winter, with some rub-off from the new, revolutionary methods and equipment of his Norwegian friends, his breakthrough came at the Gothenburg European championship, where he finished 9th in the 5000 m and 14th overall. At the world championship in Karuizawa he was unlucky, but in 1964 he completed both championships, reaching 13th overall in the Helsinki worlds with some help from unsteady skaters. His Olympic harvest was nice, with a 12th place in the 5000 and 9th in the 10000 m, being somewhat lucky on the latter distance to skate in the last pair before the fatal Låftmann preparations. Stille was a great favourite among the fans, but quit after the Olympic season to take up cross-country skiing, where he was seen at motionist races for years to come.

After Stille, nothing much is heard from Danish speedskaters. The Copenhagen club stop their speedskating activities after 1964, but in 1972, another club, Hurtigløberforeningen af 1972, is formed. They have arranged some races on Løjesø north of Copenhagen and their members Tom Lausen and Lars Traberg entered races in Scandinavia in the 1980s and 90s, without achieving world class results. The first ice-halls were built in 1959 - today, there are 15. They are used mostly for figure skating, where decent results lately have been achieved, and for ice hockey. Only a couple of clubs practise short track seriously yet. But in 2002, a huge artificial outdoor rink was set up at Genforeningspladsen in Copenhagen, using removable refrigerating equipment, and races were held in 2002 and 2003. The first Danish female records in the ISU distances were set. If this leads to some continuity and possibly some propaganda races with good international skaters or other propaganda measures, there is hope for Danish speedskating yet.

Statistics:

Danish records:

Kurt Stille 43.3 Karuizawa 23 Feb 1963
Christian Rune Jensen 1.28.59 Hamar 16 Feb 2003
Kurt Stille 2.13.9 Bislett 12 Feb 1964
Kurt Stille 4.39.0 Bislett 11 Feb 1964
Kurt Stille 7.56.1 Innsbruck 5 Feb 1964
Kurt Stille 16.28.5 Bislett 19 Jan 1964
Tom Lausen 197.800 Valle Hovin 7-8 Jan 1989
48.7 - 1.41.0 - 48.1 - 1.41.0
Kurt Stille 183.663 Bislett 11-12 Feb 1964
43.8 - 4.39.0 - 2.13.9 - 8.07.3
Kurt Stille 186.738 Bislett 18-19 Jan 1964
44.2 - 8.02.8 - 2.14.5 - 16.28.5

Female records:
Clara Busch Madsen 86.4 København 16 Feb 2003 (500 m)

Lisbeth Ratherborg 4.23.5 København 16 Feb 2003 (1500 m)

Participants in international championships and olympic games:

1.Kurt Stille 17 times
2.Einar Sørensen 5
3.Svend E. Jacobsen og
Niels Heilmann 2
5.Emil Schou og
Aage Justesen 1