Ole Olsen (speedway rider)

Ole Olsen
Born (1946-11-16) 16 November 1946 (age 78)
Haderslev, Denmark
NicknameThe Great Dane
NationalityDanish
Career history
Great Britain
1967–1969Newcastle Diamonds
1970–1975Wolverhampton Wolves
1976–1983Coventry Bees
Individual honours
1971, 1975, 1978World Champion
1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972,
1973, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1981
Danish Champion
1971, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977,
1978
Nordic Champion
1972, 1976, 1977, 1978British League Riders Champion
1971, 1972, 1975, 1976, 1978Midland Riders Champion
1973Long Track World Champion
1970, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1977,
1979, 1980
Golden Helmet of Pardubice (CZE)
1976Australian Champion
1972NSW State Champion (Aust)
1974British-Nordic-American Champion
1978Intercontinental Champion
1977Yorkshire Television Trophy
1970, 1971, 1972, 1977, 1978Pride of the East
1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975,
1977, 1978
Gold Bar - Denmark
1971, 1974Blue Riband
1970, 1972, 1977, 1978Brandonapolis
1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975Olympique
1973, 1975Internationale
1972, 1973, 1974The Laurels
1973Golden Sovereign
1973, 1980Star of Anglia
1975, 1978Littlechild Trophy
1972Golden Gauntlets
1977Golden Hammer
1977Grande Prix
1979Superama
Team honours
1978, 1981, 1983World Team Cup Winner
1979World Pairs Champion
1978, 1979British League Champion
1978British League Pairs Champion
1981British League Cup
1973, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982Midland Cup
1980Midland League
Competition record
Representing  Denmark
Speedway World Championship
Gold medal – first place 1971
Gold medal – first place 1975
Gold medal – first place 1978
Silver medal – second place 1981
Bronze medal – third place 1972
Bronze medal – third place 1977
Speedway World Team Cup
Gold medal – first place 1978
Gold medal – first place 1981
Gold medal – first place 1983
Silver medal – second place 1979
Silver medal – second place 1982
Speedway World Pairs Championship
Gold medal – first place 1979
Silver medal – second place 1973
Silver medal – second place 1976
Bronze medal – third place 1975
Bronze medal – third place 1978
Bronze medal – third place 1980
Bronze medal – third place 1982
Intercontinental Championship
Gold medal – first place 1978
Silver medal – second place 1977
Golden Helmet
Gold medal – first place 1970
Gold medal – first place 1971
Gold medal – first place 1972
Gold medal – first place 1975
Gold medal – first place 1977
Gold medal – first place 1979
Gold medal – first place 1980
Silver medal – second place 1973
Silver medal – second place 1976
Bronze medal – third place 1978
Bronze medal – third place 1983
Long Track World Championship
Gold medal – first place 1973
Silver medal – second place 1976
Bronze medal – third place 1975
Bronze medal – third place 1977
Bronze medal – third place 1979

Ole Bjarne Olsen (born 16 November 1946)[1] is a Danish former professional motorcycle speedway rider.[2]

He won the Speedway World Championship three times, in 1971, 1975, and 1978.[3] He also won the World Long Track Championship in 1973. In 1979 Olsen won Speedway World Pairs Championship with Hans Nielsen. In 1978, 1981 and 1983 Olsen was the captain of Denmark's winning Speedway World Team Cup teams, while also finishing second in 1979 and 1982. Denmark could only place third in the 1980 World Team Cup Intercontinental Final and missed a place in the Final held at the Olympic Stadium in Wrocław, Poland, the same track where he made his World Individual Final debut in 1970. In 2015, Olsen was named an FIM Legend for his motorcycling achievements.[4]

Olsen's success greatly helped popularize the sport in Denmark which led to him building and opening a track at Vojens, the 15,000 capacity Vojens Speedway Center, which has held many Danish Championships as well as the 1988 and 1994 Speedway World Finals (1994 being the last under the old single meeting format) while it hosted the Speedway Grand Prix of Denmark from 1995 until 2002, after which the Danish GP was moved to the larger capacity Parken Stadium in Copenhagen.[5]

  1. ^ Oakes, Peter; Mauger, Ivan OBE, MBE (1976). Who's Who of World Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. ISBN 0-904584-04-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ Lawson,K (2018) “Riders, Teams and Stadiums”. ISBN 978-0-244-72538-9
  3. ^ Montague, Trevor (2004). The A-Z of Sport. Little, Brown. p. 526. ISBN 0-316-72645-1.
  4. ^ "FIM Legends". fim-live.com. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
  5. ^ "History of Vojens". speedway.dk. Retrieved 2008-09-23.