Career
Born in Gran, in the district of Hadeland, Staksrud started his speed skating career at Hamar Idrettslag (Hamar Sports Club). From 1937 onward, he represented Oslo Skøiteklub (Oslo Skating Club). Together with Ivar Ballangrud and Hans Engnestangen, he formed the famous Hadeland Trio, three Norwegians who dominated both Norwegian and international speed skating in the 1930s.
Another illustration of the domination of the Hadeland Trio was the 1,500 m event at a tournament in Davos on 29 January 1939.
Staksrud entered that tournament as the world record holder on that distance with a time of 2:14.9. He was paired with Ballangrud and skated 2:14.4, faster than his world record time, but Ballangrud had finished 0.4 seconds earlier in a time of 2:14.0.
However, neither of them became the new world record holder, because Engnestangen skated 2:13.8 in his race. In 1940, Staksrud drowned under tragic circumstances, only 32 years old.
Over the course of his career, Staksrud skated two world records:
Source: SpeedSkatingStats.com
To put these personal records in perspective, the WR column lists the official world records on the dates that Staksrud skated his personal records.
