Ingemar Backman (born 1 April 1976 in
Gällivare
Gällivare (; fi, Jällivaara; se, Jiellevárri or ; smj, Jiellevárre or ; fit, Jellivaara) is a locality and the seat of Gällivare Municipality in Norrbotten County, province of Lapland, Sweden with 8,449 inhabitants in 2010. The town wa ...
,
Sweden) is a professional
snowboarder
Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralympic ...
famous for setting the world record highest air out of a quarter-pipe (8.5 metres) in
Riksgränsen
Riksgränsen, ( no, Riksgrensen), ''The National Border'' in Swedish, is a ski-resort in Kiruna Municipality, Lappland, Sweden, 200 km north of the Arctic Circle. The skiing season is from February to June. From end of May the lifts operate ...
, Sweden in May 1996.
He participated in the
1998 Winter Olympics
The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 ( ja, 長野1998), was a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Japan, with some events taking place in the ...
.
The record has since been broken by Finn
Heikki Sorsa
Heikki Sorsa (born 10 February 1982) is a Finnish snowboarder. He competed in the men's halfpipe event at the 2002 Winter Olympics
The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( ...
who made a 9.3 metres high air at
The Arctic Challenge event held in Oslo in 2001 and then again by Norwegian Terje Haakonsen who made a 9.8 metres high air at The Arctic Challenge in Oslo in 2007.
After going to snowboard high school in
Malung
Malung is a locality and the seat of Malung-Sälen Municipality, Dalarna County, Sweden, with 5,126 inhabitants as of 2010.
Overview
Malung is home to Malungs Folkhögskola, two kilometers south of the town centre. Specialized courses include ...
, Sweden, he became the first snowboard superstar emerging out of Sweden although he was soon followed by riders such as
Johan Olofsson. He has lived in
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...
,
U.S.
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
as well as
Piteå, Sweden but currently resides in
Skellefteå
Skellefteå (, locally ) is a city in Västerbotten County, Sweden. It is the seat of Skellefteå Municipality, which had 73,246 inhabitants in 2021.
The city is historically industrial, with mining being a large part of that industry, especial ...
, Sweden.
Besides snowboarding, Backman is the co-founder of the clothing brand
WeSC
WeSC (short for "We are the Superlative Conspiracy") is a Swedish clothing brand that is primarily influenced by skateboarding and snowboarding. The company's head office is in Stockholm and employs between 51 and 200 staff members. The company ...
and the snowboard company
Allian.
Lately, Backman has taken a break from snowboarding and instead devoted himself to
poker. In his second international tournament, an
EPT event held in
Baden
Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine.
History
The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden i ...
,
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
in 2005, he finished in fifth place. He is currently sponsored by the internet poker site
Martinspoker.
Backman is a playable character in the video game ''
Shaun Palmer's Pro Snowboarder''.
References
External links
Allian SnowboardsHendon Mob tournament results
{{DEFAULTSORT:Backman, Ingemar
1976 births
Swedish poker players
Swedish male snowboarders
Living people
Olympic snowboarders of Sweden
Snowboarders at the 1998 Winter Olympics