Magdalena Forsberg


Magdalena "Magda" Forsberg is a former Swedish cross-country skier and biathlete. She was the dominating female biathlete from 1997 to 2002, when she retired, winning the Biathlon World Cup for six years straight. She is also a six-times world champion, a two-times Olympic bronze medalist, and holds the record for the most World Cup victories in women's biathlon.
She has been married to Henrik Forsberg, also a biathlete and cross-country skier, since mid-1996.

Cross-country skiing

Forsberg competed as a cross country skier from 1988 to 1996, participating in the World Cup. Her best results at the Winter Olympics were in Albertville in 1992 where she finished seventh in the 4 × 5 km relay and 26th in the 15 km event.
Forsberg's best individual finish at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships was tenth in the 30 km event at Lahti in 1989. In 1987 she was in the Swedish team that finished third in the 4 × 5 km relay. Her best World cup finish was second in a 10 km event in Finland in 1988.
She participated as a celebrity dancer in Let's Dance 2019, which was broadcast on TV4. She placed second.

Biathlon

Competing from 1993 to 2002, Forsberg won six straight overall wins in the Biathlon World Cup from 1997 to 2002. She also won six gold medals in the World Championships, became runner-up once, and placed third five times. At the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, Forsberg won two bronze medals. In her career she managed a total of 42 individual Biathlon World Cup wins, which is more than any other female biathlete to date.
Magdalena Forsberg retired from active sports after the 2001-02 season. After being retired for four years she made a temporary comeback in April 2006 due to losing a bet. The bet said Forsberg would enter the Swedish Championship in Women's Relay with fellow biathlon skier Anna Carin Olofsson-Zidek if the latter won an Olympic gold in Turin. The duo went on to win the competition, Forsberg outrunning her competitors in the first leg and Olofsson extending their lead in the second.
During large parts of her career, Forsberg was trained by Wolfgang Pichler, who later took over as coach of the national Swedish biathlon team.

Other honours

Forsberg competed at the 1998 Winter Olympics both as a biathlete and as a cross country skier. She is the only Swedish athlete to have been awarded the Jerring Award four times.

Biathlon results

All results are sourced from the International Biathlon Union.

Olympic Games

2 medals
EventIndividualSprintPursuitRelay
1998 Nagano14th17th10th
2002 Salt Lake CityBronzeBronze6th—

World Championships

12 medals
EventIndividualSprintPursuitTeamRelay
7th19th—14th
1996 Ruhpolding15thBronze9th10th
1997 Brezno-OsrblieGoldBronzeGold11th16th
1998 PokljukaGold7th
1999 Kontiolahti6thSilver5thBronze—
2000 Oslo HolmenkollenBronze4thGold4th13th
2001 PokljukaGold6thBronzeGold—
2002 Oslo Holmenkollen8th

Individual victories

42 victories
SeasonDateLocationDisciplineLevel
1994–95
1 victory
28 January 1995 Ruhpolding7.5 km sprintBiathlon World Cup
1995–96
1 victory
14 December 1995 Oslo Holmenkollen15 km individualBiathlon World Cup
1996–97
4 victories
4 January 1997 Oberhof7.5 km sprintBiathlon World Cup
1996–97
4 victories
5 January 1997 Oberhof10 km pursuitBiathlon World Cup
1996–97
4 victories
2 February 1997 Brezno-Osrblie10 km pursuitBiathlon World Championships
1996–97
4 victories
7 February 1997 Brezno-Osrblie15 km individualBiathlon World Championships
1997–98
6 victories
13 December 1997 Östersund7.5 km sprintBiathlon World Cup
1997–98
6 victories
20 December 1997 Kontiolahti10 km pursuitBiathlon World Cup
1997–98
6 victories
8 January 1998 Ruhpolding7.5 km sprintBiathlon World Cup
1997–98
6 victories
3 March 1998 Pokljuka15 km individualBiathlon World Cup
1997–98
6 victories
7 March 1998 Pokljuka7.5 km sprintBiathlon World Cup
1997–98
6 victories
8 March 1998 Pokljuka10 km pursuitBiathlon World Championships
1998–99
4 victories
11 December 1998 Hochfilzen7.5 km sprintBiathlon World Cup
1998–99
4 victories
12 December 1998 Hochfilzen10 km pursuitBiathlon World Cup
1998–99
4 victories
25 February 1999 Lake Placid7.5 km sprintBiathlon World Cup
1998–99
4 victories
6 March 1999 Valcartier10 km pursuitBiathlon World Cup
1999–2000
3 victories
9 December 1999 Pokljuka7.5 km sprintBiathlon World Cup
1999–2000
3 victories
20 February 2000 Oslo Holmenkollen10 km pursuitBiathlon World Championships
1999–2000
3 victories
18 March 2000 Khanty-Mansiysk10 km pursuitBiathlon World Cup
2000–01
14 victories
8 December 2000 Antholz-Anterselva10 km pursuitBiathlon World Cup
2000–01
14 victories
16 December 2000 Antholz-Anterselva7.5 km sprintBiathlon World Cup
2000–01
14 victories
17 December 2000 Antholz-Anterselva10 km pursuitBiathlon World Cup
2000–01
14 victories
5 January 2001 Oberhof7.5 km sprintBiathlon World Cup
2000–01
14 victories
6 January 2001 Oberhof10 km pursuitBiathlon World Cup
2000–01
14 victories
7 January 2001 Oberhof12.5 km mass startBiathlon World Cup
2000–01
14 victories
13 January 2001 Ruhpolding7.5 km sprintBiathlon World Cup
2000–01
14 victories
14 January 2001 Ruhpolding10 km pursuitBiathlon World Cup
2000–01
14 victories
18 January 2001 Antholz-Anterselva7.5 km sprintBiathlon World Cup
2000–01
14 victories
6 February 2001 Pokljuka15 km individualBiathlon World Championships
2000–01
14 victories
9 February 2001 Pokljuka12.5 km mass startBiathlon World Championships
2000–01
14 victories
28 February 2001 Salt Lake City15 km individualBiathlon World Cup
2000–01
14 victories
3 March 2001 Salt Lake City10 km pursuitBiathlon World Cup
2000–01
14 victories
17 March 2001 Oslo Holmenkollen10 km pursuitBiathlon World Cup
2001–02
9 victories
6 December 2001 Hochfilzen7.5 km sprintBiathlon World Cup
2001–02
9 victories
9 December 2001 Hochfilzen10 km pursuitBiathlon World Cup
2001–02
9 victories
12 December 2001 Pokljuka15 km individualBiathlon World Cup
2001–02
9 victories
16 December 2001 Pokljuka10 km pursuitBiathlon World Cup
2001–02
9 victories
20 December 2001 Brezno-Osrblie15 km individualBiathlon World Cup
2001–02
9 victories
22 December 2001 Brezno-Osrblie12.5 km mass startBiathlon World Cup
2001–02
9 victories
11 January 2002 Oberhof10 km pursuitBiathlon World Cup
2001–02
9 victories
10 March 2002 Östersund10 km pursuitBiathlon World Cup
2001–02
9 victories
23 March 2002 Oslo Holmenkollen10 km pursuitBiathlon World Cup

Cross-country skiing results

All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation.

Olympic Games

World Championships

Year Age 5 km 10 km
classical 		10 km
freestyle 		15 km 20 km 30 km 4 × 5 km
relay
198719———Bronze
19892118—17104
199123————6

World Cup

Season standings

Individual podiums

No.SeasonDateLocationRaceLevelPlace
1 1987–88 27 March 1988 Rovaniemi, Finland10 km Individual FWorld Cup2nd

Team podiums

No.SeasonDateLocationRaceLevelPlaceTeammates
1 1986–87 17 February 1987 Oberstdorf, West Germany4 × 5 km Relay FWorld Championships3rdLamberg-Skog / Dahlman / Westin
2 1988–89 12 March 1989 Falun, Sweden4 × 5 km Relay CWorld Cup3rdSvingstedt / Lamberg-Skog / Fritzon

Note: Until the 1999 World Championships, World Championship races were included in the World Cup scoring system.