Jan Egil Storholt

Jan Egil Storholt

Jan Egil Storholt in 1979
Personal information
Nationality Norwegian
Born (1949-02-13) 13 February 1949
Trondheim, Norway
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight 80 kg (176 lb)
Sport
Country Norway
Sport Men's speed skating
Club Sportsklubben Falken
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s) 500 m: 38.07 (1977)
1000 m: 1:16.77 (1977)
1500 m: 1:55.18 (1977)
3000 m: 4:09.05 (1978)
5000 m: 7:01.16 (1977)
10 000 m: 14:49.26 (1978)
Medal record
Representing  Norway
Men's speed skating
Olympic Games
1976 Innsbruck 1,500 m
World Championships
1977 Heerenveen Allround
1978 Gothenburg Allround
1979 Oslo Allround
1981 Oslo Allround
European Championships
1977 Larvik Allround
1979 Deventer Allround
1980 Trondheim Allround
1976 Oslo Allround
1978 Oslo Allround

Jan Egil Storholt (born 13 February 1949) is a former speed skater from Norway. He was born in Trondheim.

Biography

Together with Amund Sjøbrend, Sten Stensen, and Kay Stenshjemmet, Jan Egil Storholt 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.

Storholt was born in Trondheim, but grew up in the village of Løkken nearby. He became a member of sports club Falken ("Falcon") in Trondheim. Falken was the club 1948 Olympic 1,500 m Champion Sverre Farstad and three-time 1952 Olympic Champion (on the 1,500 m, 5000 m, and 10000 m) Hjalmar Andersen had skated for.

Storholt was the Norwegian Junior Champion in 1969, but when he was almost killed in a mining accident in 1970, he was told he would probably not be able to compete at the highest levels again, and it seemed that his promising career had already come to an end. However, Storholt's determination got him back to the Norwegian top by 1972. After some of the best Norwegian speed skaters had turned professional in 1973 (and therefore also could no longer participate in the Olympic Games), Storholt suddenly was one of the best Norwegian amateurs.

It still took until 1976 for his first major international successes: After having won bronze at the European Allround Championships that year, Storholt went on to win Olympic gold on the 1,500 m in Innsbruck. This made him the third Olympic 1,500 m Champion for sports club Falken. In 1977 he became European Allround Champion and was narrowly defeated by Eric Heiden in the World Allround Championships. He won silver behind Heiden in three consecutive World Championships, and became European Allround Champion for the second time in 1979. This year he won his only Norwegian allround title as a senior.

Storholt ended his speed skating career in 1981, after having won bronze in the World Championships.

Medals

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

Championships Gold medal Silver medal Bronze medal
Winter Olympics 1976 (1500 m) – –
World Allround – 1977
1978
1979 		1981
World Sprint – – –
European Allround 1977
1979 		1980 1976
1978
Norwegian Allround 1979 1975 1977
1978
Norwegian Sprint – 1976
1977
1981 		1974
1980

Records

World records

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

DisciplineTimeDateLocation
1500 m1.55,18March 20, 1977Soviet Union Medeo
Big combination163.221March 20, 1977Soviet Union Medeo

Source: SpeedSkatingStats.com[1]

Personal records

To put these personal records in perspective, the WR column lists the official world records on the dates that Storholt skated his personal records.

EventResultDateVenueWR
500 m38.0719 March 1977Medeo37.00
1000 m1:16.773 January 1978Oslo1:15.33
1500 m1:55.1820 March 1977Medeo1:55.61
3000 m4:09.052 March 1978Inzell4:08.3 
5000 m7:01.1619 March 1977Medeo7:02.38
10000 m14:49.2619 March 1978Medeo14:33.34
Big combination163.22120 March 1977Medeo165.884

Note that Storholt's personal record on the 5,000 m was not a world record because Kay Stenshjemmet skated 6:56.9 at the same tournament.

Storholt was number one on the Adelskalender, the all-time allround speed skating ranking, for a total of 30 days, divided over two short periods in 1977 and 1978. He has an Adelskalender score of 163.042 points.

References

  1. ↑ "Jan Egil Storholt". SpeedSkatingStats.com. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
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