Gunde Svan is approaching 60 years of age.
Then he got a challenge from Petter Northug.
The Norwegian would regret it…
Gunde Svan was truly a pioneer in cross-country skiing. Many stars – especially in Sweden – had gone fast. But no one had done it the way Gunde did. He left nothing to chance, and his accuracy took him all the way to the absolute world top.
Incredible winner skull
Gunde was obsessed with training and getting better, and when he ended his career he could look back on incomparable successes such as four Olympic golds and a little incredible seven World Cup golds. But Swan was not just a physical monster – he was a psychic monster.
No skier has probably had the same winner’s skull as Gunde Svan, and it was almost impossible to break him down. And that has lived on even after his skiing career. Swan has become a popular TV profile, and even there, his huge winning skull has on many, many occasions shone straight through the window.
Crushed Northug
And that was at least something that Petter Northug got to experience a few years ago. Northug had then recently ended his career, and on paper he should have been in much better shape than Svan, who was then approaching 60 years of age. Northug challenged Svan to hold a wooden device over his head, and fell a stick down, then they lost.
Early on, Northug started laughing badly, while Svan did not move for a minute. And it was not long before Svan won the competition – and took the opportunity to send a cocky pass.
– I have learned from another who is quite cocky and hard in the mouth here, says Svan, and points to Northug.
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