Ådne Søndrål is a former 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...

 speed skater

Speed skating

Speed skating, or speedskating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in traveling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skating...

.

Søndrål, representing Hol IL

Hol IL

Hol Idrettslag is a multi-sports club from Hol, Norway.Established in 1903, it has sections for speed skating, skiing, football, cycling, athletics, orienteering and swimming. Well-known members include Ådne Søndrål, Håvard Bøkko, Christoffer Fagerli Rukke and Hege Bøkko, all of whom are speed...

, was one of the best 1500 m skaters through most of the 1990s. He placed 2nd in the 1992 Winter Olympics

1992 Winter Olympics

The 1992 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVI Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event celebrated from 8 to 23 February 1992 in Albertville, France. They were the last Winter Olympics to be held the same year as the Summer Olympics, and the first where the Winter Paralympics...

 and 4th in the 1994 Olympics

1994 Winter Olympics

The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event celebrated from 12 to 27 February 1994 in and around Lillehammer, Norway. Lillehammer failed to win the bid for the 1992 event. Lillehammer was awarded the games in 1988, after having beat...

. He finally won Olympic gold when he won 1500 m in the 1998 Winter Olympics

1998 Winter Olympics

The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially the XVIII Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event celebrated from 7 to 22 February 1998 in Nagano, Japan. Seventy-two nations and 2,176 participans contested in seven sports and 72 events at 15 venues. The games saw the introduction of Women's ice...

 in Nagano

Nagano, Nagano

, the capital city of Nagano Prefecture, is located in the northern part of the prefecture near the confluence of the Chikuma and the Sai rivers, on the main Japanese island of Honshū.As of April 1, 2011 the city has a population of 387,146...

, setting a new world record: 1:47.87. He was also one of the favourites for a 1000 m medal in 1998, but he got sick before this race and did not start. In the 2002 Winter Olympics

2002 Winter Olympics

The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event that was celebrated in February 2002 in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. Approximately 2,400 athletes from 77 nations participated in 78 events in fifteen disciplines, held throughout...

 he was the big favourite, but he dislocated both his shoulders in falls in the last two weeks before the Olympic races, and he was happy to win a bronze medal. This made his collection of Olympic medals complete - one of each colour, in addition to a 4th position.

He started his career as an allround speed skater, without much success in the international allround championships. From 1996, he specialised on 1000 m and 1500 m, and he placed 2nd on both distances at the first World Single Distance Championships

World Single Distance Championships

The World Single Distance Championships are a series of speed skating competitions organised by the International Skating Union.-History:Since the late 19th century, speed skating championships were always decided by racing multiple distances – four different distances for the allround...

. He also won the 1000 m World Cup this season. In 1999 he tried allround again and he achieved his best result, placing 6th in the World Allround Championships

World Allround Speed Skating Championships

The World Allround Speed Skating Championships are a series of speed skating events held annually to determine the best allround speed skater of the world...

 on home ground in Hamar

Hamar

is a town and municipality in Hedmark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Hedmarken. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Hamar. The municipality of Hamar was separated from Vang as a town and municipality of its own in 1849...

, Norway.

His achievements also include 4 gold and 6 silver medals in the World Single Distance Championships, 26 World Cup wins (7 on the 1000 m and 19 on the 1500 m) and 2 World Cup titles (on the 1500 m in 1999 and 2000), and the Oscar Mathisen Award

Oscar Mathisen Award

Since 1959, the Oscar Mathisen Award is awarded annually for outstanding speed skating performance of the season...

 in 1998. In March 1998 in Calgary

Calgary

Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...

, he broke his own 1500 m world record, setting it at 1:46.43. This record stood firm until Jakko Jan Leeuwangh

Jakko Jan Leeuwangh

Jakko Jan Leeuwangh is a former speed skater from the Netherlands. He finished fourth in the 1998 Olympic 1,000 m event. In January 2000 he broke the 1,500m world record in Calgary, Canada, holding the record until it was broken by Lee Kyu-Hyeok in March 2001.-References:...

 broke it in January 2000.

For many years, his personal trainer was former Norwegian speed skater Tom Erik Oxholm

Tom Erik Oxholm

Tom Erik Oxholm is a former speed skater from Norway. He had his best period in the early 1980s.At the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, Oxholm won two bronze medals – on the 5,000 m and the 10,000 m...

.

At the 2002 Winter Olympics

2002 Winter Olympics

The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event that was celebrated in February 2002 in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. Approximately 2,400 athletes from 77 nations participated in 78 events in fifteen disciplines, held throughout...

, he was elected by the athletes as an IOC member for a period of 4 years, replacing Johann Olav Koss

Johann Olav Koss

Johann Olav Koss is a former speed skater from Norway, considered to be one of the best in history, and current assistant coach of Norway's speed skating team.-Biography:...

 as one of the athletes representatives.

World records

Over the course of his career, Søndrål skated two world records:

Distance	Time	Date	Location
1500 m	1:47.87	12 February 1998	Nagano M-Wave is an indoor sporting arena located in Nagano, Japan.Opened in 1996, the arena has a capacity of 10,000. It hosted the speed skating events of the 1998 Winter Olympics. The M-Wave is equipped with movable stands and an automatically winding artificial lawn machine...
1500 m	1:46.43	28 March 1998	Calgary Olympic Oval The Olympic Oval in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, is a covered speed skating oval built for the 1988 Winter Olympics. It is the official designated training center for Speed Skate Canada and the Canadian National Speed Skating team. It is located on the University of Calgary campus...

Søndrål has an Adelskalender score of 153.515 points. His highest ranking on the Adelskalender was a 12th place.