Lars Martin Kaupang (born 18 August 1952) is a Norwegian middle distance runner. He specialized in the 1500 metres, in which he held the Norwegian record from 1976 to 2012.
He hailed from Larvik and was discovered in school by teacher, coach and former runner Tor Torgersen. [1] He represented the club Larvik TIF; [2] for some time the short-lived cooperation club Larvik FIK.
Internationally he participated at the 1971 European Championships and the 1976 Summer Olympics without reaching the final. [3] He had a rather short career pinnacle, only winning three Norwegian championship medals; the gold in the 1500 metres in 1974, 1975 and 1976. [4] His personal best times were 1:49.8 minutes in the 800 metres (1976), 3:37.4 in the 1500 metres (1976) and 3:59.9 in the mile run (1974). [5] His 1500 metres time was a Norwegian record until 2012, when it was broken by Henrik Ingebrigtsen. [2] In long-distance races he had 8:01.0 in the 3000 metres (1975) and 13:56.0 in the 5000 metres (1975). [5]
He was a board member of the Norwegian Athletics Association from 1985 to 1987 and chaired the organization from 1987 to 1997. [6] He was also a member of the Norwegian Olympic Committee from 1990 to 1994.
Eamonn Christopher Coghlan is an Irish former track and field athlete who specialised in middle distance track events and the 5,000 metres. He is a three-time Olympian and former world champion in the 5,000 m. He served as Senator from 2011 to 2016.
Ian Stewart MBE is a Scottish former long-distance running athlete. Ian Stewart was one of the world's leading distance runners between the late 1960s and mid-1970s. Stewart won the bronze medal in the Men's 5000 metres at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. Stewart also won the following championships: European 5,000 metres (1969), Commonwealth 5,000 metres (1970), European Indoor and World Cross Country (1975).
Grete Waitz was a Norwegian marathon runner and former world record holder. In 1979, at the New York City Marathon, she became the first woman in history to run the marathon in under two and a half hours. Waitz won nine New York City Marathons, women's division, between 1978 and 1988, the highest number of victories in a single big city marathon in history. She won the silver medal at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles and a gold medal at the 1983 World Championships in Helsinki. She was also a five-time winner of the World Cross Country Championships.
Larvik Turn & Idrettsforening is a Norwegian sports club that does football, handball, athletics, wrestling, and gymnastics.
The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilometers or approximately 15⁄16 miles. The event is closely associated with its slightly longer cousin, the mile race, from which it derives its nickname "the metric mile".
José Luis González Sánchez is a Spanish former middle-distance runner. He represented Spain at the Olympics on three occasions with his best performance being a semi-final run in the 1500 m in 1980.
Nikolina Pavlova Shtereva is a retired Bulgarian middle-distance runner who specialised in the 800 and 1500 metres. She is best known for her silver medal in 800 metres at the 1976 Summer Olympics, and at the European Indoor Championships she won gold medals in 1976 and 1979 and a bronze medal in 1981. She won fourteen national titles in Bulgaria, and is still the Bulgarian record holder in the 800 metres.
Espen Borge is a retired Norwegian runner who specialized in 1500 metres and 3000 metres steeplechase. He represented IF Hellas and IK Tjalve.
Knut Kvalheim is a retired Norwegian long-distance runner. He is the brother of Arne Kvalheim.
Rositsa Pekhlivanova is a retired Bulgarian middle-distance runner who specialized in the 1500 metres.
Lilyana Tomova-Todorova, born 9 August 1946) is a retired Bulgarian sprinter and middle-distance runner who specialized in the 400, 800 and 1500 metres.
Henryk Jan Szordykowski was a Polish runner who specialized in the 800 metres and 1500 metres.
Tor Torgersen was a Norwegian long-distance runner. He specialized in the longest track distances, 5000 and 10,000 metres, as well as cross-country running and from around 1960 the marathon, in which he also competed at that year's Olympic Games. On the track he became national champion in two events in 1959, with an additional four titles taken outside the track. He was later a national team coach in swimming.
Pål Sverre Benum was a Norwegian long-distance runner. He specialized in the longest track distances, 5000 and 10,000 metres, eventually competing at the 1964 Olympic Games. He also competed in cross-country running. On the track he became national champion three times, in addition to nine titles in cross-country. After his active career he became a professor of medicine.
Øistein Saksvik was a Norwegian long-distance runner. He specialized in the 5,000-metre and the 10,000-metre runs, as well as in cross country running. At the 1952 Olympic Games, he competed in the 5,000-meter run. Saksvik became the Norwegian champion twenty times, a national record. In addition, he captured three Norwegian records in long-distance running from Martin Stokken, and held onto them for some years each. In the late-1950s, Saksvik's dominance in Norwegian long-distance running was eclipsed by Tor Torgersen and fellow Ranheim club member Ernst "Kruska" Larsen, later Thor Helland.
Jan Voje is a Norwegian long-distance runner. He specialized in the 3000 metre steeplechase, in which he also competed at 1972 Olympic Games.
Jacques "Jacky" Boxberger was a track and field athlete from France who specialized in long-distance races.
Sverre Øyvind Sørnes is a Norwegian long-distance runner who specialized in the 3000 metres steeplechase.
Vladimir Ponomaryov is a Russian former Soviet middle-distance runner. He represented his country at the 1976 Summer Olympics and was a seven-time Soviet national champion, four times outdoors.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen is a Norwegian middle- and long-distance runner. He won the gold medal in the 1500 metres at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, setting an Olympic and European record. At the 2022 World Athletics Championships, Ingebrigtsen took silver in the 1500 m and a gold for the 5000 metres. He is a four-time European champion, winning the 1500 m/5000 m double in 2018 and 2022. His 1500 m victory in 2018 achieved at the age of 17 made him the second youngest ever individual senior European track and field champion, while his double was the first in history. Indoors, he is 2022 World Indoor Championship 1500 m silver medallist and a six-time European Indoor Championships medallist in the 1500/3000 metres events, including five golds and the 'double-double' from 2021 and 2023. Ingebrigtsen won six successive titles at the European Cross Country Championships. He is the current world indoor record holder for the 1500 m, which he set on 17 February 2022 in Liévin, France.