1924
Introduction to the Olympic Games makes skating a world sport and we suddenly have a record 22 participants: AUT, BEL, CAN, CZE, DEN, EST, FIN, FRA, GBR, GER, HUN, ITA, JAP, LAT, NED, NOR, POL, ROM, SWE, SWI, URS, USA. Thus we need a preliminary round of 6 matches. The quarter-finalists from last year, POL, FIN, SWI, NOR, FRA, SWE, AUT and URS, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. The draw is as follows: ROM-AUT, USA-NED, SWE-DEN, ITA-CZE, HUN-EST, NOR-GBR. The matches:
Romania-Austria 3-1
USA-Netherlands 5-1
Sweden-Denmark 5-0
Italy-Czechoslovakia 1-3
Hungary-Estonia 0-4
Norway-Britain 6-0
The first round proper then consists of BEL, CAN, CZE, EST, FIN, FRA, GER, JAP, LAT, NOR, POL, ROM, SWE, SWI, URS, USA. The semi-finalists from last year, FIN, NOR, SWE and URS, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. The draw is as follows: BEL-SWE, LAT-FIN, JAP-URS, CAN-NOR, POL-GER, SWI-ROM, USA-FRA, CZE-EST. Results of the matches:
Belgium-Sweden 0-5
Latvia-Finland 0-5
Japan-USSR 0-4
Canada-Norway 0-6
Poland-Germany 2.5-3.5
Switzerland-Romania 4-1
USA-France 4-1
Czechoslovakia-Estonia 0-4
The quarter final then consists of EST, FIN, GER, NOR, SWE, SWI, URS, USA. The finalists from last year, URS and NOR, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. The draw is as follows: FIN-SWI, GER-USA, EST-NOR, SWE-URS. Results of the matches:
Finland-Switzerland 5-1
Germany-USA 1-5
Estonia-Norway 0-6
Sweden-USSR 2-3
Semi-final draw: URS-FIN, USA-NOR. Matches:
USSR-Finland 0-5
USA-Norway 0-6
Bronze final: USSR-USA 3-2
FINAL: Finland-Norway
43,8 - 43,7 (0-1)
1.32,6 - 1.31,6 (0-2)
2.20,8 - 2.22,0 (1-2)
- - 5.25,0 (1-3)
8.39,0 - 8.34,4 (1-4)
18.02,4 -17.40,3 (1-5)
Final result 1-5, and even in 1924, Oscar Mathisen secures the win for Norway. Without him, FInland would have won.
Statistics:
NOR GOLD 28x NED GOLD 2x RUS GOLD 1911 FIN GOLD 1921 SWE Silver 4x AUT Silver 3x GER Silver 2x CZE bronze 1895 CAN bronze 1897 USA bronze 1920 HUN 4th 2x SWI 4th 2x FRA 4th 1902 DEN 4th 1912 GBR 4th 1914 LAT 4th 1917 EST QF 4x POL QF 2x BEL QF 1922 JAP 1R 1924 ROM 1R 1924 ITA PR 4x