Kay Stenshjemmet - Short Biography

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 aces" in Norwegian), four Norwegian top skaters in the 1970s and early 1980s.

During the 1976 European Allround Championships in Oslo, fellow Norwegian Sten Stensen (the defending European Champion), set a new world record on the 10,000 m, but Stenshjemmet still became European Champion by a tiny margin of only 0.005 points (equivalent to 0.10 seconds on the 10000 m).

At the end of the 1975–1976 season, the world record on the 5000 m was Piet Kleine's 7:02.38. On 19 March 1977, first Sergey Marchuk and then in the following pair Stenshjemmet were the first to skate the 5000 m below seven minutes, with 6:58.88 and 6:56.9, respectively. Stenshjemmet's world record would last for five years, until Aleksandr Baranov skated 6:54.44.

Stenshjemmet was European Allround Champion in 1976 and 1980. He was also Norwegian Allround Champion in 1976, 1977, 1978, and 1981, as well as Norwegian Sprint Champion in 1976. At the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, Stenshjemmet won silver on the 1500 m and on the 5000 m, both behind Eric Heiden.