Sten Stensen

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Medal record
Sten Stensen
Sten Stensen
Men’s Speed Skating
Competitor for Flag of Norway Norway
Olympic Games
Bronze 1972 Sapporo 5,000 m
Bronze 1972 Sapporo 10,000 m
Gold 1976 Innsbruck 5,000 m
Silver 1976 Innsbruck 10,000 m

Sten Einar Stensen (born 18 December 1947 in Drammen, Norway) is a former speed skater.

Contents

[edit] Short biography

Together with Amund Sjøbrend, Kay Stenshjemmet, and Jan Egil Storholt, Sten Stensen was one of the legendary four S-es (which sounds like "four aces" in Norwegian), four 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.

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).

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.

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

[edit] Medals

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

Championships Gold medal Silver medal Bronze medal
Winter Olympics 1976 (5,000 m) 1976 (10,000 m) 1972 (5,000 m)
1972 (10,000 m)
World Allround 1974 1973
1976
1977
European Allround 1975 1976
1978
Norwegian Allround 1973
1974
1976
1977
1978
1971
1972

[edit] World records

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

Event Result Date Venue
10,000 m 14:50.31 25 January 1976 Oslo
10,000 m 14:38.08 21 March 1976 Medeo

[edit] Personal records

Event Result Date Venue
500 m 39.03 19 March 1977 Medeo
1,000 m 1:23.44 7 January 1973 Kongsberg
1,500 m 1:58.72 21 March 1976 Medeo
3,000 m 4:13.6  17 December 1977 Hamar
5,000 m 7:05.04 19 March 1977 Medeo
10,000 m 14:38.08 21 March 1976 Medeo
Big combination 165.316 20 March 1977 Medeo

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

[edit] References



Awards
Preceded by
Göran Claeson
Oscar Mathisen Award
1974
Succeeded by
Yevgeny Kulikov
Preceded by
Yevgeny Kulikov
Oscar Mathisen Award
1976
Succeeded by
Eric Heiden