Ingemar Stenmark and Anders Limpar met in the Master of Masters.
Now the football icon reveals the truth about what it was really like to stand face to face with one of Sweden’s absolute biggest.
– It was almost like you felt uncomfortable, he says.
When Ingemar Stenmark left, Sweden stopped. It’s an old saying that really describes just how great Ingemar Stenmark actually was, but just as true for that. No one wanted to miss when Stenmark went down the hill, and it was seldom that the Swedish people were disappointed.
Met in the TV show
Ingemar Stenmark broke record after record, won competition after competition, and revolutionized the entire alpine sport. When Stenmark ended his career, he did what was not only alpine skiing’s greatest, but perhaps Sweden’s greatest of all time. And that epithet hasn’t changed since.
After his career, Ingemar Stenmark has been seen a lot on television. He was a smash hit in Let’s Dance, but he also showed that the athletic beats are there when he won the Master of Masters in 2011, in tough competition against, among others, Anders Limpar.
– Stenmark was my idol when I was little. For me, he is the closest thing to God I can get and he was so incredibly nice when the cameras went off in the evening and we just sat and talked, the football icon told Expressen.
READ MORE: Ingemar Stenmark’s emotional confession to Peter Forsberg – and Foppa’s beautiful answer: “You should know that…”
Revealing the truth
Anders Limpar particularly remembers a story that Stenmark drew, about how he was awarded a prize when he played football as a little boy, even though it really shouldn’t have been possible.
– Stenmark was a soccer goalkeeper when he was little and was awarded as player of the match even in a match that his team lost 0-12.
But Limpar also tells the truth about what it was like to actually meet Stenmark in the competition program. Stenmark could tell stories and make jokes when the competitions were over – but as soon as it was time to measure his powers, everything changed.
– Then Stenmark didn’t make any more jokes. Then he was totally focused. It was almost like you felt a little uncomfortable and then he just ran over us.
READ MORE: Ingemar Stenmark reveals his unexpected gratitude to Björn Borg – after the decisive life decision: “I was lucky”