BISLETT DUEL: Thor Helland (left) and Ron Clarke at Bislett in 1966. Photo: Jan Greve, VG
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Thor Oluf Helland died at Aker Hospital on the night of 2 August, aged 84, after a short illness. The former long-distance runner finished eighth in the 5,000 meters at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
– It is very special that Thor should fall asleep in the middle of the Olympics in Tokyo 57 years later. He has meant an enormous amount to BUL and Norwegian athletics, says Rune Stenersen to VG.
Through Stenersen, the family is informed that VG mentions the death. BUL has also posted one Message about the death on their website.
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Stenersen has also been active in BUL for many years, and was a period coach for the club’s medium and long distance runners together with Helland.
– To put it simply, people like Thor are not made anymore. It has been many years since he was active and a well-known athletics profile, but the significance he has had for young people and athletes in BUL is enormous, describes Stenersen who has written a memoir about Thor Oluf Helland on BUL’s pages.
12 NM gold
Helland has been a real zealot in BUL together with his wife Unni Helland. He trained the runners on longer distances, while his wife has had the main responsibility for technical training and sprints. Among other things, she has had great importance for the sprinter Ezinne Okparaebo.
In the 70s and 80s, Thor Helland was the coach for marathon runner Øivind Dahl, who was at the top of the world when Norway boycotted the Olympics in Moscow in 1980.
As active, Helland took 12 NM gold in 1500, 5000 and 10,000 meters in addition to cross-country running. He finished eighth in the 5000 meters in Tokyo in 1964 with a time of 13.57.0. American Bob Schul won with a time of 13.48.8, and Helland had a personal record of 13.37.4 which was also a Norwegian and Nordic record.
—-OLYMPIC PROFILE: Thor Helland (with number 56 visible) in action in the 5000 meter final in Tokyo in 1964. Photo: NTB archive
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The position in Tokyo was the best of the Norwegian athletes in the championship. Willy Rasmussen (javelin), Terje Pedersen (javelin), Pål Benum (10,000 meters), Berit Berthelsen (length) and Oddrun Hokland (length and pentathlon) were the other Norwegian athletes in the championship.
Helland also had several wonderful Bislett duels with, among others, Australian Ron Clarke, who died in 2015.
Helland has been present at a number of BUL’s youth trainings this summer with his wife.
– Thor followed athletics until recently, but in the last two weeks his health deteriorated significantly. He will be remembered as a man of honor, Stenersen concludes.
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