Sten Stensen

Sten Einar Stensen (born 18 December 1947) is a former speed skater. Together with Amund Sjøbrend, Kay Stenshjemmet, and Jan Egil Storholt, he was one of the legendary four S-es ("four aces" in Norwegian), contemporary Norwegian top skaters in the 1970s and early 1980s. Stensen excelled at the longer distances, especially the 5,000 m and 10,000 m, and set two world records. He was World Allround Champion in 1974 and European Allround Champion in 1975. He also won Olympic gold on the 5,000 m in Innsbruck in 1976. For his accomplishments, he received the Oscar Mathisen Award in 1974 and 1976.

Sten Stensen
Sten Stensen in 1973
Personal information
Birth nameSten Einar Stensen
NationalityNorwegian
Born (1947-12-18) 18 December 1947
Drammen, Norway
Height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight74 kg (163 lb)
Sport
Country Norway
SportSpeed skating
ClubDrammens SK
Turned pro1969
Retired1978
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)500 m: 39.03 (1977)
1000 m: 1:23.4 (1973)
1500 m: 1:58.72 (1976)
3000 m: 4:13.6 (1977)
5000 m: 7:05.04 (1977)
10 000 m: 14:38.08 (1976)
Medal record
Representing  Norway
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place1976 Innsbruck 5,000 m
Silver medal – second place1976 Innsbruck 10,000 m
Bronze medal – third place1972 Sapporo 5,000 m
Bronze medal – third place1972 Sapporo 10,000 m

During the 1976 European Allround Championships in Oslo, Stensen (the defending European Champion), set a new world record on the 10,000 m, but he still lost his title to fellow Norwegian Kay Stenshjemmet by a tiny margin of only 0.005 points (equivalent to 0.10 seconds on the 10,000 m).[1]

Stensen won gold on the 5,000 m at the 1976 Winter Olympics the next month, a race in which Piet Kleine won silver and the world record holder on that distance, Hans van Helden, won bronze. Still being the world record holder on the 10,000 m, Stensen was the favourite for that distance three days later, but he was beaten by Kleine in a close race. Again, Van Helden finished third.[1]

After ending his speed skating career in 1978, Stensen became a Norwegian broadcasting commentator at speed skating events.

Medals

An overview of medals won by Stensen at important championships he participated in, listing the years in which he won each:

Championships Gold medalSilver medalBronze medal
Winter Olympics1976 (5,000 m)1976 (10,000 m)1972 (5,000 m)
1972 (10,000 m)
World Allround19741973
1976
1977
European Allround19751976
1978
Norwegian Allround1973
1974
1976
1977
1978
1971
1972

Records

World records

Over the course of his career, Stensen skated two world records:[2]

DisciplineTimeDateLocation
10,000 m14.50,3125 January 1976Norway Oslo
10,000 m14.38,0821 March 1976Soviet Union Medeo

Personal records

EventResultDateVenue
500 m39.0319 March 1977Medeo
1,000 m1:23.447 January 1973Kongsberg
1,500 m1:58.7221 March 1976Medeo
3,000 m4:13.617 December 1977Hamar
5,000 m7:05.0419 March 1977Medeo
10,000 m14:38.0821 March 1976Medeo
Big combination165.31620 March 1977Medeo

Stensen has an Adelskalender score of 165.011 points. His highest ranking on the Adelskalender was a fourth place.

References

  1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Sten Stensen". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020.
  2. "Sten Stensen". SpeedSkatingStats.com. Retrieved 29 August 2012.


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