PHOTO: Bildbyrån
Marcus Hellner is one of Swedish skiing’s great heroes.
With a fantastic three Olympic golds and a WC gold on the track record.
Today we pay tribute to the former cross-country skier on his 38th birthday!
It was in the Skiing WC 2007 that Marcus Hellner made a big splash on the world stage. In his very first senior championship, it was a well-deserved ninth place in the distance and then he was one of the heroes when the WC bronze was salvaged at the relay in Sapporo.
The hero Hellner
But the very best moment of his career came three years later when Hellner topped his career at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. At the age of 24, he was in absolute top form and won Olympic gold in both the skiathlon and the relay together with Anders Södergren, Johan Olsson and Daniel Rickardsson.
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In total, there were three Olympic golds, one Olympic bronze, one World Cup gold, four World Cup silvers, two World Cup bronzes, a whopping 15 World Championship golds and six World Cup victories during the successful career. In 2018, he suddenly chose to end his career and today he still lives in Gällivare, where he has Hellnerstadion named after him.
Refuses TV jobs
But unlike several of his national team colleagues, Hellner has not remained in skiing in any kind of role as coach or TV expert. Instead, he gets to sit at home on the TV sofa and watch fellow Olympic gold medalist Johan Olsson in the skiing broadcasts.
– He is good at talking so he behaves well. Although I haven’t watched much, I’m convinced that he’s doing well, analysis-wise, Hellner tells Expressen, admitting that he doesn’t follow cross-country skiing that much anymore.
– I’ve actually had time to look, but it hasn’t turned out to be much.
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Marcus Hellner has actually been asked to become a TV expert but has consistently declined those offers.
– Yes, I have received a question from time to time about it. But I haven’t really felt that it has been my thing, says the skiing hero who turns 38 today.
READ MORE: The hero Marcus Hellner disappeared completely into the radio shadow – now he talks about his new life: “I regret nothing”
The three-time Olympic gold medalist is simply not comfortable in television broadcasts and has therefore refused to put on a jacket and talk skiing on SVT or Viaplay’s ski broadcasts.
– I think it’s nice not to be in front of the camera on air. I think it has been quite nice since I quit that you are not there. But then I focused on other things. It has been quite nice, Hellner admits to the evening newspaper.
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