- Ken Bartholomew
Kenneth "Ken" Eldred Bartholomew (born
10 February 1920 ) is a formerspeed skating champion from theUnited States .Ken Bartholomew was born in
Leonard, North Dakota . [http://www.startribune.com/mcu/clients/h/halloffame/bartholomew.shtml Kenneth E. Bartholomew] . "Minnesota Sports Hall of Fame". Retrieved on2007-08-27 .] His parents were William "Bill" N. Bartholomew and Clara U. Bartholomew. Bill and Clara had five children: Earl, Vern, Ken, Ardys, and Carl. Bill was the head timer at local, state, and national speed skating events for about 35 years and a member of the timing committees at the US Olympic speed skating trials in the 1950s. [http://www.slphistory.org/history/bartholome.asp The Bartholome(w) Family] . "St. Louis Park Historical Society". Retrieved on2007-08-27 .]Living in
Minnesota , Ken Bartholomew skated mostly at local, state-wide, and national events, winning more than 1,000 medals and trophies. Among these were fourteen National Championships titles between 1945 and 1960, three North American outdoor titles, and one North American indoor title. In 1948, Bartholomew competed in the 500 m at the Winter Olympics ofSt. Moritz and finished second behindFinn Helgesen . He shared his second place with fellow US team memberBob Fitzgerald and Norwegian skaterThomas Byberg .Bartholomew worked for
Northwestern Bell , laying and repairing telephone lines. He also owned a tree service. In his later years, he competed inski jumping andgolf .Ken and his wife Evelyn had five daughters. He was inducted in the "Minnesota Sports Hall of Fame" in 1959 and in the "National Speedskating Hall of Fame" in 1968. [http://www.nationalspeedskatingmuseum.org/hof-skaters.html Speedskating Hall of Fame – Speed Skaters] . "The National Speedskating Museum and Hall of Fame". Retrieved on
2007-08-27 .] At the 1974 Senior Olympics inLake Placid, New York , Bartholomew won gold medals in the 200 m, the 500 m, the 1,000 m, and the 1,500 m.His brothers Earl and Carl also were renowned in sports:
Earl Bartholome – he dropped the final "w" from his surname in order to avoid confusion with Ken – was a professionalice hockey player, inducted in theUnited States Hockey Hall of Fame in 1977, while Carl once held the world record for non-stop speed skating with a time of 54½ hours.References
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