Sten Einar Stensen (born 18 December 1947) is a former

speed skater Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skating. ...

. Together with

Amund Sjøbrend Amund Martin Sjøbrend (born 1 December 1952) is a former Speed skating, ice speed skater from Norway. Together with Sten Stensen, Kay Stenshjemmet, and Jan Egil Storholt, Amund Sjøbrend was one of the legendary ''four S-es'' (which sounds like ...

Kay Stenshjemmet Kay Arne Stenshjemmet (born 9 August 1953) is a former speed skater from Norway. Short biography Together with Amund Sjøbrend, Sten Stensen, and Jan Egil Storholt, Kay Stenshjemmet was one of the legendary ''four S-es'' (which sounds like "four ...

, and

Jan Egil Storholt Jan Egil Storholt (born 13 February 1949) is a former speed skater from Norway. He was born in Løkken Verk which at the time was part of the Meldal municipality. Biography Together with Amund Sjøbrend, Sten Stensen, and Kay Stenshjemmet, Jan ...

, he was one of the legendary ''four S-es'' ("four aces" in

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

), 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 Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the ...

in 1976. For his accomplishments, he received the

Oscar Mathisen Award Since 1959, the Oscar Mathisen Award (also known as the Oscar Mathisen Memorial Award, the Oscar Mathisen Memorial Trophy, and sometimes the Skating Oscar) is awarded annually for outstanding speed skating performance of the season. The award was in ...

in 1974 and 1976. During the 1976 European Allround Championships in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

, Stensen (the defending European Champion), set a new world record on the 10,000 m, but he still lost his title to fellow Norwegian

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 1976 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XII Olympic Winter Games (german: XII. Olympische Winterspiele, french: XIIes Jeux olympiques d'hiver) and commonly known as Innsbruck 1976 ( bar, Innschbruck 1976, label=Austro-Bavarian), was a ...

the next month, a race in which

Piet Kleine Pieter "Piet" Kleine (born 17 September 1951) is a former speed skater from the Netherlands who specialized in the longer distances. Short biography At the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Piet Kleine became Olympic Champion on the 10,000 ...

won silver and the world record holder on that distance,

Hans van Helden Hans van Helden (born 27 April 1948) is a former speed skater, originally competing for the Netherlands, later for France. Life and career Despite being a very talented speed skater and having an excellent skating style and technique, Van Hel ...

, 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.

Medals

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

Records

World records

Over the course of his career, Stensen skated two

world records A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

Personal records

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

References

External links

Personal records from ''The Skatebase''
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stensen, Sten 1947 births Living people Norwegian male speed skaters Olympic speed skaters of Norway Speed skaters at the 1972 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 1976 Winter Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Norway Olympic silver medalists for Norway Olympic bronze medalists for Norway Olympic medalists in speed skating World record setters in speed skating Medalists at the 1976 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1972 Winter Olympics World Allround Speed Skating Championships medalists Sportspeople from Drammen