PHOTO: Bildbyrån
They were both teammates in the national team and great rivals on the ski slopes.
Thomas Wassberg admits what he really thinks about the pair horse Gunde Svan.
– We are two different personalities and stayed on separate sides, says the icon to Aftonbladet.
The iconic duo are two of our best cross-country skiers of all time and were behind a Swedish heyday on the ski slopes. Thomas Wassberg and Gunde Swan reaped great success as teammates and inspired each other to new heights but they were also great rivals for the gold medals.
Wassberg & Swan
Wassberg was the older, more experienced skater who won four Olympic golds, three WC golds and a total of seven WC medals through sheer will and sheer force. While Svan was the younger upstart who resorted to extreme methods to push the limits and that resulted in four Olympic golds, seven World Cup golds and five overall victories at the World Cup.
The article continues after the picture.
Thomas Wassberg was 26 years old when Gunde entered the national ski team and remembers back to that time.
– When we were at the glacier camp in Ramsau, he would always be the first to the bus and also into the cabin. It was so extreme and we could have fun with it. It was a bit of mischief. I give myself the phase that colleagues of mine took a binding or something like that from him, the icon admits in an old interview with Aftonbladet.
Thomas of Gunde
Many, many years after both of their successful skiing careers ended, Wassberg gives his picture of their time together as teammates and rivals on the slopes.
– We spurred each other on. After all, I had the worst competitor at home and saw what happened in training, how low the level was. We were not confronted daily but several times a month, he tells the evening newspaper and tells us more about their relationship.
– We didn’t have much personal contact, really. We talked to each other but are two different personalities and had friends on opposite sides. When we were at camp, I usually lived with Anders Larsson, sometimes with (Jan) Ottosson and (Torgny) Mogren. That Gunde and I lived together only happened once in a while. He often had Marie (his wife) with him.
The article continues after the picture.
Gunde Svan has been described by many as a “control freak” who was quite extreme in both training and diet. Wassberg was not at all the same during his active elite career.
– I was careful in my way but not as extreme. He calculated how much and what to eat and carried food boxes with him for an entire winter. I thought it was better to eat from what was on site. After all, there is good food and you can make sure you get enough carbohydrates. It’s not really weird. Then I could take a ski competition not very seriously, while he took all ski competitions very seriously, he says in the interview and tells us if they are in contact these days.
– Not often, but I recently received a text message from Gunde. He cleaned the attic and sent a picture from an old issue of the magazine Svensk Skidsport, in which I was included. I was young then and wore a ski suit I forgot we had. When we meet, we talk about forests and tractors, things like that.
Who was your favorite of Wassberg and Svan? Share the article and have your say!
READ MORE: Thomas Wassberg’s rage after all the years of silence – airs his enormous criticism: “I’m damn disappointed in Sweden”
Sign up for our newsletter
Share