PHOTO: Bildbyrån
Gunde Svan is one of Sweden’s top skiers.
And he became known as one of those who trained the hardest.
But now new figures for Frida Karlsson and Ebba Andersson show something completely different.
He is the great pride of Swedish skiing and reaped great success in the 80s. Gunde Swan broke new ground in cross-country skiing and was a pioneer in several ways when it came to training hard and developing the sport.
Swan icon
The Swedish legend was extremely creative and was always looking for new ways to be better than his competitors in the tracks. He has ridden with a long pole, he has ground his poles down to make them lighter and he was one of the first riders to use a heart rate monitor.
The article continues after the picture.
Today, cross-country skiing is a completely different sport and a lot has happened since Gunde Svan took off his boots and retired. The skiers are even better trained and there is much better digital technology to get the best conditions.
READ MORE: Ingemar Stenmark’s unknown side that completely surprises Gunde Svan: “Never met anyone like him”
Frida & Ebba
In the past, skiers with good leg muscles and a high oxygen absorption capacity got far. This is no longer the case at all, as the skiers train much more upper body to cope with the strike.
The article continues after the picture.
In addition, the ladies train significantly more these days, even more than the men in some cases. Svan who was known to train the hardest of all was around 750 hours a year and nowadays both Frida Karlsson and Ebba Andersson reach almost 900 training hours per year.
– On the women’s side, everything has progressed, including oxygen uptake. The training volume has increased more on the women’s side than on the men’s side. In both Norway and Sweden, some of the ladies train slightly more than the guys in terms of hours. Today’s top skaters train 800-900 hours a year, including about 50 hours in the gym. This also applies to Frida Karlsson and Ebba Andersson, says HC Holmbergadjunct professor at Luleå University of Technology and head of research and development at the Swedish Olympic Committee with extra interest in cross-country skiing, in an interview with Dagens Nyheter.
READ MORE: Gunde Svan’s gesture to Petter Northug in crisis says everything about the Swedish skiing hero: “A fantastic person”
Gunde’s food
Gunde Svan was also a pioneer when it came to dieting, where a recipe for success was that he ate enormous amounts of food, especially oatmeal. Nowadays, the technology is incredibly advanced and would have made the Swedish ski icon very jealous.
– Today, with the help of computer programs, you can more accurately calculate what each person needs based on their body constitution. Through lab tests, you can see how much energy is consumed. The food is weighed and nutrition experts ensure that the timing is perfect so that the rider gets the most out of the training or competition, says Joakim Abrahamssonformer Swedish national cross-country skiing captain, now sports manager at Piteå Elite and personal trainer for the Olympic skiers Johan Häggström and Emma Ribomto DN.
A clear example of how much cross-country skiing has developed is that Sven-Åke Lundbäck won Olympic gold in 15 km in Sapporo in 1972 with a time of 45 minutes and 28 seconds. At the last Olympics 2022 won Iivo Niskanen Olympic gold in 15 km with a time of 37 minutes and 54 seconds, which means that almost eight minutes have been cut in 50 years.
Who is your favorite skier of all time? Share the article and have your say!