Photo: Bildbyrån
He is the world’s all-time best when it comes to downhill skiing.
But in another sport, Ingemar Stenmark himself claims that he is lousy.
– I’m actually really bad, he says to the magazine Åka Skidor.
We know him as one of Sweden’s best and greatest sportsmen of all time. With his 86 World Cup victories in slalom and giant slalom – as well as two Olympic golds and five World Cup golds – is Ingemar Stenmark68, immortal. He is a great role model for many, both for Swedes and for people from other countries.
Ingemar Stenmark competes in the pole vault
Stenmark had its breakthrough in the spring of 1974, i.e. a full 50 years ago. Then he won his first World Cup victory in the Italian Madonna di Campiglio. It was the start of an incredible career. Stenmark himself had already begun to sense the year before that he could be really good.
– In the spring of 1974, i.e. the season before the Madonna victory, I competed at the Italian championships. It was the Italians, especially the South Tyroleans, who dominated then. I was fourth after the first run, but only about a tenth behind the leader. Then understood that now, now I can win. Admittedly, I went out in second, but then I knew that “now I am so close that I can win”. And if you can beat them then you can become number one in the world, he says to the newspaper Åka Skidor.
READ MORE: The new photos of Ingemar Stenmark astonish Swedes: “My God”
After his 15 years at the top of the world in alpine skiing, Ingemar Stenmark has also tried a few other sports. In the summer of 2021, he made his debut as a racing driver in the Porsche Sprint Challenge Scandinavia. But the motorsport career was short. Instead, he has started pole vaulting as a 67-year-old. Last summer, he competed at the veteran WC in Gothenburg and then jumped three meters.
Ingemar Stenmark is lousy at golf
He may appear to be a multi-tasker who is good at everything, after all, he has won the TV programs “Superstars”, “Master of Masters” and “Let’s dance”. But according to himself, it’s really not like that. He admits that there are certainly things he is bad at.
– Yes, of course there is. Golf is just one example (laughs). I’m really bad at that. Considering I’ve tried it so much. Sure, I can play a little, but I’m actually really bad. I should be better with the time I have put in. I still don’t think it’s ball sense that’s missing, because I can juggle football with my feet. There are no problems. But there is something that makes it not work with golf, he says.
READ MORE: Gunde Svan breaks the silence about the health problem that also affected Ingemar Stenmark – the doctors’ verdict: “There is a lot of wear and tear”
He is also asked what is actually his great talent that has helped him move forward in life. Ingemar is then a little unsure of what to answer.
– I don’t think I have such a special talent. I’m good at things I find fun. That’s what I’m trying to find and learn. It’s the same with pole vaulting now. I feel bad. But I know how to do it. I don’t give up until I crack the codes one by one. If I’m not passionate about it, like with golf, then it won’t be good either, he says.
It is hard to imagine that Ingemar Stenmark is really bad at any sport. In the eyes of many, he is good at exactly everything.
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