PHOTO: Bildbyrån
She is one of Swedish sports’ greatest.
Now Magdalena Forsberg reveals the unexpected hatred she has had to endure.
– I became a traitor, says the 55-year-old in the podcast “The Road to the Top”.
With as many as six WC golds, two Olympic bronzes and winner of the overall World Cup six years in a row Magdalena Forsberg Sweden’s most successful biathlete of all time. She was not only successful and piled up medals, but also one of the most popular athletes we have had over the years.
Forsberg’s career
A clear proof of that is that she won the prestigious Jerring Prize, the people’s prize at the Sports Gala, as much as four times in just five years. No one else has won that award as many times as the fantastic “Magda”.
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But even though she dominated the biathlon sport for so many years around the turn of the millennium, her career was not always filled with joy and cheers from Swedes. The 55-year-old is now opening up about her worst time as an athlete and the hate she endured.
READ MORE: Icon Magdalena Forsberg’s open-hearted words about Stina Nilsson – after great criticism: “Stina doesn’t have…”
The hatred of the Swedes
It was during the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano that everything went wrong for gold medalist Magdalena Forsberg. She went to Japan as the favorite but was hampered by anxiety and negative thoughts which led to pure disappointment in the races.
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A distressed Forsberg had to leave the championship without a single Olympic medal and completely devastated. When she then came home to Sweden again, the biathlon star was met by a storm of hate from angry Swedes.
– I got hate mail home. “You’re so bad, burn the skis and put the gun away”. I became a traitor, people expected me to go and get the medals, which I didn’t do, you never do that, says Magdalena in the podcast “The Way to the Top”.
READ MORE: Ski icon Magdalena Forsberg does the forbidden when she reveals her favorite hockey team: “Has the heart there”
Magda’s revenge
Magdalena Forsberg would then get revenge by winning four more World Cup gold medals in her career and taking two long-awaited Olympic medals in the form of double bronze during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. She then chose to put the skis and rifle on the famous shelf in 2002.
During the interview, the 55-year-old legend also highlights the most important person for her career, namely the iconic biathlon coach Wolfgang Pichler. He was by her side through all the success.
– I remember so well how he asked what my goals were and I said that I wanted to become world champion, then he just said: “That’s good, we’ll fix that. Follow my plan and I will take responsibility for your results,” says Forsberg in the podcast.
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