Jakob Kjersem was a Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 long-distance runner who specialized in the 10,000 metres. He represented Tresfjord

Tresfjord

Tresfjord is a village and former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The former municipality encompassed the southern part of the present-day municipality of Vestnes. The village of Tresfjord is located at the southern end of the Tresfjorden...

 IL.

At the 1948 Summer Olympics

1948 Summer Olympics

The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in London, England, United Kingdom. After a 12-year hiatus because of World War II, these were the first Summer Olympics since the 1936 Games in Berlin...

 he finished twelfth in the 10,000 metres final, and at the 1952 Summer Olympics

1952 Summer Olympics

The 1952 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Helsinki, Finland in 1952. Helsinki had been earlier given the 1940 Summer Olympics, which were cancelled due to World War II...

 he finished in 24th place in the marathon. He never became Norwegian champion in the 10,000 metres, but won silver medals in 1948, 1949, 1951 and 1956. His rivals were Martin Stokken

Martin Stokken

Martin Stokken was a Norwegian cross-country skier and athlete who competed in the 1950s. He was born in Snillfjord and represented Selsbakk IF in Trondheim....

 and Øistein Saksvik. His personal best time in the 10,000 metres was 30:13.8 minutes, achieved at the 1956 Norwegian championships at Stavanger stadion

Stavanger stadion

Stavanger Stadion is a multi-use stadium in Stavanger, Norway. It was used mostly for football matches and hosted the home matches of Viking FK. The stadium opened on 13 August 1917, and was able to hold 17,555 people at the end of its life as Viking's home ground. The west stand was the largest...

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He also won medals in the 5000 metres

5000 metres

The 5000 metres is a popular running distance also known as 5 km or 5K in American English. It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics. "5000 metres" refers to racing on a track and "5K" usually refers to a roadrace or cross country event...

 and the marathon. He excelled in several now-defunct events, having seven national titles in the 25 kilometres road race

Road running

Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road . These events would be classified as long distance according to athletics terminology, with distances typically ranging from 5 kilometers to 42.2 kilometers in the marathon. They may involve large numbers of runners...

, the 8 kilometres cross-country race as well as the forest race, won between 1949 and 1960.

He was a journalist and farmer by occupation, and released books on local sport history. He died in June 2009.