lit a candle 11h agoI keep trying to remember where I even first saw Norwegian speed skating on television, it must have been one of those winter broadcasts in the early eighties, my father liked the sport for some reason none of us ever understood, and I remember the announcer saying something about the four S's like it was a chess opening or a law firm. I didn't know who was who then, I just remember the ice at Bislett looked so white and the crowd sounded like it was underwater. Anyway I read today that one of them, Sjøbrend, just died at 73, and it sent me down a strange little rabbit hole this afternoon looking up 1981 world championships instead of doing my actual work. Funny how a sport you don't even follow can still hold a piece of your childhood. Edit: it was Lake Placid coverage I think, not sure now, doesn't matter I suppose.
Their story
Amund Sjøbrend was a Norwegian speed skater and coach, one of the celebrated "four S's" (de fire S-ene) who dominated Norwegian skating in the 1970s and early 1980s alongside Sten Stensen, Kay Arne Stenshjemmet and Jan Egil Storholt. In 1981, at the end of a long wait in the shadow…
Amund Sjøbrend was a Norwegian speed skater and coach, one of the celebrated "four S's" (de fire S-ene) who dominated Norwegian skating in the 1970s and early 1980s alongside Sten Stensen, Kay Arne Stenshjemmet and Jan Egil Storholt. In 1981, at the end of a long wait in the shadow of his teammates, he became both European and World Allround Champion, winning the world title on home ice at Bislett Stadium in Oslo, and he received the Oscar Mathisen Award (Oscarstatuetten) for the season. He died on the evening of Sunday 4 October 2026, after a short illness, at the age of 73. The Norwegian Skating Association announced his death the next day in agreement with his family, who asked for privacy.
Amund Martin Sjøbrend was born on 1 December 1952 in Slåstad, in Sør-Odal in the Norwegian county now called Innlandet. He skated first for his home club, Slåstad IL, before moving to Hamar Idrettslag for the 1971/72 season. He made his international debut at the 1972 ISU Junior World Championships, where he placed fourth.
His first senior championship, the 1974 European Allround Championships in Eskilstuna, Sweden, made him a sensation. He won both the 500 metres and the 1,500 metres, was third over 5,000 metres and led the competition before the final 10,000 metres, where Sweden's Göran Claeson overtook him to win the title by just 0.023 points. Later that season, at the World Championships in Inzell, he struggled in the humid mountain air and collapsed during the 5,000 metres, forcing him to withdraw. In 1975 he became Norwegian Allround Champion and was awarded the King's Cup.
From 1976 to 1980 Sjøbrend was often in the shadow of his three famous teammates, even as he kept winning distances at international championships. At the 1976 European Championships at Bislett the four S's, coached by Johs Tenmann, took the first four places, with Sjøbrend fourth, and the quartet was invited to meet King Olav and Crown Prince Harald afterwards. The 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck brought no luck: he had not qualified for the 1,500 metres, his favourite distance, and changing ice conditions left him 13th over 5,000 metres and 10th over 10,000 metres. In 1977 he won bronze at the European Championships in Larvik. Before the 1980 Olympic season he trained harder than ever, became overtrained and failed to qualify for the Games in Lake Placid, but he recovered to finish fourth at the World Championships in Heerenveen that spring.
The 1980/81 season was his best and his last among the international elite. In January 1981 he became European Allround Champion in Deventer in the Netherlands. On 15 February 1981, in front of a home crowd at Bislett, he won the world title after a dramatic duel with Kay Stenshjemmet, who looked set to win until he faded on the final lap of the 10,000 metres. Sjøbrend took the title by 0.106 points, with Jan Egil Storholt third, giving Norway the whole podium. He was only the second Norwegian, after Per Ivar Moe in 1965, to become world champion at Bislett. NRK commentator Jan Petter Saltvedt later said the modest man from Hedmark "finally got the recognition he had worked so long for" and ended his career "as a true Norwegian skating hero".
Over his career Sjøbrend won seven distances at World and European allround championships and was one of the few skaters of the modern era to win all four classic championship distances. He set four Norwegian records, one at 1,500 metres, one at 5,000 metres and two at 3,000 metres. His personal bests were 38.62 (500 m), 1:19.4 (1,000 m), 1:56.32 (1,500 m), 4:08.22 (3,000 m), 7:08.88 (5,000 m) and 14:58.71 (10,000 m), giving him an Adelskalender score of 165.216 and a best ranking of 12th.
After his own racing career he joined Aktiv Skøyteklubb in Oslo and became a respected coach. Nils Einar Aas, later president of the Norwegian Skating Association, was coached by him in the 1980s. Sjøbrend served as head coach of Aktiv Skøyteklubb and, in his later years, coached the club's girls' group, sharing his knowledge generously. His daughter, Julie Berg Sjøbrend, also became a speed skater and was selected to represent Norway at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games.
Paying tribute, Aas called him a great skater and "a warm, knowledgeable and inclusive person" who "left lasting marks, as an athlete, coach and fellow human being". The cause of death has not been made public beyond the family's statement that he died after a short illness.
Biography adapted from Norwegian Skating Association obituary (skoyteforbundet.no, 5 Oct 2026); NRK (Sindre Espe, 5 Oct 2026); TV 2 (5 Oct 2026); VG/NTB (5 Oct 2026); Olympedia; Store norske leksikon (Rolf Bryhn); Norwegian. Wikipedia ↗
In their own words
“Amund will be deeply missed. He had a great commitment to skating and to the people around him. He cared that others should thrive, develop and experience mastery, whatever their level. He left lasting marks, as an athlete, coach and fellow human being.”
Nils Einar Aas, president of the Norwegian Skating Association, 5 October 2026 (translated from Norwegian)
“Amund has been a great inspiration and a close friend to me personally, and he meant a great deal to very many people in the skating community. He had a special ability to see the people around him and bring out the best in them.”
Nils Einar Aas, who was coached by Sjøbrend in the 1980s, 5 October 2026 (translated from Norwegian)
“The level-headed man from Innlandet finally got the recognition he had worked so long for and ended his career as a true Norwegian skating hero, at a time when that was the finest thing you could be in this country.”
NRK commentator Jan Petter Saltvedt, 5 October 2026 (translated from Norwegian)
