PHOTO: Bildbyrån
Gunde Svan is one of our best athletes ever.
And a true dalmas right down to the bone marrow.
Now he himself gets to choose his top favorite athletes from Dalarna.
The legendary skiing hero Gunde Swan has a track record below its equal. He had a truly unique winner’s skull and refused to give up on the ski tracks without a medal around his neck.
Gunde’s career
Svan has won four Olympic golds, seven World Cup golds, the overall World Cup five times and has been awarded major awards such as the Bragdguldet, the Jerring Prize, the Holmenkollen Medal and the Victoria Scholarship. In addition to being a fantastic skier, he also became extremely popular with his lovely personality.
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Gunde has always been a real dala man who went his own way in all situations and never stopped being himself. But who are his own favorite athletes from Dalarna?
Nobbar Stina
The skiing icon had to answer that question in an old interview with the website Sport i Dalarna in 2017. Then Gunde selected five male and five female athletes who left a big impression on him, they didn’t have to be the very best but the ones who meant the most to him.
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But remarkably, Gunde Svan opted out of both Stina Nilsson from Malung and the childhood idol Sixten Jernberg from Lima, see the full list below.
– Of course I have high thoughts of Stina. I admire her attitude and if there’s anyone I’ve had an eye on, it’s Stina because she’s competed against our daughter Julia for many years. Now there is so much written about Stina anyway that I wanted to highlight other girls who may have been forgotten and who also didn’t get much attention during her career, Gunde tells the sports site.
– I thought of including Sixten on the list, but chose those who are alive. Sixten is unfortunately gone. But he was my big idol when I was growing up, I read about him and there were things I took after. Not least I was impressed by how he ran in boots on bogs to get the right strength. But I didn’t take after everything. The Sixten could almost punish himself in training when he couldn’t quite take it, and in sheer stubbornness drove an extra hour. I didn’t do that.
READ MORE: Gunde Svan opens up about the relationship with Thomas Wassberg – this is how it looks today: “Tortured him”
Two fantastic athletes from Dalarna who take their places are the speedway icons Tony Rickardsson from the Avesta and the orientator Tove Alexandersson from Borlänge, see the full list below.
– Here we can really talk about an athlete who did not have everything arranged for him in his venture. It hasn’t been a bed of roses, and Tony hasn’t had it served on a silver platter. I got the chance to get to know him during my TV show about various athletes. It was incredible to see the work he put in together with his father in the garage at home in Avesta. Tony kept inheriting stuff from his brother, bikes, engines, tires and more. How things were rebuilt in the garage, there is so much work behind it. Tony is a fantastic sports guy, says the skiing icon about Rickardsson and continues about Alexandersson.
– Apart from the fact that she wins most things, yes almost everything, I am impressed by how she manages two sports all the time. To alternate orienteering with ski orienteering, how time is enough. And it’s also about the ability to recover. I could not have managed to combine two sports in this way. And that she is this superior.
Tail “Dalalista”:
• Lars Frölander, swimming
• Mattias Ekström, rally
• Mats Nilsson, enduro
• Tony Rickardsson, speedway
• Jonny Danielsson, athletics
• Sanna Kallur, athletics
• Jenny Rissveds, cycling
• Tove Alexandersson, orienteering and ski orienteering
• Anna-Lena Fritzon, skiing, biathlon and triathlon
• Marie Risby, skiing
Who do you think is the best athlete from Dalarna? Share the article and have your say!
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