PHOTO: Bildbyrån
He is one of our biggest sporting icons.
Ingemar Stenmark reaped great success during his career.
But Pernilla Wiberg gives a completely new picture of the legendary “Stenis”.
Swedish sports have so much to thank Ingemar Stenmark for. He was a pioneer in so many ways and put little Sweden on the world map with his unforgettable successes during his sports career.
Stenmark icon
“Stenis” dominated alpine skiing for many years and few other Swedes have been so superior in their sports. He became extremely popular at home in the cottages around the country and people still talk about how Sweden stood still when Stenmark went down the hill.
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Stenmark’s fantastic slalom career is summed up with two Olympic golds, five World Cup golds and an incredible 86 victories at the World Cup. He has also been a great idol and role model for so many sporting Swedes who have come after him.
READ MORE: Ingemar Stenmark’s unknown side that completely surprises Gunde Svan: “Never met anyone like him”
Wiberg reveals
One of them is Pernilla Wiberg, who also had a fantastic career in alpine skiing, winning two Olympic golds and four World Cup golds. But in recent years, she has gotten to know the idol Stenmark through their children, and then got a completely different side of the icon.
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“Pillan” describes Stenmark as a real “hen father”.
– Iza (Stenmark, the daughter) and my daughter have gotten to know each other, so I have also gotten to know Ingemar in the role of father. He is very careful and made sure she didn’t fall as a child. But at the same time we have Tarja (Stenmark, the wife) on the other side who was on him: “Uh, let her run, Ingemar. If she stumbles, she will learn”. So they are very different in the role of mother and father, says Wiberg in the TV4 documentary “Sagan Stenmark”.
READ MORE: Patrik Järbyn outclasses Ingemar Stenmark in the most powerful display of all time at Mästarnas mäster
Mrs Tarja Stenmark and the teenage daughter Iza Stenmark also tells how Ingemar is like a father.
– He is very kind and caring, he always wants to help, says Iza in the documentary.
– He is a gentleman, I would say, Tarja adds.
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