Gunde Svan is one of history’s most successful skiers.
But when he reveals the funniest win of his career, the answer surprises.
– I was so happy that time as you can only be as a boy, he says.
Gunde Svan has a track record that few Swedish athletes can match, and few winter athletes throughout the ages have reaped as many successes as our hero. Svan was the skater who changed the sport of skiing with his rock-hard training, his hard routines and his touch on a unique winner’s skull.
Incredible career
Gunde Svan left nothing to chance, and it led to an absolutely unparalleled career filled with medals. He won, for example, a total of four Olympic golds and seven World Cup golds, and the overall World Cup on five occasions. Gunde Svan was at times completely superior, and he was never satisfied with second place.
With all the wins in major championships, and all the wins with the blue and yellow suit, it should be difficult for Svan to pick one of all the wins that meant the most to him. But when GTsport asked Svan during the 80s which of all his many wins was the funnest, the answer was a really unexpected one. Which of all the Olympic gold medals would he actually choose?
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“Happy as only a boy can be”
The answer: Nothing. Namely, he snubbed all the Olympic gold and all the WC successes to instead highlight a memory from when he was a child, and when he was the DM relay for Hulån in Åsen in Dalarna in 1972.
– I was only ten years old at the time. On the last stretch I led my team to victory. I was so happy that time as you can only be as a boy, he said.
In second place on the list, however, came the Olympic gold in Sarajevo in 1984.
– I put the 15 kilometer victory in Sarajevo before all other major competitions I have won. It was the first time I won an international championship.
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