Jan Egil Storholt

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

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, 5,000 m, and 10,000 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". Storholt ended his speed skating career in 1981.

Medals

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

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

* Eng, Trond. "All Time International Championships, Complete Results: 1889 - 2002". Askim, Norway: WSSSA-Skøytenytt, 2002.
* Eng, Trond; Gjerde, Arild and Teigen, Magne. "Norsk Skøytestatistikk Gjennom Tidene, Menn/Kvinner, 1999 (6. utgave)". Askim/Skedsmokorset/Veggli, Norway: WSSSA-Skøytenytt, 1999.
* Eng, Trond; Gjerde, Arild; Teigen, Magne and Teigen, Thorleiv. "Norsk Skøytestatistikk Gjennom Tidene, Menn/Kvinner, 2004 (7. utgave)". Askim/Skedsmokorset/Veggli/Hokksund, Norway: WSSSA-Skøytenytt, 2004.
* Eng, Trond and Teigen, Magne. "Komplette Resultater fra offisielle Norske Mesterskap på skøyter, 1894 - 2005". Askim/Veggli, Norway: WSSSA-Skøytenytt, 2005.
* Teigen, Magne. "Komplette Resultater Norske Mesterskap På Skøyter, 1887 - 1989: Menn/Kvinner, Senior/Junior". Veggli, Norway: WSSSA-Skøytenytt, 1989.
* Teigen, Magne. "Komplette Resultater Internasjonale Mesterskap 1889 - 1989: Menn/Kvinner, Senior/Junior, allround/sprint". Veggli, Norway: WSSSA-Skøytenytt, 1989.

External links

* [http://www.skateresults.com/skater/show/1027 Jan Egil Storholt at SkateResults.com]
* [http://www.sskating.com/index.php?name=STORHOLT&fname=Jan-Egil&nat=NOR&lm=m Personal records from Jakub Majerski's Speedskating Database]
* [http://web.telia.com/~u46130641/adel.htm Evert Stenlund's Adelskalender pages]
* [http://www.isu.org/vsite/vnavsite/page/directory/0,10853,4844-181527-198745-nav-list,00.html Historical World Records] from the "International Skating Union"
* [http://www.skoyteforbundet.no/filarkiv/statistikk/nm_medaljer.pdf National Championships results] from "Norges Skøyteforbund" (the Norwegian Skating Association)