Bislett is perhaps the most famous of all Norwegian stadiums,
known both for its past speed skating glory, and the still on-going
Bislett Games in athletics.
In the period from 1925 to 1986 Bislett hosted no less than 13
World and 10 European speed skating championships, as well as the
1952 Olympic competitions.
Bislett was renowned for its excellent ice. Despite being a low
altitude track, no less than 10 single distance world records and 5
combined records was set here. The last world record was Thomas
Gustafsson's 10000 meter record of 14.23.59 in 1982. That is 6
seconds better than the current track record (set in 2004) on
Oslo's one remaining speed skating arena Valle Hovin.
The last international speed skating championships at Bislett
was the 1986 European competition. The last World Champion was the
norwegian Rolf Falk Larsen in 1983. Having won the first three
distances he was already champion, and was booed by the purist
Bislett audience who felt he was not doing his best in the final
10000 meter.
After a long and bitter fight that lasted for most of the
nineties and well into this century, it was decided rebuild the
stadium completely, excluding any future possibility of laying
ice.
The current stadium was built in 2004/2005 to in order to be
ready for the Bislett Games in July 2005. Current visitors will see
that even now (spring 2006), the exterior work is still not
completed.
The cache is placed close to the old southern curve ("Søndre
sving"), commemorating the place were Hjallis was felled by a
photographers flash during the 1951 European championships.
Please make sure to replace the cache so it not more visible
than strictly necessary (which is as close to invisible as you can
get).