Gunde Svan and Thomas Wassberg were bitter rivals – but always had respect for each other.
In a new documentary, they open up about the relationship today.
– Some wanted to make it so that we were at odds, says Wassberg.
Gunde Svan was the child prodigy who grew up to become one of Sweden’s greatest athletes of all time. He was part of Sweden’s perhaps most successful national skiing team of all time, where he and Thomas Wassberg were the ones at the very front of the ranks. But the road to becoming one of Sweden’s most popular athletes ever was not entirely straight.
“Wanted to make it so that we disagreed”
Gunde Svan always went his own way, and it happened that he got together with the national team captain Åke Jönsson. During a championship, despite Gunde Svan showing better form, Thomas Wassberg had to choose the starting group during a five-mile race, which led to enormous anger from Svan. From the outside, maybe Wassberg and Svan didn’t look very similar. Svan was a perfectionist and meticulous about just about everything–food and equipment, above all–while Wassberg gave the appearance of just taking everything as it came, and solving everything with a heel kick.
But now both of them are dissuaded by that image. In fact, the truth has always been that Gunde and Thomas are more alike than has been given the impression, and unlike what some media have speculated about over the years, there have never been any problems between the icons.
– We were bitter competitors, and both had big egos when it was a competition. But outside there was never any problem, says Gunde Svan in the SVT documentary “Gunde Svan – The Skier”.
– Some of the press wanted to make it so that we were at odds. But we never were, says Wassberg.
“An extremely good role model”
Gunde Svan was known for always wanting to try new things. He is perhaps best known for trying to ride with only a pole – but a huge one.
– We are much more alike than people think, Gunde Svan in the documentary.
– He was careful with equipment. I didn’t give the impression of it, but I was also really careful with the equipment, says Wassberg.
Gunde Svan believes that it was one of the things that saved him the most.
– No one talks about the fact that he was so thorough and systematic. Maybe not like me, but it was a carrot, that: “That’s how important it is”.
And to this day, the two skiing legends are close friends.
– In many ways we are the same. That is perhaps why we are good friends today, says Wassberg about the relationship today.
– I got it confirmed; my way of thinking, to take it one step further. For me, Thomas was an extremely good role model, says Svan.
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