Gunde Anders Svan (born 12 January 1962) is a Swedish former cross-country skier and

auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

driver. During his cross-country skiing career he won a total of four gold, one silver and one bronze medals at the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

. Svan won a total of seven golds (15 km - 1989; 30 km and 4 × 10 km relay - 1985, 1991; 50 km - 1985, 1989; and 4 × 10 km relay - 1987), three silvers (15 km, 50 km, 4 × 10 km relay (all 1991)), and one bronze (4 × 10 km relay - 1985) at the

FIS Nordic World Ski Championships The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships is a biennial nordic skiing event organized by the International Ski Federation (FIS). The World Championships was started in 1925 for men and opened for women's participation in 1954. World Championship e ...

. Svan also won the 15 km once (1983) and the 50 km twice (1986, 1990) at the

Holmenkollen ski festival The Holmenkollen Ski Festival ( no, Holmenkollen skifestival or ) is a traditional annual Nordic skiing event in Holmenkollen, Oslo, Norway. The full official name of the event is Holmenkollen FIS World Cup Nordic. History It takes place in March ...

. In 1984, he earned the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal, and in 1985, he earned the Holmenkollen medal (shared with Anette Bøe and

Per Bergerud Per Bergerud (born 28 June 1956) is a Norwegian former ski jumper. Career At the 1982 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Oslo, he won a gold medal in the team large hill event. Bergerud reached the peak of his career at the 1985 FIS Nordic Wo ...

). He is a board member of the

International Ski Federation The ''Fédération internationale de ski et de snowboard'' (FIS; en, International Ski and Snowboard Federation) is the highest international governing body for skiing and snowboarding. Founded on 2 February 1924 in Chamonix, France during the ...

Biography

During his skiing career he became known for his dedication and attention to detail. For instance, he used a lighter alloy on the tips of his ski poles, saving . He won two golds ( 15 km and

relay A relay Electromechanical relay schematic showing a control coil, four pairs of normally open and one pair of normally closed contacts An automotive-style miniature relay with the dust cover taken off A relay is an electrically operated switch ...

), one bronze ( 30 km) and one silver ( 50 km) at the

1984 Winter Olympics The 1984 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIV Olympic Winter Games (Serbo-Croatian and Slovene: ''XIV. Zimske olimpijske igre''; Cyrillic: XIV Зимске олимпијске игре; mk, XIV Зимски олимписки игр ...

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...

. At the

1988 Winter Olympics The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games (french: XVes Jeux olympiques d'hiver) and commonly known as Calgary 1988 ( bla, Mohkínsstsisi 1988; sto, Wîchîspa Oyade 1988 or ; cr, Otôskwanihk 1998/; srs, Guts� ...

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

, 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 FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used. Fia or FIA may also refer to: People * Fia Backst ...

European Championship for Rallycross Drivers (1995: Division 1 – Group N category; with a

Toyota Celica GT-Four The Toyota Celica GT-Four is a high performance model of the Celica Liftback that was produced from 1986 to 1999, with a turbocharged '' 3S-GTE'' engine, and full-time AWD. It was created to compete in the World Rally Championship, whose regul ...

). 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 (Division 2 by then), 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 ''Bingolotto'' is a Swedish primetime television game show lottery that was first broadcast 1989 on local TV and since 1991 nationwide on the Swedish network TV4. The show is a collaboration work between Swedish TV channel TV4, the Swedish lottery ...

''. He has played a seductive lady in the short movie ''En handelsresandes nöd'', directed by rock group

Svenne Rubins Swedes ( sv, svenskar) are a North Germanic ethnic group native to the Nordic region, primarily their nation state of Sweden, who share a common ancestry, culture, history and language. They mostly inhabit Sweden and the other Nordic countries ...

and starring Claes Månsson,

Björn Skifs Björn Nils Olof Skifs (; born 20 April 1947) is a Swedish singer, songwriter, actor, and screenwriter. Career Björn Skifs formed his first musical group, Slam Creepers, in 1962. Slam Creepers split in 1969 and Skifs went on to form a new ban ...

and Gert Klötzke. He has also appeared in numerous commercials including a famous commercial where he impersonated fellow skier

Thomas Wassberg Thomas Lars Wassberg (born 27 March 1956) is a Swedish former cross-country skier. A fast skating style – push for every leg – is still called "Wassberg" after him in several countries. Wassberg's skiing idols when growing up were Sixten Je ...

. 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 Let's Dance 2018 is the thirteenth season of the Swedish celebrity dancing TV-series Let's Dance, the season premiered on TV4 23 March 2018. The show is presented by Tilde de Paula Eby and David Hellenius. English dancer Aaron Brown from the ...

'' broadcast on

TV4 TV4 or TV 4 may refer to: *TV4 (Poland), a private Polish television station *TV4 (Sweden), a Swedish television network **TV4 Group, owners of the Swedish television station *South African Broadcasting Corporation TV4, a channel operated by the st ...

where he finished third together with Jeanette Carlsson. He retired to his forest farm, where he worked with his son,

Ferry Svan Ferry Svan is a Swedish professional woodchopper and logging sportsman, and the son of champion skier Gunde Svan. He is the first Swedish person to compete in a World Championship in logging sports, the first Swede to win a World Championship, a ...

, and now supports his children's careers.

Cross-country skiing results

All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).

Olympic Games

* 6 medals – (4 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze)

World Championships

* 11 medals – (7 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze)

World Cup

Season titles

* 5 titles – (5 overall)

Season standings

Individual podiums

* 30 victories * 46 podiums

Team podiums

* 9 victories * 14 podiums Note: Until the 1999 World Championships and the

1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 17. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 17. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, was an international winter multi-sport event held fro ...

, World Championship and Olympic races were included in the World Cup scoring system.

Racing record

Complete FIA European Rallycross Championship results

Division 1

References

External links

* * * * * *
May 8, 2009 article on changes in cross-country skiing, including Svan's resignation.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Svan, Gunde 1962 births Living people People from Vansbro Municipality Cross-country skiers from Dalarna County Cross-country skiers at the 1984 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 1988 Winter Olympics Holmenkollen medalists Holmenkollen Ski Festival winners Olympic cross-country skiers of Sweden Olympic gold medalists for Sweden Swedish male cross-country skiers Swedish racing drivers Olympic medalists in cross-country skiing FIS Nordic World Ski Championships medalists in cross-country skiing FIS Cross-Country World Cup champions Medalists at the 1984 Winter Olympics Dala-Järna IK skiers Medalists at the 1988 Winter Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Sweden Olympic bronze medalists for Sweden European Rallycross Championship drivers