Jorun Askersrud Tangen

Jorun Askersrud was born in Lunner, and represented the clubs Lunner IL, Oslo IL and from 1950 IL i BUL. First and foremost, she dominated combined events in Norway during most of the 1950s. In the triathlon event—100 metres, discus throw and high jump—she finished second at the Norwegian championships of 1950 and 1951, behind Unni Sæther and Kirsti Jordet, respectively. Jorun Tangen then started her decade-long domination, winning every Norwegian championship through 1960 (except for 1953). Similarly, the pentathlon was inaugurated in 1951, was absent in 1952 only to return in 1953, and Jorun Tangen again won every Norwegian championship through 1960. Already in 1951, Askersrud Tangen set her first Norwegian record in the pentathlon. The score was 2,956 points, and she particularly had a better hurdles result than the previous record holder Unni Sæther. Tangen's subsequent improvements came in 1954, 1955 twice, 1956 and 1957, bringing the record to 4,081 points, though the vast embetterment was also caused by a new scoring system. Her first and only Norwegian record in the triathlon came in 1957, which was beaten by Karen Fladset in 1962. The next year, Tangen's national pentathlon record fell to Oddrun Lange. Her first Norwegian record came already in 1950, running 12.6 at Jordal Idrettspark. In 1951 she improved to 12.5 at Bislett Stadium and 12.0 at Trondheim Stadium. She registered 11.9 three times before achieving 11.8 seconds in October 1954–a time she equalled no less than five times. She was also the first Norwegian to receive automatic timing in this event, which was 12.51 seconds at the 1952 Olympic Games. (The same thing pertained to her 100 metres time of 13.18 seconds, but there were no official automatic-time national records at the time.) ==International career==

Jorun Askersrud Tangen competed without reaching the final in the 100 metres and 80 metres hurdles at the Summer Olympics. She finished 17th in the pentathlon at both the 1954 European Championships and the 1958 European Championships; and competed in the 80 metres hurdles at the 1954 European Championships without reaching the final. ==Winter sports==

She finished 12th in the 10 kilometre cross-country event at the Winter Olympics in Oslo. Accordingly, there were no Norwegian championships in women's cross-country skiing, accounting for her lack of national titles in this sport. As a speed skater she entered the Norwegian Allround Championships in 1958 in Sandefjord, winning the silver medal, behind the winner Sonja Ackermann-Olsen. ==Sprints and relay==

Sprints event gave Jorun Askersrud her first medals at a Norwegian championship. Following her silver medal in the 60 metres and her bronze medal in the 200 metres in 1949, she would win gold medals in the 60, 100, 200 and 400 metres. She took back-to-back 100 and 200 metre titles in both 1950 and 1951, as well as a total of three silvers and eight bronze. Her 60 metres golds came in 1951 and 1954, ending with two bronzes before the event was discontinued. Instead, the 400 metres were inaugurated in 1959, with Askersrud Tangen taking the first two gold medals. Her only individual Norwegian records in sprint events came in the 400 metres, where she became the first Norwegian sub-minute woman in 1959. She ran in 59.7 seconds in Hamar before achieving 59.3 at Bislett Stadium on 30 September. The record stood until 1961. Her sole throwing gold came in the shot put in 1959, where she also had silvers from 1954, 1955 and 1958. She was awarded the King's Cup in 1953, the Norwegian Athletics Association Gold Medal in 1958 and became an honorary member of IL i BUL in 1963. Sports statistician Tom A. Schanke called Jorun Askersrud the second most versatile Norwegian sportswoman, after Laila Schou-Nilsen. ==Personal life==

She married Reidar Tangen in April 1952. Later, she married Ingvar Nygaard in May 1961 in Roa. == References ==