Sören Willy Ernfrid Sjösten (12 December 1938 – April 1999) was Swedish

motorcycle speedway Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four clockwise, anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that ...

rider. He earned 76 caps for the

Sweden national speedway team The Sweden national speedway team are one of the major teams in international motorcycle speedway. History The Sweden speedway team has won the Speedway World Team Cup and Speedway World Cup on ten occasions and were a major force in the open ...

Life and career

Sjösten was born on 12 December 1938. He won the world pairs championship in 1974 with

Anders Michanek Anders Michanek (born 30 May 1943) is a Swedish Speedway rider. In 1974 he won the Speedway World Championship in his Swedish homeland with a maximum score of 15 points. He earned 101 caps for the Sweden national speedway team. Career Michane ...

and became world team champion three times representing Sweden, in 1962, 1964 and 1970. Sjösten also appeared in six individual World Championship Finals with two bronze medals as best result. Both third places was received after losing race-off heats for silver medal, the first time to

Barry Briggs Barry Briggs (born 30 December 1934) is a New Zealand former speedway rider. Career He won the World Individual Championship title four times: in 1957, 1958, 1964 and 1966.Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). ''A History of the World Speedway ...

and the second time to Ivan Mauger Sjösten rode for

Masarna Masarna are a Swedish motorcycle speedway team based in Avesta, Sweden. They last rode in the Elitserien during the 2022 Swedish Speedway season but are currently not racing due to financial problems. They are two times champions of Sweden. ...

, Vargarna and

Bysarna Bysarna were a Swedish motorcycle speedway team based at the Visby#Sports, Gamla Speedway Track, in Galgberget, Visby, Galgberget, north of Visby on the island of Gotland in Sweden. They were four times Swedish Speedway Team Championship, league ...

in the Swedish leagues and for

Belle Vue Aces The Belle Vue Aces are a British speedway club, based in Manchester. The club hold the record of having won the top tier League championship 14 times. They currently compete in the SGB Premiership, racing at The National Speedway Stadium, wit ...

Wolverhampton Wolves Wolverhampton Wolves were a British motorcycle speedway team based in Wolverhampton, England. They were champions of the United Kingdom five times and raced at Monmore Green Stadium from 1928 to 2023. History 1928–1930 Speedway (known ...

and Bristol Bulldogs in the

British League The British League was the main motorcycle speedway league in Britain from its formation in 1965 until 1995 when British speedway was restructured. It initially had a single division, with a British League Division Two, second division starting i ...

. An excellent starter, he was renowned for having a 'wild' style of riding with the rear of the bike sliding further out on the bends than is usual and was often considered rough on his opponents. He retired after his brother

Christer Christer or Krister are varieties of the masculine given name Kristian, derived from the Latin name ''Christianus'', which in turn comes from the Greek language, Greek word ''khristianós'', which means "follower of Christ". The name, written in it ...

was killed in a meeting in Brisbane, Australia in 1979. He died on April 1999.

World final appearances

Individual World Championship

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

– London,

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

- 9th - 8pts *

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...

– London, Wembley Stadium - 7th - 9pts *

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

– London, Wembley Stadium - 3rd - 11pts *

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

–

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports ...

- 4th - 9pts *

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

–

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

Ullevi Ullevi, sometimes known as Nya Ullevi (, ''New Ullevi''), is a multi-purpose stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden. It was built for the 1958 FIFA World Cup, but since then has also hosted the World Allround Speed Skating Championships six times; the ...

- 8th - 8pts *

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

– Gothenburg, Ullevi - 3rd - 11pts

World Pairs Championship

–

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, Hyde Road (with

) - Winner - 28pts (14)

World Team Cup

1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...

–

(with

Ove Fundin Ove Fundin (born 23 May 1933) is a Swedish former professional motorcycle speedway rider. He competed in the Speedway World Championships from 1951 to 1970. Fundin is notable for winning the Speedway World Ch ...

/ Rune Sörmander / Björn Knutson / Per Tage Svensson) - 2nd - 30pts (2) *

–

Slaný Slaný (; ) is a town in Kladno District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 17,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument zones, ur ...

, Slaný Speedway Stadium (with Björn Knutson / Ove Fundin /

Göte Nordin Göte Nordin (2 July 1935 – 21 November 2023) was a former motorcycle speedway rider from Sweden. He earned 45 caps for the Sweden national speedway team. Speedway career Nordin is a two times champion of Sweden, winning the Swedish Individ ...

/ Rune Sörmander) - Winner - 36pts (10) *

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

–

Abensberg Abensberg () is a town in the Lower Bavarian Districts of Germany, district of Kelheim (district), Kelheim, in Bavaria, Germany, lying around southwest of Regensburg, east of Ingolstadt, northwest of Landshut and north of Munich. It is situa ...

Abensberg Stadion The Wack Hofmeister Stadium formerly the Altes Stadion Abensberg (the Old Stadium) is a motorcycle speedway and association football stadium located slightly east of the centre of Abensberg in Germany. It hosts the speedway team MSC Abensberg ...

(with Ove Fundin / Björn Knutson / Göte Nordin / Rune Sörmander) - Winner - 34pts (0) *

–

Rybnik Rybnik (Polish pronunciation: ; ) is a city in southern Poland, in the Silesian Voivodeship, around 38 km (24 mi) southwest of Katowice, the region's capital, and around 19 km (11 mi) from the Czech Republic, Czech border. It i ...

Rybnik Municipal Stadium Rybnik Stadium (Polish - Stadion Miejski w Rybniku) is a motorcycle speedway and association football stadium located in the northern part of Rybnik off Gliwicka 72. The stadium is the home arena of Polish speedway team KS ROW Rybnik who compet ...

(with Bengt Jansson / Ove Fundin /

/ Torbjörn Harrysson) - 4th - 12pts (2) *

– London, Wembley Stadium (with Bengt Jansson / Ove Fundin / Anders Michanek) - Winner - 42pts (10) *

– Wrocław, Olympic Stadium (with Anders Michanek / Bernt Persson / Bengt Jansson / Leif Enecrona) - 4th - 18pts *

–

Chorzów Chorzów ( ; ; ) is a city in the Silesia region of southern Poland, near Katowice. Chorzów is one of the central cities of the Metropolis GZM – a metropolis with a population of 2 million. It is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Rawa ...

Silesian Stadium The Silesian Stadium (; Polish: ) is a sport stadium located on the premises of Silesian Park in Chorzów, Poland. The stadium has a fully covered capacity of 54,378, after refurbishment completed in October 2017. The stadium hosted many Poland ...

(with Anders Michanek / Tommy Jansson / Christer Lofqvist) - 2nd - 31pts (10) *

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

–

Norden Norden is a Scandinavian and German word, directly translated as "the North". It may refer to: Places England * Norden, Basingstoke, a ward of Basingstoke and Deane * Norden, Dorset, a hamlet near Corfe Castle * Norden, Greater Manchester, a vill ...

Motodrom Halbemond The Motodrom Halbemond is a 34,000-capacity motorcycle speedway stadium in Halbemond, located about 5 kilometres southeast of Norden, Germany. There is a motocross course adjacent to the stadium directly east of the Motodrom. The venue is used ...

(with Anders Michanek / Tommy Jansson / Bernt Persson / Sören Karlsson) - 3rd - 17pts (1)

References

External links

Belle Vue Ace: Sören Sjösten
* https://wwosbackup.proboards.com/thread/2795 {{DEFAULTSORT:Sjosten, Soren Willy Ernfrid 1938 births 1999 deaths People from Avesta (locality) Swedish speedway riders Speedway World Pairs Champions Belle Vue Aces riders Birmingham Brummies riders Wolverhampton Wolves riders Bristol Bulldogs riders Swedish expatriate speedway riders in England Masarna riders Sportspeople from Dalarna County Vargarna riders Bysarna riders