Ingemar Stenmark

Jan Ingemar Stenmark (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈɪ̌ŋː(ɛ)mar ˈstêːnmark]; born 18 March 1956) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from Sweden. He is regarded as one of the most prominent Swedish athletes ever,[1] and as the greatest slalom and giant slalom specialist of all time. He competed for Tärna IK Fjällvinden.

Ingemar Stenmark

Alpine skier
Stenmark in 2014
Club	Tärna IK Fjällvinden
Born	(1956-03-18) 18 March 1956 Joesjö, Sweden
Height	1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Olympics
Teams	3
Medals	3 (2 gold)
World Championships
Medals	4 (3 gold)
World Cup
Seasons	16 (1974–1989)
Wins	86 (46 GS, 40 SL)
Podiums	155
Overall titles	3
Discipline titles	16
Medal record International alpine ski competitions Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 2 0 1 World Championships 3 1 0 Total 5 1 1 World Cup standings podiums Event 1st 2nd 3rd Overall 3 6 0 Slalom 8 4 1 Giant 8 3 0 Total 19 13 1 World Cup race podiums Event 1st 2nd 3rd Slalom 40 29 12 Giant 46 13 13 Parallel 0 1 0 Combined 0 0 1 Total 86 43 26 Olympic Games 1980 Lake Placid Giant slalom 1980 Lake Placid Slalom 1976 Innsbruck Giant slalom World Championships 1978 Garmisch-Partenkirchen Giant slalom 1978 Garmisch-Partenkirchen Slalom 1982 Schladming Slalom 1982 Schladming Giant slalom

Biography

Born in Joesjö, Storuman Municipality, Lapland, Stenmark's family moved to Tärnaby near Norway when he was four years old. He became a childhood neighbour of Stig Strand (also born 1956), who tied Stenmark for the World Cup slalom title in 1983. Stenmark began skiing at the age of five and won his first national competition at age eight.

Competitive record

Stenmark made his World Cup debut in December 1973 at age 17. He has won more international races than any other alpine skier to date: he took 86 World Cup wins (46 giant slaloms and 40 slaloms). Stenmark won only in the two technical disciplines: slalom and giant slalom (the other events are downhill, super-G, first run in December 1982, and combined). He rarely competed in the other disciplines, as he was not comfortable with speeds in excess of 120 km/h (75 mph). Stenmark still has the record for the biggest win-margin in a World Cup alpine race: 4,06 seconds ahead of 2nd placed Bojan Križaj in Jasna on 4 February 1979. Stenmark was known as a quiet champion, with short, but polite, responses to media questions.[1][2][3]

For his three straight World Cup titles (1976–78), Stenmark earned the Holmenkollen medal in 1979 (shared with Erik Håker and Raisa Smetanina). Stenmark also earned the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal twice (1975, 1978). His 1978 medal was shared with tennis player Björn Borg, making them the only two men to ever win the honor twice (female alpine skier Anja Pärson received the medal in 2006 and 2007).

At the World Championships in 1978 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen West Germany, Stenmark won the slalom by two-thirds of a second and the giant slalom by over two seconds,[2] and successfully defended both world titles at the Winter Olympics in 1980 at Lake Placid, which also were counted as world championships. At the next worlds in 1982 in Austria, he had a sub-standard first run in the giant slalom and was upset by American Steve Mahre and settled for silver.[4][5][6] Stenmark rebounded in the slalom and became the first to win the same title in three consecutive world championships.[7] At age 25, it was his final medal in a major competition.

Stenmark was not allowed to participate in the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo by the International Ski Federation (FIS) for accepting promotional payments directly, rather than through the national ski federation.[8] Hanni Wenzel of Liechtenstein was also banned; both were double gold medalists in 1980.[9][10] Marc Girardelli, who was the best slalom racer during the 1983-84 season, wasn't allowed to participate either. In his case it was because he didn't have citizenship in Luxembourg, the country for which he competed.[11] Stenmark was allowed back into the Olympic competition in 1988,[3][12] but was past his prime and did not win a medal (however, he had the fastest second run of the slalom competition). He retired from World Cup competition at the end of the 1989 season in March, days before his 33rd birthday.[13]

Other

During the years from 1976 to 1978 Stenmark, along with tennis player Björn Borg, became a national icon in Sweden.[1] This was not changed by the fact that he moved to Monaco in 1980 for tax reasons.[3][8] At age 40, he won the Swedish Superstars championship in 1996.[14] On 26 December 2004, Stenmark survived the Indian Ocean earthquake while on vacation in Thailand. In 2015, he was a celebrity dancer on the Let's Dance 2015, where he teamed up with professional dancer Cecilia Ehrling.[15]

Personal

Stenmark was married to Ann Uvhagen, a Lufthansa airline hostess, 1984–1987.[3][16] They have a daughter, born 1984.[17]

In 2016 he married his girlfriend of some ten years, Tarja Olli from Jakobstad, Finland, with whom he has another daughter, born 2008.

World Cup results

Season titles

• 19 titles - (3 overall, 8 GS,[18] 8 SL)

Overall	Slalom	Giant Slalom
1976 1977 1978	1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1983	1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1984
3	8	8

Season standings

Season	Age	Overall	Slalom	Giant  slalom	Super-G	Downhill	Combined
1974	17	12	6	—	not run	—	not awarded
1975	18	2	1	1		—
1976	19	1	1	1		—	—
1977	20	1	1	1		—	not awarded
1978	21	1	1	1		—
1979	22	5	1	1		—
1980	23	2	1	1		—	—
1981	24	2	1	1		—	15
1982	25	2	2	2		—	—
1983	26	2	1	2	not awarded (w/ GS)	—	23
1984	27	2	2	1		—	—
1985	28	6	3	10		—	25
1986	29	5	2	2	—	—	—
1987	30	6	2	7	—	—	—
1988	31	21	16	9	—	—	—
1989	32	17	21	4	—	—	—

Race victories

86 wins - (46 GS, 40 SL), 155 podiums

Season	Date	Location	Discipline
1975	17 Dec 1974	Madonna di Campiglio, Italy	Slalom
	12 Jan 1975	Wengen, Switzerland	Slalom
	21 Feb 1975	Naeba, Japan	Giant slalom
	2 Mar 1975	Garibaldi (Whistler), Canada	Giant slalom
	13 Mar 1975	Sun Valley, USA	Giant slalom
1976	15 Dec 1975	Sterzing / Vipiteno, Italy	Slalom
	11 Jan 1976	Wengen, Switzerland	Slalom
	24 Jan 1976	Kitzbühel, Austria	Slalom
	27 Jan 1976	Zwiesel, West Germany	Giant slalom
	7 Mar 1976	Copper Mountain, USA	Slalom
	14 Mar 1976	Aspen, USA	Slalom
1977	3 Jan 1977	Laax, Switzerland	Slalom
	10 Jan 1977	Berchtesgaden, W. Germany	Slalom
	16 Jan 1977	Kitzbühel, Austria	Slalom
	23 Jan 1977	Wengen, Switzerland	Slalom
	6 Feb 1977	St. Anton, Austria	Slalom
	6 Mar 1977	Sun Valley, USA	Giant slalom
	18 Mar 1977	Voss, Norway	Slalom
	20 Mar 1977	Åre, Sweden	Slalom
	21 Mar 1977		Giant slalom
	25 Mar 1977	Sierra Nevada, Spain	Giant slalom
1978	10 Dec 1977	Val d'Isère, France	Giant slalom
	13 Dec 1977	Madonna di Campiglio, Italy	Slalom
	14 Dec 1977		Giant slalom
	5 Jan 1978	Oberstaufen, West Germany	Slalom
	8 Jan 1978	Zwiesel, West Germany	Giant slalom
	9 Jan 1978		Slalom
	18 Mar 1978	Arosa, Switzerland	Giant slalom
1979	9 Dec 1978	Schladming, Austria	Giant slalom
	21 Dec 1978	Kranjska Gora, Yugoslavia	Slalom
	22 Dec 1978		Giant slalom
	7 Jan 1979	Courchevel, France	Giant slalom
	16 Jan 1979	Adelboden, Switzerland	Giant slalom
	23 Jan 1979	Steinach, Austria	Giant slalom
	4 Feb 1979	Jasná, Czechoslovakia	Giant slalom
	10 Feb 1979	Åre, Sweden	Giant slalom
	11 Feb 1979		Slalom
	4 Mar 1979	Lake Placid, USA	Giant slalom
	12 Mar 1979	Heavenly Valley, USA	Giant slalom
	17 Mar 1979	Furano, Japan	Slalom
	19 Mar 1979		Giant slalom
1980	8 Dec 1979	Val d'Isère, France	Giant slalom
	11 Dec 1979	Madonna di Campiglio, Italy	Slalom
	12 Dec 1979		Giant slalom
	21 Jan 1980	Adelboden, Switzerland	Giant slalom
	27 Jan 1980	Chamonix, France	Slalom
	27 Feb 1980	Waterville Valley, USA	Slalom
	1 Mar 1980	Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada	Giant slalom
	10 Mar 1980	Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy	Slalom
	11 Mar 1980		Giant slalom
	13 Mar 1980	Saalbach, Austria	Giant slalom
	15 Mar 1980		Slalom
1981	9 Dec 1980	Madonna di Campiglio, Italy	Slalom
	10 Dec 1980		Giant slalom
	6 Jan 1981	Morzine, France	Giant slalom
	18 Jan 1981	Kitzbühel, Austria	Slalom
	26 Jan 1981	Adelboden, Switzerland	Giant slalom
	1 Feb 1981	St. Anton, Austria	Slalom
	2 Feb 1981	Schladming, Austria	Giant slalom
	8 Feb 1981	Oslo, Norway	Slalom
	11 Feb 1981	Voss, Norway	Giant slalom
	14 Feb 1981	Åre, Sweden	Giant slalom
1982	9 Jan 1982	Morzine, France	Giant slalom
	12 Jan 1982	Bad Wiessee, West Germany	Slalom
	17 Jan 1982	Kitzbühel, Austria	Slalom
	19 Jan 1982	Adelboden, Switzerland	Giant slalom
	9 Feb 1982	Kirchberg, Austria	Giant slalom
1983	14 Dec 1982	Courmayeur, Italy	Slalom
	23 Jan 1983	Kitzbühel, Austria	Slalom
	11 Feb 1983	Markstein, France	Slalom
	13 Feb 1983	Todtnau, West Germany	Giant slalom
	26 Feb 1983	Gällivare, Sweden	Giant slalom
1984	13 Dec 1983	Courmayeur, Italy	Slalom
	20 Dec 1983	Madonna di Campiglio, Italy	Slalom
	10 Jan 1984	Adelboden, Switzerland	Giant slalom
	17 Jan 1984	Parpan, Switzerland	Slalom
	23 Jan 1984	Kirchberg, Austria	Giant slalom
	4 Feb 1984	Borovetz, Bulgaria	Giant slalom
	7 Mar 1984	Vail, USA	Giant slalom
1986	15 Dec 1985	Alta Badia, Italy	Giant slalom
	25 Jan 1986	St. Anton, Austria	Slalom
	27 Feb 1986	Hemsedal, Norway	Giant slalom
	18 Mar 1986	Lake Placid, USA	Giant slalom
1987	29 Nov 1986	Sestriere, Italy	Slalom
	14 Feb 1987	Markstein, France	Slalom
1989	19 Feb 1989	Aspen, USA	Giant slalom

Podiums

Discipline	1st	2nd	3rd	Total
Slalom	40	29	12	81
Giant	46	13	13	72
Parallel	0	1	0	1
Combined	0	0	1	1
	86	43	26	155

World championship results

Year	Age	Slalom	Giant   slalom	Super-G	Downhill	Combined
1974	17	DNF	9	not run	—	—
1976	19	DNF2	3		—	—
1978	21	1	1		—	—
1980	23	1	1		—	—
1982	25	1	2		—	—
1985	28	4	DNF		—	—
1987	30	5	10	—	—	—
1989	32	DNF2	6	—	—	—

From 1948 through 1980, the Winter Olympics were also the World Championships for alpine skiing.
At the World Championships from 1954 through 1980, the combined was a "paper race" using the results of the three events (DH, GS, SL).

Olympic results

Year	Age	Slalom	Giant   slalom	Super-G	Downhill	Combined
1976	19	DNF2	3	not run	—	not run
1980	23	1	1		—
1984	27	—	—		—
1988	31	5	DNF2	—	—	—

• Stenmark and Hanni Wenzel were banned from the 1984 Olympics (endorsement compensation).

References

1. Farber, Michael (18 February 1980). "Ingemar Stenmark seeks fast way down - and out". Montreal Gazette. p. 18.
2. Johnson, William Oscar (13 February 1978). "Whipping the cream of the crop". Sports Illustrated. p. 22.
3. Montgomery, Paul L. (10 January 1988). "Stenmark, at 31, is proving he can still tack slalom". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
4. "Steve Mahre takes giant slalom gold at World Alpine Ski Championship". Bend (OR) Bulletin. UPI. 3 February 1982. p. D3.
5. Dobbin, Winsor (4 February 1982). "Steve Mahre steps from shadow". Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. p. 27.
6. Johnson, William Oscar (13 February 1982). "One Mahre time for America". Sports Illustrated. p. 22.
7. "Stenmark takes gold". Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. 8 February 1982. p. 17.
8. "Stenmark ruled ineligible to ski in Winter Olympics". Eugene Register-Guard. 29 October 1983. p. 3C.
9. "Ski stars banned from Olympics". Ottawa Citizen. Reuters. 26 November 1983. p. 71.
10. "Ruling slaps Stenmark". Bend (OR) Bulletin. UPI. 7 November 1983. p. D-4.
11. "Winter Olympics will take place without three alpine skiers". Palm Beach Post. wire services. 25 January 1984. p. D4.
12. "Stenmark, Girardelli cleared to compete". Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. 11 December 1987. p. 39.
13. "Skiing: Stenmark retires". Lewiston (ME) Daily Sun. Associated Press. 11 March 1989. p. 22.
14. "Swedish Superstars". The Superstars. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
15. Engman, Pascal (4 February 2015). "Ingemar Stenmarks tuffa start i Let's dance" [Ingemar Stenmark's tough start in Let's dance]. www.expressen.se. Expressen. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
16. "Stenmark marries airline hostess". Evening News. Newburgh-Beacon, NY. Associated Press. 10 September 1984. p. 4B.
17. "Stenmark finds skiing fun again". Eugene Register-Guard. Associated Press. 22 November 1986. p. 9C.
18. In 1977 ex-aqueo with the Swiss Heini Hemmi and in 1984 with the other Swiss Pirmin Zurbriggen.

External links

Media related to Ingemar Stenmark at Wikimedia Commons

• Ingemar Stenmark at the International Ski Federation
• Ingemar Stenmark World Cup standings at the International Ski Federation
• Ingemar Stenmark at Ski-DB Alpine Ski Database
• Ingemar Stenmark at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)
• Ingemar Stenmark at the International Olympic Committee
• Holmenkollen medalists – click Holmenkollmedaljen for downloadable pdf file at the Wayback Machine (archived 2007-02-24) (in Norwegian)

Preceded by Björn Borg	Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal 1975	Succeeded by Anders Gärderud & Bernt Johansson
Preceded by Frank Andersson	Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal with Björn Borg 1978	Succeeded by Malmö FF