Gunde Svan


Gunde Anders Svan is a Swedish former cross-country skier and auto racing driver. During his cross-country skiing career he won a total of four gold, one silver and one bronze medals at the Winter Olympics. Svan won a total of seven golds, three silvers, and one bronze at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships. Svan also won the 15 km once and the 50 km twice at the Holmenkollen ski festival. In 1984, he earned the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal, and in 1985, he earned the Holmenkollen medal. He is currently active as a board member of the International Ski Federation.

Biography

During his skiing career he became known for his dedication and attention to details. For instance he used a lighter alloy on the tips of his ski poles saving four grams. He won two golds, one bronze and one silver at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo. At the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, he won two golds for 50 km and relay. He also won the World championship gold six times and won the World cup five times.
As a competitor in rallycross he got one gold medal in the Swedish Championship and a bronze medal in the FIA European Championship for Rallycross Drivers. One of the reasons for getting into another sport was that some people called him a natural skier while he himself maintained that it's just a matter of will and dedication, according to his famous tagline "nothing is impossible". He applied the same methods to his driving as his skiing and even built his own reaction-tester to practice for the rallycross eminently important starts. When his compatriot and teamboss, the late Christer Bohlin, was not able to fulfill his promise to upgrade his Toyota team for 1996 into the top ERC category, Svan quit and gave up rallycross.
After retiring from his athletic career he has worked as the host for some game shows such as the Swedish version of American Gladiators, Fort Boyard and Bingolotto. He has played a seductive lady in the short movie En handelsresandes nöd, directed by Svenne Rubin and starring Claes Månsson, Björn Skifs and Gert Klötzke. He has also appeared in numerous commercials including a famous commercial where he impersonated fellow skier Thomas Wassberg.
Svan resigned from his position as Chief of Cross-Country for Sweden on the week of 4 May 2009 after he was involved in its reorganization.
He participated in Let's Dance 2018 broadcast on TV4 where he finished third together with Jeanette Carlsson.
He retired to his 1000 hectare forest farm, where he worked with his son, Ferry Svan, and now supports his children's careers.

Cross-country skiing results

All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation.

Olympic Games

Season titles

Individual podiums

No.SeasonDateLocationRaceLevelPlace
11982–8312 March 1983 Oslo, Norway50 km IndividualWorld Cup3rd
21982–8319 March 1983 Anchorage, United States15 km IndividualWorld Cup1st
31982–8327 March 1983 Labrador City, Canada30 km IndividualWorld Cup1st
41983–8416 December 1983 Ramsau, Austria30 km IndividualWorld Cup1st
51983–8410 February 1984 Sarajevo, Yugoslavia30 km IndividualOlympic Games3rd
61983–8413 February 1984 Sarajevo, Yugoslavia15 km IndividualOlympic Games1st
71983–8419 February 1984 Sarajevo, Yugoslavia50 km IndividualOlympic Games2nd
81983–8425 February 1984 Falun, Sweden30 km IndividualWorld Cup1st
91983–842 March 1984 Lahti, Finland15 km IndividualWorld Cup3rd
101983–8410 March 1984 Oslo, Norway50 km IndividualWorld Cup3rd
111983–8417 March 1984 Fairbanks, United States15 km IndividualWorld Cup1st
121984–859 December 1984 Cogne, Italy15 km IndividualWorld Cup3rd
131984–8518 January 1985 Seefeld, Austria30 km IndividualWorld Championships1st
141984–8527 January 1985 Seefeld, Austria50 km IndividualWorld Championships1st
151984–8516 February 1985 Aleko, Bulgaria15 km IndividualWorld Cup1st
161984–8523 February 1985 Syktyvkar, Soviet Union15 km IndividualWorld Cup1st
171984–859 March 1985 Falun, Sweden30 km IndividualWorld Cup1st
181984–8514 March 1985 Oslo, Norway15 km IndividualWorld Cup2nd
191985–868 December 1985 Labrador City, Canada15 km Individual CWorld Cup1st
201985–8614 December 1985 Biwabik, United States30 km Individual FWorld Cup1st
211985–8611 January 1986 La Bresse, France30 km Individual CWorld Cup1st
221985–8615 January 1986 Bohinj, Yugoslavia5 km Individual FWorld Cup2nd
231985–8614 February 1986 Oberstdorf, West Germany50 km Individual FWorld Cup1st
241985–8623 February 1986 Kavgolovo, Soviet Union15 km Individual CWorld Cup2nd
251985–862 March 1986 Lahti, Finland15 km Individual FWorld Cup2nd
261985–8614 March 1986 Oslo, Norway50 km Individual CWorld Cup1st
271986–8710 December 1986 Ramsau, Austria15 km Individual FWorld Cup1st
281986–8713 December 1986 Cogne, Italy15 km Individual FWorld Cup1st
291987–8812 December 1987 La Clusaz, France15 km Individual FWorld Cup2nd
301987–8815 December 1987 Kastelruth, Italy30 km Individual FWorld Cup2nd
311987–8819 December 1987 Davos, Switzerland15 km Individual CWorld Cup1st
321987–8827 February 1988 Calgary, Canada50 km Individual FOlympic Games1st
331988–8910 December 1988 Ramsau, Austria15 km Individual FWorld Cup2nd
341988–8914 December 1988 Bohinj, Yugoslavia30 km Individual FWorld Cup1st
351988–8917 December 1988 Val di Sole, Italy15 km Individual FWorld Cup1st
361988–8913 January 1989 Nové Město, Czechoslovakia15 km Individual FWorld Cup1st
371988–8915 January 1989 Nové Město, Czechoslovakia30 km Individual CWorld Cup1st
381988–8920 February 1989 Lahti, Finland15 km Individual FWorld Championships1st
391988–8926 February 1989 Lahti, Finland50 km Individual FWorld Championships1st
401989–9013 January 1990 Moscow, Soviet Union30 km Individual FWorld Cup1st
411989–9021 February 1990 Val di Fiemme, Italy30 km Individual CWorld Cup1st
421989–906 March 1990 Trondheim, Norway15 km Individual CWorld Cup2nd
431989–9017 March 1990 Vang, Norway50 km Individual FWorld Cup1st
441990–917 February 1991 Val di Fiemme, Italy30 km Individual CWorld Championships1st
451990–919 February 1991 Val di Fiemme, Italy15 km Individual FWorld Championships2nd
461990–9117 February 1991 Val di Fiemme, Italy50 km Individual FWorld Championships2nd

Team podiums

No.SeasonDateLocationRaceLevelPlaceTeammates
11983–8416 February 1984 Sarajevo, Yugoslavia4 × 10 km RelayOlympic Games1stWassberg / Kohlberg / Ottosson
21983–8425 February 1984 Falun, Sweden4 × 10 km RelayWorld Cup1stÖstlund / Wassberg / Ottosson
3 1984–85 24 January 1985 Seefeld, Austria4 × 10 km RelayWorld Championships3rdÖstlund / Wassberg / Eriksson
4 1984–85 10 March 1985 Falun, Sweden4 × 10 km RelayWorld Cup2ndÖstlund / Wassberg / Mogren
5 1984–85 17 March 1985 Oslo, Norway4 × 10 km RelayWorld Cup1stEriksson / Danielsson / Wassberg
61985–869 March 1986 Falun, Sweden4 × 10 km Relay FWorld Cup1stÖstlund / Eriksson / Mogren
71985–8613 March 1986 Oslo, Norway4 × 10 km Relay FWorld Cup1stÖstlund / Eriksson / Mogren
81986–8717 February 1987 Oberstdorf, West Germany4 × 10 km Relay FWorld Championships1stÖstlund / Wassberg / Mogren
91987–8824 February 1988 Calgary, Canada4 × 10 km Relay FOlympic Games1stOttosson / Wassberg / Mogren
101987–8813 March 1988 Falun, Sweden4 × 10 km Relay FWorld Cup1stOttosson / Mogren / Majbäck
111987–8817 March 1988 Oslo, Norway4 × 10 km Relay CWorld Cup2ndOttosson / Mogren / Majbäck
121988–8924 February 1989 Lahti, Finland4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Championships1stMajbäck / Håland / Mogren
13 1990–91 15 February 1991 Val di Fiemme, Italy4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Championships2ndEriksson / Majbäck / Mogren
14 1990–91 1 March 1991 Lahti, Finland4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Cup2ndEriksson / Mogren / Forsberg

Note: Until the 1999 World Championships and the 1994 Winter Olympics, World Championship and Olympic races were included in the World Cup scoring system.

Racing record

Complete FIA European Rallycross Championship results

Division 1