The Bragdguldet had been awarded for 53 years.
Then Ingemar Stenmark and Björn Borg were too superior.
Their total dominance forced Bragdjuryn to a completely unique decision.
Bragdguldet has always been perhaps the most prestigious award a Swedish athlete can receive. It was awarded for the first time back in 1925, and it took 53 years before Bragdjuryn was forced to depart from his principles and make a very peculiar decision. The reason? Ingemar Stenmark and Björn Borg, two of our absolute greatest of all time, were simply too good.
Unique decision
Ingemar Stenmark and Björn Borg had both received the award once each when the award was to be handed out in 1978. Many thought that Sven-Åke Lundbäck, who had won double WC gold in Lahtis, would receive the award. Stenmark had guessed it before, Borg as well. Both believed that you could not receive the award twice – and it was not usual for two athletes from completely different sports to receive the award in the same year.
Björn Borg was coming off a year in which he won his third straight Wimbledon and countless Davis Cup victories. When the Gold of Achievement was awarded, he had 28(!) DC wins in a row. Ingemar Stenmark came from his third straight victory in the Alpine World Cup, and had also won double World Cup gold, in giant slalom and slalom. 18 years earlier, a decision had been made by Bragdjuryn, that it was possible for athletes to receive the award twice, but it had never happened.
READ MORE: Ingemar Stenmark reveals his absolute favorite win in his career – winning all World Cup competitions and the Olympics
The tribute to each other
But now the jury could do nothing but reward Stenmark and Borg for their incredible efforts, and that led to a unique decision where they both received the prize.
– I thought it was impossible to get the medal twice, said Stenmark.
– I had a hard time believing in the medal again, Borg said.
And afterwards, the two couldn’t help but enjoy the fact that it was the two of them who received the award.
– It’s fun to share with Björn. Tennis is a really nice sport, said Ingemar Stenmark.
– Ingemar really deserves his second medal. He is a fantastic athlete, said Björn.
READ MORE: Ingemar Stenmark’s big secret with wife Tarja – the strong confession after all these years: “Didn’t understand why”