Thomas Wassberg did everything to win.
And he was a master at circumventing the rules.
Like the time he suddenly stopped, did a simple trick – and crushed his competitors.
Thomas Wassberg was the winner who, with his raw attitude, became one of Sweden’s most popular and successful athletes. Wassberg enjoyed huge success at major championships, and with his straightforward attitude and approach, he became an instant crowd favorite.
Incredible trick
Wassberg was at its greatest when Swedish cross-country skiing on the men’s side dominated. Skaters like Gunde Svan came in and revolutionized the sport, but Wassberg was the skater who didn’t think too much. He just got into the groove, and with talent and attitude crushed everyone. Wassberg was not a big fan of novelties and too much fuss about skis, servicemen and personal trainers.
In the 1985 season, the skate style became popular, and it prompted the International Ski Federation to act. They chose to introduce “skate-free zones”, i.e. areas on a course where you could only skate classically. And Thomas Wassberg acted immediately.
– Then Wassberg did a very clever thing. He had taped his skis, and rolled over the tape. After the last classic zone, he stopped. “What is he doing”, everyone thought. He took the time to pull off the tape, and then he had faster skis than everyone else and won the race, says Jacob Hård to SVT.
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Rushed past everyone
It was all a brilliant idea by Wassberg, and a bold move that really paid off. But there was another mastermind behind it.
– My image has always been that it was Wassberg’s idea. But now Gunde told me that it was something they talked about in the national team several days before – but that it was only Wassberg who dared, says Hård.
Jacob Hård talks about it all before a documentary about Gunde Svan, which will be broadcast on SVT during the winter of 2023. The documentary shows, among other things, how Gunde Svan’s revolutionary style changed everything, and made competitors look at him in amazement. But Wassberg wasn’t there much for it, after all…
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