PHOTO: Bildbyrån
Håkan Carlqvist is one of Swedish sports’ greatest ever.
And popular like few others – of which this is a perfect example.
Because when the motoring icon had all his injuries lined up in front of him, he only responded as “Carla” can do.
In the 70s hit Håkan Carlqvist through completely in the Swedish people’s home. He quickly became extremely successful in motocross and with it also very popular in our long country.
Icon “Carla”
But he was not only extremely skilled on two wheels, but also a cheerleader for a nice profile on and off the track. Nicknamed “Carla”, he touched so many people during his lifetime and became a true blue-and-yellow hero.
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Carlqvist became world champion in motocross in both 1979 and 1983, and also received the Bragdguldet in 1983. He became known for his incredible winning skull and rock-hard character where he never gave up, regardless of how much beating his body took over the years.
READ MORE: When Håkan Carlqvist stood for his craziest prank – and the SVT icon pulled out a completely perfect word
“Born with bad luck”
Because it really was a lot of beating that Håkan Carlqvist was exposed to. He himself has admitted that he had “well over 300 stitches on his body, about 160 stitches in each leg and probably broke every joint” mostly because he simply refused to give way.
– I drive to win in all situations. Third place doesn’t make me happy. You have to have that attitude if you want to get anywhere in this sport, Carla said in an old interview with Aftonbladet in 1990.
– In the last years as a factory driver for Yamaha, the factory did not have the financial means to invest in new technology and lagged behind in development. It meant that I had to drive better than the others, then the pressure became harder and the risks of injury greater.
Carlqvist then had the entire injury list rattled off for him:
1976 – broken jaw, knocked out teeth.
1977 – broken leg, hospital illness.
1982 – broken wrist, 40 stitches in the right.
1983 – back injury, two broken ribs.
1984 – broken right thumb, broken metatarsal bone, broken middle finger.
1985 – broken arm, concussion, broken collarbone.
1986 – broken big toe.
1987 – damaged shoulder muscle attachment, crushed elbow, seven stitches in one leg, broken boat leg.
1988 – broken wrist.
1989 – broken wrist.
READ MORE: When the icon Håkan Carlqvist got a crazy idea in the garage – and shocked all the spectators in the first competition of his life
Then he answered as only Carla can do, namely perfectly well.
– I was born with bad luck, that’s just the way it is. It started when I was a little boy. I was the youngest of three brothers, we always got the same Christmas presents. I remember one Christmas Eve when we opened the packages of nice toy cars. Mine broke even before I unpacked it, he said in the interview.
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The role of the brothers
It was also his older brothers who got him into motocross at an early age.
– It was obvious that it would be like that. My brothers Lennart and Bertil drove motocross. I was crazy about tinkering with the bikes and it sometimes happened that I skipped school to tinker and drive mopeds. These new small bikes didn’t exist then, Håkan told the evening newspaper.
On July 6, 2017, Håkan “Carla” Carlqvist passed away from a brain hemorrhage. He was 63 years old and will forever be remembered as one of Swedish sports’ biggest profiles.
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