Wolverhampton Olympique facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Wolverhampton Olympique

Freddie Lindgren six time winner
Category	motorcycle speedway
Country	United Kingdom
Inaugural season	1966
Folded	2023

The Wolverhampton Olympique was a special yearly competition for motorcycle speedway riders. It took place in the Midlands region of the United Kingdom. Riders would race their motorcycles on an oval track, trying to be the fastest.

History of the Olympique

The Wolverhampton Olympique event started in October 1966. It was first held by the Newcastle Diamonds speedway club at their home track, Brough Park.

At that time, both the Newcastle Diamonds and the Wolverhampton Wolves speedway teams were owned by the same person, a promoter named Mike Parker.

Moving to Wolverhampton

In 1969, Mike Parker sold his share in the Newcastle Diamonds. Many of his assets, including the Olympique event itself, were moved to the Wolverhampton Wolves team. A famous speedway rider named Ole Olsen also moved to Wolverhampton at this time.

The Olympique competition was held at Monmore Green Stadium in Wolverhampton from 1970. When the Wolverhampton track closed for a short time in 1980, the event moved to Birmingham. However, when the Wolves team reopened in 1984, Peter Adams brought the Olympique back to Monmore Green.

The Final Race

The very last Olympique competition happened in 2023. The owners of Monmore Green, a company called Entain, announced that the stadium would only be used for greyhound racing from 2024 onwards. The final winner of the Wolverhampton Olympique was an Australian rider named Zach Cook.

Past Winners of the Olympique

This table shows all the winners of the Wolverhampton Olympique over the years. You can see who won first, second, and third place, and where the event was held.

Year	Venue	First	Second	Third
1966	Brough Park	Barry Briggs	Peter Kelly	Nigel Boocock
1967	Brough Park	Anders Michanek	Ivan Mauger	Nigel Boocock
1968	Brough Park	Not staged
1969	Brough Park	Not staged
1970	Monmore Green Stadium	Ole Olsen	Ivan Mauger	Ronnie Moore
1971	Monmore Green Stadium	Ole Olsen	Barry Briggs	Bernt Persson
1972	Monmore Green Stadium	Ole Olsen	Terry Betts	Ivan Mauger
1973	Monmore Green Stadium	Ole Olsen	Peter Collins	Chris Pusey
1974	Monmore Green Stadium	Ole Olsen	Peter Collins	Terry Betts
1975	Monmore Green Stadium	Ole Olsen	Billy Sanders	Sören Sjösten
1976	Monmore Green Stadium	Peter Collins	Ole Olsen	Chris Morton
1977	Monmore Green Stadium	Billy Sanders	Gordon Kennett	Dave Jessup
1978	Monmore Green Stadium	Gordon Kennett	Ole Olsen	Ila Teromaa
1979	Monmore Green Stadium	Phil Crump	Bruce Penhall	Jan Andersson
1980	Monmore Green Stadium	Les Collins	Bobby Schwartz	Tommy Knudsen
1981	Monmore Green Stadium	Mitch Shirra	Hans Nielsen	Dave Jessup
1982	Monmore Green Stadium	Hans Nielsen	Alan Grahame	Tommy Knudsen
1983	Birchfield Ladbroke Stadium	Not staged
1984	Monmore Green Stadium	Hans Nielsen	Shawn Moran	Preben Eriksen
1985	Monmore Green Stadium	Not staged
1986	Monmore Green Stadium	Not staged
1987	Monmore Green Stadium	Sam Ermolenko	Hans Nielsen	Jan O Pedersen
1988	Monmore Green Stadium	Hans Nielsen	Sam Ermolenko	Mike Faria
1989	Monmore Green Stadium	Jan O Pedersen	Ronnie Correy	Hans Nielsen
1990	Monmore Green Stadium	Ronnie Correy	Billy Hamill	John Jørgensen
1991	Monmore Green Stadium	Greg Hancock	Ronnie Correy	Sam Ermolenko
1992	Monmore Green Stadium	Ronnie Correy	Sam Ermolenko	Gary Havelock
1993	Monmore Green Stadium	Joe Screen	Sam Ermolenko	Peter Karlsson
1994	Monmore Green Stadium	Jason Crump	Peter Karlsson	Joe Screen
1995	Monmore Green Stadium	Greg Hancock	Peter Karlsson	Joe Screen
1996	Monmore Green Stadium	Not staged
1997	Monmore Green Stadium	Mikael Karlsson	Sam Ermolenko	Jesper B Jensen
1998	Monmore Green Stadium	Greg Hancock	Mark Loram	Peter Karlsson
1999	Monmore Green Stadium	Peter Karlsson	Joe Screen	Greg Hancock
2000	Monmore Green Stadium	Peter Karlsson	Nicki Pedersen	Jesper B. Jensen
2001	Monmore Green Stadium	Mikael Karlsson	Sam Ermolenko	Jason Crump
2002	Monmore Green Stadium	Mikael Karlsson	Peter Karlsson	Paul Hurry
2003	Monmore Green Stadium	Mikael Max	Peter Karlsson	Leigh Adams
2004	Monmore Green Stadium	David Howe	Peter Karlsson	Scott Nicholls
2005	Monmore Green Stadium	Freddie Lindgren	Hans Andersen	Travis McGowan
2006	Monmore Green Stadium	Peter Karlsson	Freddie Lindgren	Theo Pijper
2007	Monmore Green Stadium	Freddie Lindgren	Scott Nicholls	Chris Harris
2008	Monmore Green Stadium	Postponed
2009	Monmore Green Stadium	Freddie Lindgren	Chris Harris	Scott Nicholls
2010	Monmore Green Stadium	Freddie Lindgren	Chris Harris	Scott Nicholls
2011	Monmore Green Stadium	Freddie Lindgren	Scott Nicholls	Chris Harris
2012	Monmore Green Stadium	Scott Nicholls	Ricky Wells	Danny King
2013	Monmore Green Stadium	Postponed
2014	Monmore Green Stadium	Postponed
2015	Monmore Green Stadium	Freddie Lindgren	Ricky Wells	Chris Harris
2016	Monmore Green Stadium	Jacob Thorssell	Freddie Lindgren	Chris Harris
2017	Monmore Green Stadium	Not staged
2018	Monmore Green Stadium	Chris Harris	Kyle Howarth	Ricky Wells
2019	Monmore Green Stadium	Not staged
2020	Monmore Green Stadium	Not staged due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021	Monmore Green Stadium	Scott Nicholls	Nick Morris	Rory Schlein
2022	Monmore Green Stadium	Nick Morris	Tom Brennan	Luke Becker
2023	Monmore Green Stadium	Zach Cook	Rory Schlein	Tom Brennan

Top Riders by Wins

This table shows which riders won the most first, second, or third places at the Wolverhampton Olympique.

Country	Driver	First	Second	Third	Podium
	Olsen, Ole	6	2	0	8
	Lindgren, Freddie	6	2	0	8
	Karlsson (Max), Mikael	4	0	0	4
	Karlsson, Peter	3	5	2	10
	Nielsen, Hans	3	2	1	6
	Hancock, Greg	3	0	1	4
	Nicholls, Scott	2	2	3	7
	Correy, Ronnie	2	2	0	4
	Ermolenko, Sam	1	5	1	7
	Harris, Chris	1	2	4	7
	Collins, Peter	1	2	0	3
	Morris, Nick	1	1	0	2
	Briggs, Barry	1	1	0	2
	Sanders, Billy	1	1	0	2
	Kennett, Gordon	1	1	0	2
	Pedersen, Jan O	1	0	1	2
	Crump, Jason	1	0	1	2
	Michanek, Anders	1	0	0	1
	Crump, Phil	1	0	0	1
	Collins, Les	1	0	0	1
	Shirra, Mitch	1	0	0	1
	Howe, David	1	0	0	1
	Thorssell, Jacob	1	0	0	1
	Cook, Zach	1	0	0	1