Gunde Anders Svan
(IOC)
Updated: 2007-07-26 09:05
Calgary, 27 February 1988, XV Olympic Winter Games. Men's 50 km classical cross country skiing in Canmore: Eventual winner Swede Gunde Anders SVAN in action. Credit: IOC Olympic Museum Collections/MAEDER Jean-Paul
Other names: SVAN, Gunde
Born: 12 January 1962
Birthplace: Vansbro (Sweden)
Nationality: Sweden
Sport: Skiing
ATTENDANCE AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES
Sarajevo 1984
Calgary 1988
AWARDS
Olympic medals:
Gold: 4
Silver: 1
Bronze: 1
Other results:
World Championships
Gold: 7 (85, 87, 89, 91)
Silver: 3 (91)
Bronze: 1 (85)
Youngest Man To Earn Cross-Country Gold
At the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics, 22-year-old Gunde Svan won two gold medals (15km and 4x10km relay), one silver (50km) and one bronze (30km). His victory in the 15km race earned him the title as the youngest man ever to win an Olympic cross-country event. In the relay, he skied the anchor leg for Sweden. Taking off a fraction of a second after the USSR, he tracked Nikolai Zimyatov for nine of the ten kilometers and then passed him and pulled away to win by 10.2 seconds. Four years later at the Calgary Games, Svan skied another critical relay leg. Halfway through the race, Sweden was in a virtual tie with the USSR. Svan took over and pulled away to a 27-second lead that allowed Sweden to win by 12.7 seconds. Five days later, Svan won the 50km by more than a minute to bring his career gold medal total to four.
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