Magdalena Forsberg

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Magdalena Forsberg
Magdalena Forsberg during the Swedish Sports Awards inside the Stockholm Globe Arena in Stockholm, Sweden in January 2014
Personal information
Birth nameMagdalena Wallin
Full nameMaria Magdalena Forsberg
NicknameMagda
Born (1967-07-25) 25 July 1967 (age 56)
Ullånger, Sweden
Height1.66 m (5 ft 5 in)
Professional information
SportBiathlon
ClubSundsvall Biathlon
World Cup debut8 December 1994
Retired24 March 2002
Olympic Games
Teams2 (1998, 2002)
Medals2 (0 gold)
World Championships
Teams8 (1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002)
Medals12 (6 gold)
World Cup
Seasons8 (1994/95–2001/02)
Individual victories42
Individual podiums87
Overall titles6 (1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2001–02)
Discipline titles17:
4 Individual (1997–98, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2001–02);
5 Sprint (1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2001–02);
6 Pursuit (1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2001–02);
2 Mass start (2000–01, 2001–02)
Medal record
Women's biathlon
Representing  Sweden
International biathlon competitions
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 0 0 2
World Championships 6 1 5
Total 6 1 7
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 2002 Salt Lake City 15 km individual
Bronze medal – third place 2002 Salt Lake City 7.5 km sprint
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1997 Brezno-Osrblie 15 km individual
Gold medal – first place 1997 Brezno-Osrblie 10 km pursuit
Gold medal – first place 1998 Pokljuka 10 km pursuit
Gold medal – first place 2000 Oslo 10 km pursuit
Gold medal – first place 2001 Pokljuka 15 km individual
Gold medal – first place 2001 Pokljuka 12.5 km mass start
Silver medal – second place 1999 Kontiolahti 7.5 km sprint
Bronze medal – third place 1996 Ruhpolding 7.5 km sprint
Bronze medal – third place 1997 Brezno-Osrblie 7.5 km sprint
Bronze medal – third place 1999 Oslo 12.5 km mass start
Bronze medal – third place 2000 Oslo 15 km individual
Bronze medal – third place 2001 Pokljuka 10 km pursuit
Women's cross-country skiing
Representing  Sweden
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place 1987 Oberstdorf 4 × 5 km relay
Junior World Championships
Silver medal – second place 1985 Täsch 3 × 5 km relay
Bronze medal – third place 1986 Lake Placid 3 × 5 km relay
Bronze medal – third place 1987 Asiago 15 km

Magdalena "Magda" Forsberg (née Wallin; born 25 July 1967) is a Swedish former cross-country skier and biathlete. She was the dominating female biathlete from 1997 to 2002, when she retired, winning the Biathlon World Cup for six years straight. She is also a six-times world champion, a two-times Olympic bronze medalist, and holds the record for the most World Cup victories in women's biathlon.

She has been married to Henrik Forsberg, also a biathlete and cross-country skier, since mid-1996.[1]

Cross-country skiing

Forsberg competed as a cross country skier from 1988 to 1996, participating in the World Cup.[2] Her best results at the Winter Olympics were in Albertville in 1992 where she finished seventh in the 4 × 5 km relay and 26th in the 15 km event.[citation needed]

Forsberg's best individual finish at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships was tenth in the 30 km event at Lahti in 1989. In 1987 she was in the Swedish team that finished third in the 4 × 5 km relay. Her best World cup finish was second in a 10 km event in Finland in 1988.

She participated as a celebrity dancer in Let's Dance 2019, which was broadcast on TV4.[3] She placed second.

Biathlon

Competing from 1993 to 2002, Forsberg won six straight overall wins in the Biathlon World Cup from 1997 to 2002.[4] She also won six gold medals in the World Championships, became runner-up once, and placed third five times. At the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, Forsberg won two bronze medals. In her career she managed a total of 42 individual Biathlon World Cup wins, which is more than any other female biathlete to date.

Magdalena Forsberg retired from active sports after the 2001–02 season. After being retired for four years she made a temporary comeback in April 2006 due to losing a bet. The bet said Forsberg would enter the Swedish Championship in Women's Relay with fellow biathlon skier Anna Carin Olofsson-Zidek if the latter won an Olympic gold in Turin.[5] The duo went on to win the competition, Forsberg outrunning her competitors in the first leg and Olofsson extending their lead in the second.[6][7]

During large parts of her career, Forsberg was trained by Wolfgang Pichler, who later took over as coach of the national Swedish biathlon team.

Post retirement

After retirement, Forsberg, along with Peter Forsberg, footballer Mathias Jönsson, and golfer Per-Ulrik Johansson enrolled in a business class at the Johan Cruyff Institute in Stockholm.[8] She received additional education in the field of tax legislation.[9]

Other honours

Forsberg competed at the 1998 Winter Olympics both as a biathlete and as a cross country skier. She is the only Swedish athlete to have been awarded the Jerring Award four times.

Biathlon results

All results are sourced from the International Biathlon Union.[10]

Olympic Games

2 medals (2 bronze)

Event Individual Sprint Pursuit Relay
Japan 1998 Nagano 14th 17th 10th
United States 2002 Salt Lake City Bronze Bronze 6th
*Pursuit was added as an event in 2002.

World Championships

12 medals (6 gold, 1 silver, 5 bronze)

Event Individual Sprint Pursuit Mass start Team Relay
Italy 1995 Antholz-Anterselva 7th 19th 14th
Germany 1996 Ruhpolding 15th Bronze 9th 10th
Slovakia 1997 Brezno-Osrblie Gold Bronze Gold 11th 16th
Slovenia 1998 Pokljuka Gold 7th
Finland 1999 Kontiolahti 6th Silver 5th Bronze
Norway 2000 Oslo Holmenkollen Bronze 4th Gold 4th 13th
Slovenia 2001 Pokljuka Gold 6th Bronze Gold
Norway 2002 Oslo Holmenkollen 8th
*During Olympic seasons competitions are only held for those events not included in the Olympic program.
**Team was removed as an event in 1998, and pursuit was added in 1997 with mass start being added in 1999.

Individual victories

42 victories (7 In, 13 Sp, 19 Pu, 3 MS)

*Results are from UIPMB and IBU races which include the Biathlon World Cup, Biathlon World Championships and the Winter Olympic Games.

Cross-country skiing results

World Cup career
Seasons7 – (19881994)
Starts31
Podiums1
Wins0
Overall titles0 – (17th in 1989)

All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).[11]

Olympic Games

 Year   Age   5 km   15 km   Pursuit   30 km   4 × 5 km 
 relay 
1992 24 26 34 7
1998 28 8

World Championships

  • 1 medal – (1 bronze)
 Year   Age   5 km   10 km 
 classical 
 10 km 
 freestyle 
 15 km   20 km   30 km   4 × 5 km 
 relay 
1987 19 Bronze
1989 21 18 17 10 4
1991 23 6

World Cup

Season standings

 Season   Age  Overall
1988 21 20
1989 22 17
1990 23 21
1991 24 29
1992 25 NC
1993 26 55
1994 27 NC

Individual podiums

  • 1 podium
No. Season Date Location Race Level Place
1  1987–88  27 March 1988 Finland Rovaniemi, Finland 10 km Individual F World Cup 2nd

Team podiums

  • 2 podiums
No. Season Date Location Race Level Place Teammates
1  1986–87  17 February 1987 West Germany Oberstdorf, West Germany 4 × 5 km Relay F World Championships[1] 3rd Lamberg-Skog / Dahlman / Westin
2  1988–89  12 March 1989 Sweden Falun, Sweden 4 × 5 km Relay C World Cup 3rd Svingstedt / Lamberg-Skog / Fritzon

Note: 1 Until the 1999 World Championships, World Championship races were included in the World Cup scoring system.

References

  • "IBU Profile of Magdalena Forsberg". International Biathlon Union. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2008-02-10.
  • "Jerringpriset: Pristagare sedan 1979". Sveriges Radio. Archived from the original on 2008-12-02. Retrieved 2008-12-06.
  1. ^ Anders Engman (10 February 2002). "Forsberg har alltid varit på jakt" (in Swedish). Sydsvenskan. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  2. ^ "Magdalena Forsberg". FIS. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  3. ^ Let's Dance 2019 deltagare TV4.se Retrieved 4 March 2019
  4. ^ "PLUS: WINTER SPORTS; Forsberg Captures Biathlon Title". New York Times.
  5. ^ "Magda tävlar igen - i SM" [Magda will race again - in the SM] (in Swedish). Retrieved 2011-02-04.
  6. ^ "Magda och ACO fixade väntat guld" (in Swedish). Retrieved 2011-02-04.
  7. ^ "STAFETT Resultat" (PDF) (in Swedish). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-24. Retrieved 2011-02-04.
  8. ^ "Swedish sports stars go back to school - Johan Cruyff Institute". Johan Cruyff Institute. 2013-04-10. Retrieved 2023-11-09.
  9. ^ "Biathlonist Magdalena Forsberg: biography, sporting achievements, personal life". en.unansea.com. Retrieved 2023-11-09.
  10. ^ "Magdalena Forsberg". IBU Datacenter. International Biathlon Union. Archived from the original on 28 November 2014. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
  11. ^ "Athlete : FORSBERG WALLIN Magdelena". FIS-Ski. International Ski Federation. Retrieved 30 March 2018.

External links

Media related to Magdalena Forsberg at Wikimedia Commons