Photo: Instagram/@Perelofsson, Bildbyrån
Per Elofsson was one of Sweden’s best skiers around the turn of the millennium, but injuries caused him to quit as a 28-year-old.
Six years ago he suffered a stroke and it forced him to change his way in life completely.
– I was paralyzed so I couldn’t even go. I could barely talk. In the beginning it was really bad, he tells the Sports Bible.
1998 was the year as Per Elofsson47, made a name for themselves and got its international breakthrough. A few years later he won the overall World Cup, the World Cup gold in Lahti and in 2001 he was rewarded with the Bragdguldet. He was Sweden’s best male skier, of course.
Per Elofsson’s first time after the skiing career
But then came the injuries. He admittedly took new World Cup medals in Val di Fiemme in 2003, but then he underwent a heavy period. In October 2005, he announced that the skiing career was over. He tried to become a hard rock guitarist, but quickly changed track and jumped on Vattenfall’s international trainee program. Elofsson then took a job at Swedbank and in parallel with that he was expert commentator at first SVT, then Viaplay and Eurosport. In 2009, he was the first former athlete to win SVT’s competition program The Champion’s champion.
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In September 2018, Elofsson-who thus won three World Cup golds, was hit, took an Olympic bronze and won the World Cup twice during his career-of a stroke in his home. He was only 41 years old. He became sub -paralyzed and was allowed to spend several years with rehab training. It was a long way back to life, but now he is healthy again.
– Now it’s really good actually, he says in an interview with the Sports Bible.
Elofsson’s way back after the stroke
He continues to describe how the time after the stroke was. It took several years to come back to normal everyday life and to find back to who he was. The body’s muscle memory had disappeared and he had to practice simple, basal movements and functions again.
-It has taken time and I think that, now it is six years ago, surely it was at least the three to four first years that it happened recurring stuff all the time. Of course, most things happen the first year. But then I thought, “Now I’ll stay off”. But it just continued to change in different ways and you got back abilities and there were many pieces that fell into place, he says.
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For the first time he was really bad.
– I was paralyzed so I couldn’t even go. I could barely talk. In the beginning it was really bad, he says, and says that he is now not taking anything for granted:
– You become very grateful for what you have. You are happy for the little one. You do not have to strive for big stuff, but you can feel gratitude just because you get to sleep well at night.
So Per Elofsson now lives
During the interview with the Sports Bible, the three -child father Per Elofsson talks about what his life looks like now. He lives in houses in Röbäck, Umeå. It was also in the same area that he himself grew up. Today he has a very unexpected profession.
– I started at a new job. I started at Swedavia, so I work at the airport here in Umeå. I have to say that I really enjoy it. It is very varied. We serve in and outgoing plan with everything it can mean and we are also in the safety review. It also includes helping to keep the starting and runways in top condition, he says and continues:
– So it can be very varied days and there are different needs that need to be satisfied. One day is not the same. I have been sitting in front of a computer for 15 years and feels that I want to do something else. And this came as an opportunity and I enjoy it.
How long have you been doing it then?
– I’ve been doing a year now. It also meant that I became an airport firefighter and I educate myself to it. It’s actually fun.
Elofsson’s relationship with skiing
The former ski icon says he still follows the sport, but that he has no interest in working with it again. In any case, it is not relevant with any expert job in the TV box-and he does not work within any club or association either.
– Now I have stood a little on the side. I felt during the time I was bad that it was not relevant and then it was a couple of years and then you feel that it was not so stupid anyway to focus on other things. Children and loved ones. The family. That has become what has been extra important now in recent years, he says.
So nice to hear that you are feeling better nowadays, Per. It was a long way for you to go, but now you are back and live a normal life again. You were a great skier that many remember with joy.
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