Background
He was born and died in Helsinki.
He was born and died in Helsinki.
He was the most successful athlete at both of these Winter Olympics, sharing the honour for 1928 Winter Olympics with Johan Grøttumsbraaten of Norway. Thunberg began with speed skating rather late, at the age of 18, having led a somewhat rowdy life as a compulsive smoker and drinker before he concentrated fully on his sport. However, from the age of 28 – when he turned up at his first European Allround Championships – and for the following ten years, he was by far the most-winning skater.
Thunberg"s greatest strengths were the shortest distances, the 500 through 5000 metres.
However, despite his amazing run, he was occasionally vulnerable on the long distances. If his 500 and 1,500 metre events did not go exactly according to plan, then he could be beaten – as shown in the 1927 season when the 22-year-old Bernt Evensen pipped him to both the World and European title.
Evensen, however, could never string together the long run of victories that Thunberg ended up with. Oscar Mathisen"s personal bests on the three longest distances were simply too good for Thunberg to match.
However, Mathisen – who was born five years before Thunberg – turned professional during World War I, meaning that the two never met in an International Skating Union-sanctioned event.
World records
Over the course of his career, Thunberg skated four world records:
Source: SpeedSkatingStats.com
Personal records.