Nils Fixdal

Nils Fixdal was born on a farm in the northwest part of Norway. In the 1890s his father decided to sell the farm and the family moved to Haugesund, where his father worked as a policeman.

Nils showed a talent for athletics especially in the long and triple jump. In 1909, 19-years-old, he improved the Norwegian record in long jump to 6.665, and he won the triple jump at the 1910 Norwegian Championships. In 1911 he improved his long jump personal best (PB) to 6.86, seven centimetres better than Ferdinand Bie’s Norwegian record achieved a week before, but for unknown reasons Fixdal’s jump was not recognised as a national record.

In 1912, the first part of the season was dominated by qualifying events for the Stockholm Olympics. Fixdal went to Kristiania for the last qualifying competition in late June, after showing good form with a PB of 13.63 in triple jump in a local competition in Haugesund in May. After a second place in long jump with 6.83, only four centimetres behind Bie, he was selected for the Olympic team in both events.

In Stockholm Fixdal did well with a new PB (13.96) and eighth place in triple jump. After returning home, he joined the 14-meter club with 14.27 in Haugesund two weeks after the games. His last and best season was 1912, when he jumped a new PB with 14.34 at home in Haugesund in mid-July, and won his third national championship in the triple jump six weeks later. This was to become his last competition, at age 22. After his athletics career he married, moved to the neighbouring island of Karmøy, and much later would die at home in 1972, aged 82.

Personal Bests: 100 m – 11.3 (1912); HJ – 1.70 (1912); LJ – 6.86 (1911); TJ - 14.34 (1913).