January Storholt

Background

He was born in Trondheim. Storholt was born in Trondheim, but grew up in the village of Løkken nearby.

Career

Together with Amund Sjøbrend, Sten Stensen, and Kay Stenshjemmet, January Egil Storholt was one of the legendary four South-es (which sounds like "four aces" in Norwegian), four Norwegian top skaters in the 1970s and early 1980s. 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.

World records

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

Source: SpeedSkatingStats.com

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.

Achievements

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

Membership

He became a member of sports club Falken ("Falcon") in Trondheim.