Quick Facts
Biography
Audun Boysen (10 May 1929 – 2 March 2000) was a Norwegian middle distance runner. Born in Bjarkøy and raised in Rissa, he first represented Rissa IL and later IK Tjalve in Oslo.
Boysen was a prominent 800 metre runner in the 1950s, and he won a bronze medal at the 1956 Summer Olympics, a silver medal at the 1958 European Championships and another bronze at the 1954 European Championships. He set three world records over 1,000 metres, the last being 2:19.0 in 1955.
The same year he ran 800 metres in 1:45.9, setting a new Norwegian record. Incidentally, the man who beat him in that race, Belgian Roger Moens, ran a world record time, with Boysen also under the old world record. That Norwegian record stood for 37 years until 3 July 1992 when it was broken by Atle Douglas (1:45.15) and Vebjørn Rodal (1:45.33). Rodal became Olympic champion four years later.