Born in Joesjö, Sweden. on March 18, 1956, Ingemar Stenmark is a Swedish former World Cup alpine ski racer regarded as one of the most prominent Swedish athletes ever, and as the greatest Slalom and Giant Slalom skier of all time.
Stenmark made his World Cup debut in December 1973 at age 17. He won 86 World Cup races: 46 in Giant Slalom and 40 in Slalom. Until being passed by Mikaela Shiffrin on March 11, 2023, in Åre he holds the record of victories in the Alpine Ski World Cup.
Winner of three consecutive World Cup Overall titles (1976, 1977, and 1978), Hirscher has also won 7 medals at the Alpine Skiing World Championships, five gold.
At the XII Olympic Winter Games celebrated in Innsbruck, Austria, from February 4 to 15, 1976, Ingemar Stenmark won a bronze medal in the Giant Slalom held in Axamer Lizum.
At the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships held in 1978 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen Ingemar Stenmark won the Slalom by two-thirds of a second and the Giant Slalom by over two seconds.
Two years later he successfully defended both world titles at the 1980 Olympic Winter Games in Lake Placid, counted as World Championships. The Silent Swede’ is one of only four men to win both events at a single Winter Games.
At the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships held in Schladming in 1982, he was upset by American Steve Mahre and settled for silver. Stenmark had a poor first run and was unable to make up the deficit despite a good second run to finish 0.51 seconds behind Mahre who became the first U.S. skier to take an individual title in the World Championships. Boris Strel of Yugoslavia rounded up the podium and collected his nation's first-ever World Chamüionship medal.
Four days later, on Sunday, February 7th, Ingemar Stenmark recovered from the disappointment of losing the Giant Slalom title and took the Slalom gold medal to become the first skier to win the same title in three consecutive world championships. At age 25, it was his final medal in a major competition.
Stenmark was not allowed to participate in the 1984 Olympic Winter Games in Sarajevo by the International Ski Federation (FIS) for accepting promotional payments directly, rather than through the national ski federation.
Ingemar Stenmark was allowed back into the Olympic competition in the 1988 Winter Games held in Calgary but failed to win a medal. He DNF the second run in the Giant Slalom, however, he had the fastest second run of the Slalom competition and finished in 5th position. Charismatic Italian skier Alberto Tomba made the most of his Olympic debut, winning both the Giant Slalom and the Slalom.
He retired from World Cup competition at the end of the 1989 season in March, days before his 33rd birthday.
Olympic Winter Games Starts: 6
Olympic Winter Games Medals: 3
Olympic Winter Games Victories: 2
FIS Alpine World Ski Championships Starts: 13
FIS Alpine World Ski Championships Podiums: 7
FIS Alpine World Ski Championships Victories: 5
FIS World Cup Starts: 231
FIS World Cup Podiums: 155
FIS World Cup Victories: 86
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