PHOTO: Bildbyrån
Gunde Svan is one of the best cross-country skiers of all time.
Now the icon is worried about the future of Swedish skiing.
– It is impossible to get away, Gunde tells Sportbibeln.
One of Sweden’s, and the world’s, most successful skiers ever. The popular one Gunde Swan had a relatively short, but fantastic career, and is one of the best the world has ever seen take the track.
Gunde’s experience
Today, he is perhaps best known for his many television appearances. Gunde has hosted Fångarna på Fortet, I Hüvedet På Gunde Svan and Gladiators, to name just a few. But most people are probably aware of Svan’s fine credentials, such as six Olympic medals, eleven World Cup medals and 30 wins in the World Cup.
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Gunde also had a shorter leadership career in skiing. For just over a year and a half during the years 2007 to 2009, he was national team manager for the Swedish national skiing team.
When Svan was hired, the national team was in a serious slump. Big fights unfolded for public viewing, and the economy was doing badly, which infected the Swedish results. But quite shortly after Gunde’s arrival, the results began to turn around and the economy improved. In 2009 he quit to have more time for his family.
Paying tribute to Norway
With all his experience, you can probably appoint Gunde Svan as a ski expert, as he also acted in SVT in the early 90s.
When this ski expert looks at Swedish cross-country skiing today, he sees some clouds of worry.
– It is surely a clear proof that you have to have foreground figures to look up to. Just look at the women’s page there Charlotte Kalla started that era, we live in it to this day on the women’s side. Now we haven’t had a really good guy in a while, who has brought the other guys out in the same way, and then there is a bit of a vacuum. It is impossible to get away from it, says Gunde to Sportbibeln.
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Svan raises Norway as an example.
– It’s probably just to admit that, if you look at Norway and how they are almost born with their skis on, we don’t really have the same culture in that way. But here they have to go to ski gymnasium to create the conditions, and it won’t be the same trip. So we simply don’t have as many to choose from, says Gunde.
READ MORE: Gunde Svan blames TV4 – after the unexpected that happened at the daughter’s wedding: “Man was in the depravity”
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