Sten Stensen
Sten Einar Stensen is a former speed skater. Together with Amund Sjøbrend, Kay Stenshjemmet, and Jan Egil Storholt, he was one of the legendary four S-es, 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 [Speed Skating Championships|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, 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.
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.
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 | 1976 | 1972 1972 |
| World Allround | 1974 | 1973 1976 | 1977 |
| European Allround | 1975 | 1976 1978 | – |
| Norwegian Allround | 1973 1974 | 1976 1977 1978 | 1971 1972 |
Records
World records
Over the course of his career, Stensen skated two world records:| Discipline | Time | Date | Location |
| 10,000 m | 14.50,31 | 25 January 1976 |  Personal recordsStensen has an Adelskalender score of 165.011 points. His highest ranking on the Adelskalender was a fourth place. |