PHOTO: Bildbyrån
Sweden was very successful in alpine skiing once upon a time.
In recent years, things have been slower, and Pernilla Wiberg has a theory why.
– It is the most dangerous thing that can happen, says the former skater to SVT.
Pernilla Wiberg was during the 1990s one of the top skiers in alpine skiing. Among other things, she won three Olympic medals (of which two were gold), six WC medals (of which four were gold) and a total of 24 victories in the World Cup. She is thus one of the greatest Swedish skaters with her fantastic career.
Sweden and slalom
Around Pernilla Wiberg’s heyday, Sweden also had a very successful time in alpine skiing, especially slalom. Before Wiberg, Sweden had Ingemar Stone groundand after Anja Pärson, both of which achieved incredible success. Then came André Myhrer and was, until he retired in 2020, one of Sweden’s foremost. To mention a few.
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After Myhrer quit, Sweden has not had it as easy to cling to the top and take as many victories as before. After having the world’s best slalom team at the end of the 00s and the beginning of the 10s, Sweden has gone down in the rankings. Pernilla Wiberg hopes that things will turn around.
– Today, I think it looks like we have faith in the future. Nothing will happen this year, but there is a good that I haven’t seen in many years, says Wiberg to SVT.
Wiberg’s criticism
But the former alpine skier, who today works as an expert at SVT, also has some criticism to hand out.
– It is clear that there was a generational change. There were many older riders who decided to retire at about the same time. But that’s where you think the ski association should have been more alert, and taken up juniors who could have been trained with the national team to bring them in step by step, so to speak. So you don’t get this slump that we’ve been in for a very, very long time now, says Wiberg.
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The 53-year-old hopes the ski association has learned a lesson and works differently in the future.
– I think that because Sweden were so good, they forgot to work with the younger riders. You were a little satisfied. It is the most dangerous thing that can happen, says the expert, says Wiberg to the channel’s website.
READ MORE: Here Ingemar Stenmark excels in very unexpected sports – can now appear in this summer’s WC: “Not impossible”
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