Lasse Efskind

Who is Lasse Efskind?

Lasse Daniel Efskind is a Norwegian medical doctor, primarily known for his speedskating career and his books. He is the son of Leif Efskind, professor of medicine at the University of Oslo and a pioneer in the field of heart operations.

Efskind burst onto the international speedskating scene already at age 17, when he won an international two-day meet at Bislett in January 1962, against stars such as Rudie Liebrechts, Henk van der Grift, Knut Johannesen, Nils Aaness. For several years he skated at close to national top level, concurrently with political activism and his education in civil engineering and medicine. In 1972 and 1973 he reached top international level, achieving three world records during 13–14 January 1973 in Davos: 38.0 on the 500-m, 1:17.6 on the 1000-m, and point-sum 154.400 in the sprint combination. He was the fourth skater to achieve the 38.0 world record time, after Leo Linkovesi, Hasse Börjes and Erhard Keller. Efskind's world records lasted until respectively April 1974, when Aleksandr Safronov skated 1:17.23, and March 1975, when Yevgeny Kulikov skated 37.99 and Valery Muratov achieved 153.390.