 Stenmark in 2014 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | (1956-03-18)18 March 1956 (age 69) Joesjö, Sweden | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Alpine skier | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Skiing career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Tärna IK Fjällvinden | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Olympics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Teams | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Medals | 3 (2 gold) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Championships | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Medals | 7 (5 gold) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Cup | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Seasons | 16 (1974–1989) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wins | 86 (46GS, 40SL) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Podiums | 155 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Overall titles | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discipline titles | 16 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Jan Ingemar Stenmark (Swedish pronunciation:[ˈɪ̌ŋː(ɛ)marˈstêːnmark]; born 18 March 1956) is a Swedish formerWorld Cupalpine ski racer. He is regarded as a legendary skier and one of the most prominent Swedish athletes ever,[1] having won severalOlympic medals and world cups during his career. When he retired in 1989, he held the record for the greatest number of international race wins, a record that was only broken in 2023 byMikaela Shiffrin and remains unbroken amongst men. He competed forTärna IK Fjällvinden.
Born inJoesjö,Storuman Municipality,Lapland, Stenmark and his family moved toTärnaby nearNorway when he was four years old. He became a childhood neighbour ofStig Strand (also born 1956), who tied Stenmark for the World Cup slalom title in1983. Stenmark began skiing at the age of five and won his first national competition at age eight.
Stenmark made his World Cup debut in December1973 at age 17. At the time of his retirement, he had won more international races than any other alpine skier to date: he took 86 World Cup wins (46 giant slaloms and 40 slaloms). He has since been passed byMikaela Shiffrin.[2] Stenmark won only in the two technical disciplines: slalom and giant slalom (the other events aredownhill,super-G, first run in December 1982, andcombined). He prioritized these disciplines over the high-speed downhill events, preferring to master the intricacies of skiing technique. His trainer,Hermann Nogler, once observed, "I watched him. He was always trying to find a better way, a smoother way, a faster way through the gates."[3] He rarely competed in the other disciplines, as he was not comfortable with speeds in excess of 120 km/h (75 mph). He won first place overall in the1976 World Cup, becoming the first Scandinavian to do so, his first of three straight World Cup titles (1976–78). Stenmark still holds the record for the biggest win margin in a World Cup alpine race: 4.06 seconds ahead of 2nd placedBojan Križaj in Jasna on 4 February 1979.[4] Stenmark was known as a quiet champion, with short, but polite, responses to media questions.[1][5][6]
For his three straight World Cup titles (1976–78), Stenmark earned theHolmenkollen medal in 1979 (shared withErik Håker andRaisa Smetanina). Stenmark also earned theSvenska Dagbladet Gold Medal twice (1975, 1978). His 1978 medal was shared with tennis playerBjörn Borg, making them the only two men to ever win the honor twice (female alpine skierAnja Pärson received the medal in 2006 and 2007). Additionally, Stenmark stands alone as the only male skier to win eight World Cup titles in a single discipline – both in slalom and giant slalom.
At theWorld Championships in1978 inGarmisch-PartenkirchenWest Germany, Stenmark won the slalom by two-thirds of a second and the giant slalom by over two seconds,[5] and successfully defended both world titles at theWinter Olympics in1980 atLake Placid, which also were counted as world championships. At the next worlds in1982 inAustria, he had a sub-standard first run in the giant slalom and was upset by AmericanSteve Mahre and settled for silver.[7][8][9] Stenmark rebounded in the slalom and became the first to win the same title in three consecutive world championships.[10] At age 25, it was his final medal in a major competition.
Stenmark's exploits led to him being described as the "slalom king" meaning that when he was not allowed to participate in the1984 Winter Olympics inSarajevo by theInternational Ski Federation (FIS) for accepting promotional payments directly, rather than through the national ski federation, it was a major blow to theSwedish team's medal hopes.[11][12]Hanni Wenzel ofLiechtenstein was also banned; both were double gold medalists in1980.[13][14]Marc Girardelli, who was the best slalom racer during the1983–84 season, was also banned for other reasons.[15] Stenmark returned to Olympic competition in1988 but was past his prime and did not medal despite achieving the fastest second run of the slalom competition.[6][16]
He retired from World Cup competition at the end of the1989 season in March, days before his 33rd birthday.[17] At the time, he held the record for World Cup race wins, a record which held until 2023 when it was broken byMikaela Shiffrin.[18]
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 toMonaco in 1980 for tax reasons.[6][11] At age 40, he won the Swedish Superstars championship in 1996.[19] On 26 December 2004, Stenmark survived theIndian Ocean earthquake while on vacation inThailand. In 2015, he was a celebrity dancer on theLet's Dance 2015, where he teamed up with professional dancerCecilia Ehrling.[20]
He serves as an ambassador for theBörje Salming ALS Foundation, named after his close friend and Swedish ice hockey player who died of ALS in 2022.[21]
In 2024, at the age of 68, Stenmark participated in theWorld Masters Athletic Championship where he jumped three meters and placed eighth overall.[22]
Stenmark was married to Ann Uvhagen, aLufthansa airline hostess, 1984–1987.[6][23] They have a child, born 1984.[24]
| 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 | 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 | — | — | — |
86 wins – (46GS, 40SL), 155 podiums
| Season | Date | Location | Discipline |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | 17 December 1974 |  Madonna di Campiglio, Italy | Slalom |
| 12 January 1975 |  Wengen,Switzerland | Slalom | |
| 21 February 1975 |  Naeba, Japan | Giant slalom | |
| 2 March 1975 |  Garibaldi(Whistler), Canada | Giant slalom | |
| 13 March 1975 |  Sun Valley,USA | Giant slalom | |
| 1976 | 15 December 1975 | Sterzing / Vipiteno, Italy | Slalom |
| 11 January 1976 | Wengen, Switzerland | Slalom | |
| 24 January 1976 |  Kitzbühel,Austria | Slalom | |
| 27 January 1976 |  Zwiesel,West Germany | Giant slalom | |
| 7 March 1976 | Copper Mountain, USA | Slalom | |
| 14 March 1976 | Aspen, USA | Slalom | |
| 1977 | 3 January 1977 | Laax, Switzerland | Slalom |
| 10 January 1977 | Berchtesgaden, W. Germany | Slalom | |
| 16 January 1977 | Kitzbühel, Austria | Slalom | |
| 23 January 1977 | Wengen, Switzerland | Slalom | |
| 6 February 1977 | St. Anton, Austria | Slalom | |
| 6 March 1977 | Sun Valley, USA | Giant slalom | |
| 18 March 1977 |  Voss,Norway | Slalom | |
| 20 March 1977 |  Åre, Sweden | Slalom | |
| 21 March 1977 | Giant slalom | ||
| 25 March 1977 |  Sierra Nevada, Spain | Giant slalom | |
| 1978 | 10 December 1977 |  Val d'Isère, France | Giant slalom |
| 13 December 1977 | Madonna di Campiglio, Italy | Slalom | |
| 14 December 1977 | Giant slalom | ||
| 5 January 1978 | Oberstaufen, West Germany | Slalom | |
| 8 January 1978 | Zwiesel, West Germany | Giant slalom | |
| 9 January 1978 | Slalom | ||
| 18 March 1978 | Arosa, Switzerland | Giant slalom | |
| 1979 | 9 December 1978 | Schladming, Austria | Giant slalom |
| 21 December 1978 |  Kranjska Gora,Yugoslavia | Slalom | |
| 22 December 1978 | Giant slalom | ||
| 7 January 1979 | Courchevel, France | Giant slalom | |
| 16 January 1979 | Adelboden, Switzerland | Giant slalom | |
| 23 January 1979 | Steinach, Austria | Giant slalom | |
| 4 February 1979 |  Jasná,Czechoslovakia | Giant slalom | |
| 10 February 1979 | Åre, Sweden | Giant slalom | |
| 11 February 1979 | Slalom | ||
| 4 March 1979 | Lake Placid, USA | Giant slalom | |
| 12 March 1979 | Heavenly Valley, USA | Giant slalom | |
| 17 March 1979 | Furano, Japan | Slalom | |
| 19 March 1979 | Giant slalom | ||
| 1980 | 8 December 1979 | Val d'Isère, France | Giant slalom |
| 11 December 1979 | Madonna di Campiglio, Italy | Slalom | |
| 12 December 1979 | Giant slalom | ||
| 21 January 1980 | Adelboden, Switzerland | Giant slalom | |
| 27 January 1980 | Chamonix, France | Slalom | |
| 27 February 1980 | Waterville Valley, USA | Slalom | |
| 1 March 1980 | Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada | Giant slalom | |
| 10 March 1980 | Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy | Slalom | |
| 11 March 1980 | Giant slalom | ||
| 13 March 1980 | Saalbach, Austria | Giant slalom | |
| 15 March 1980 | Slalom | ||
| 1981 | 9 December 1980 | Madonna di Campiglio, Italy | Slalom |
| 10 December 1980 | Giant slalom | ||
| 6 January 1981 | Morzine, France | Giant slalom | |
| 18 January 1981 | Kitzbühel, Austria | Slalom | |
| 26 January 1981 | Adelboden, Switzerland | Giant slalom | |
| 1 February 1981 | St. Anton, Austria | Slalom | |
| 2 February 1981 | Schladming, Austria | Giant slalom | |
| 8 February 1981 | Oslo, Norway | Slalom | |
| 11 February 1981 | Voss, Norway | Giant slalom | |
| 14 February 1981 | Åre, Sweden | Giant slalom | |
| 1982 | 9 January 1982 | Morzine, France | Giant slalom |
| 12 January 1982 | Bad Wiessee, West Germany | Slalom | |
| 17 January 1982 | Kitzbühel, Austria | Slalom | |
| 19 January 1982 | Adelboden, Switzerland | Giant slalom | |
| 9 February 1982 | Kirchberg, Austria | Giant slalom | |
| 1983 | 14 December 1982 | Courmayeur, Italy | Slalom |
| 23 January 1983 | Kitzbühel, Austria | Slalom | |
| 11 February 1983 | Markstein, France | Slalom | |
| 13 February 1983 | Todtnau, West Germany | Giant slalom | |
| 26 February 1983 | Gällivare, Sweden | Giant slalom | |
| 1984 | 13 December 1983 | Courmayeur, Italy | Slalom |
| 20 December 1983 | Madonna di Campiglio, Italy | Slalom | |
| 10 January 1984 | Adelboden, Switzerland | Giant slalom | |
| 17 January 1984 | Parpan, Switzerland | Slalom | |
| 23 January 1984 | Kirchberg, Austria | Giant slalom | |
| 4 February 1984 |  Borovetz,Bulgaria | Giant slalom | |
| 7 March 1984 | Vail, USA | Giant slalom | |
| 1986 | 15 December 1985 | Alta Badia, Italy | Giant slalom |
| 25 January 1986 | St. Anton, Austria | Slalom | |
| 27 February 1986 | Hemsedal, Norway | Giant slalom | |
| 18 March 1986 | Lake Placid, USA | Giant slalom | |
| 1987 | 29 November 1986 | Sestriere, Italy | Slalom |
| 14 February 1987 | Markstein, France | Slalom | |
| 1989 | 19 February 1989 | Aspen, USA | Giant slalom |
| 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 |
| 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 | — | — | — |
From1948 through1980, theWinter Olympics were also theWorld Championships for alpine skiing.
At the World Championships from1954 through 1980, the combined was a "paper race" using the results of the three events (DH, GS, SL).
| Year | Age | Slalom | Giant slalom | Super-G | Downhill | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | 19 | DNF2 | 3 | not run | — | not run |
| 1980 | 23 | 1 | 1 | — | ||
| 1984 | 27 | Banned | ||||
| 1988 | 31 | 5 | DNF2 | — | — | — |
