Jan Ingemar Stenmark (; born 18 March 1956) is a Swedish former World Cup alpine ski racer. He is regarded as the greatest male skier in technical disciplines and one of the most prominent Swedish athletes ever, having won several Olympic medals and world cups during his career. When he retired in 1989, he held the record for international race wins (86), which was only broken in 2023 by Mikaela Shiffrin and remains unbroken amongst men. He competed for Tärna IK Fjällvinden.
Early life
Born in Joesjö, Storuman Municipality, Lapland, Stenmark and his family moved to Tärnaby near Norway when he was four years old. He became a childhood neighbour of Stig Strand (also born 1956), who tied Stenmark for the World Cup slalom title in 1983. Stenmark began skiing at the age of five and won his first national competition at age eight.
Skiing career Stenmark made his World Cup debut in December 1973 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 by Mikaela Shiffrin. Stenmark won only in the two technical disciplines: slalom and giant slalom (the other events are downhill, super-G, first run in December 1982, and combined). 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." He rarely competed in the other disciplines, as he was not comfortable with speeds in excess of . He won first place overall in the 1976 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 placed Bojan Križaj in Jasna on 4 February 1979. Stenmark was known as a quiet champion, with short, but polite, responses to media questions.
For his three straight World Cup titles (1976–78), Stenmark earned the Holmenkollen medal in 1979 (shared with Erik Håker and Raisa Smetanina). Stenmark also earned the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal twice (1975, 1978). His 1978 medal was shared with tennis player Björn Borg, making them the only two men to ever win the honor twice (female alpine skier Anja 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. After 1978, Stenmark didn't win any more overall World Cup titles (finishing second five times) mainly due to a regulatory change introduced to encourage versatility, and allegedly to contain his excessive power in the technical disciplines.
At the World Championships in 1978 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen West Germany, Stenmark won the slalom by two-thirds of a second and the giant slalom by over two seconds, and successfully defended both world titles at the Winter Olympics in 1980 at Lake Placid, which also were counted as world championships. At the next worlds in 1982 in Austria, he had a sub-standard first run in the giant slalom and was upset by American Steve Mahre and settled for silver. Stenmark rebounded in the slalom and became the first to win the same title in three consecutive world championships. 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 the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo by the International Ski Federation (FIS) for accepting promotional payments directly, rather than through the national ski federation, it was a major blow to the Swedish team's medal hopes. Hanni Wenzel of Liechtenstein was also banned; both were double gold medalists in 1980. Marc Girardelli, who was the best slalom racer during the 1983–84 season, was also banned for other reasons. Stenmark returned to Olympic competition in 1988 but was past his prime and did not medal despite achieving the fastest second run of the slalom competition.
He retired from World Cup competition at the end of the 1989 season in March, days before his 33rd birthday. At that time, he held the all-time record for World Cup race wins (86) and race podiums (155), records which stood for over 30 years until both were broken by Mikaela Shiffrin in the 2020s (wins in 2023; podiums in 2025).
Later life During the years from 1976 to 1978 Stenmark, along with tennis player Björn Borg, became a national icon in Sweden. This was not changed by the fact that he moved to Monaco in 1980 for tax reasons. At age 40, he won the Swedish Superstars championship in 1996. On 26 December 2004, Stenmark survived the Indian Ocean earthquake while on vacation in Thailand. In 2015, he was a celebrity dancer on the Let's Dance 2015, where he teamed up with professional dancer Cecilia Ehrling.
He serves as an ambassador for the Börje Salming ALS Foundation, named after his close friend and Swedish ice hockey player who died of ALS in 2022.
Stenmark switched to the pole vault and competes in masters athletics. He participated in the 2024 World Masters Athletics Championships, where he jumped three meters and placed tenth overall.
Personal life Stenmark was married to Ann Uvhagen, a Lufthansa airline hostess, 1984–1987. They have a child, born 1984.
World Cup results Season titles 19 titles – (3 overall, 8 GS,In 1977 ex-aqueo with the Swiss Heini Hemmi and in 1984 with the other Swiss Pirmin Zurbriggen. 8 SL) OverallSlalomGiant slalom1976197719781975197619771978197919801981198319751976197719781979198019811984388
Season standings Season Age Overall Slalom Giant slalom Super-G Downhill Combined 1974 17126—notrun—notawarded 197518211— 197619111—— 197720111—notawarded 197821111— 197922511— 198023211—— 198124211—15 198225222—— 198326212notawarded(w/ GS)—23 198427221—— 1985286310—25 198629522——— 198730627——— 19883121169——— 19893217214———
Race victories 86 wins – (46 GS, 40 SL), 155 podiums SeasonDateLocationDiscipline197517 December 1974 Madonna di Campiglio, ItalySlalom12 January 1975 Wengen, SwitzerlandSlalom21 February 1975 Naeba, JapanGiant slalom2 March 1975 Garibaldi (Whistler), CanadaGiant slalom13 March 1975 Sun Valley, USAGiant slalom1976 15 December 1975 Sterzing / Vipiteno, ItalySlalom11 January 1976 Wengen, SwitzerlandSlalom24 January 1976 Kitzbühel, AustriaSlalom27 January 1976 Zwiesel, West GermanyGiant slalom7 March 1976 Copper Mountain, USASlalom14 March 1976 Aspen, USASlalom1977 3 January 1977 Laax, SwitzerlandSlalom10 January 1977 Berchtesgaden, W. GermanySlalom16 January 1977 Kitzbühel, AustriaSlalom23 January 1977 Wengen, SwitzerlandSlalom6 February 1977 St. Anton, AustriaSlalom6 March 1977 Sun Valley, USAGiant slalom18 March 1977 Voss, NorwaySlalom20 March 1977 Åre, SwedenSlalom21 March 1977Giant slalom25 March 1977 Sierra Nevada, SpainGiant slalom197810 December 1977 Val d'Isère, FranceGiant slalom13 December 1977 Madonna di Campiglio, ItalySlalom14 December 1977Giant slalom5 January 1978 Oberstaufen, West GermanySlalom8 January 1978 Zwiesel, West GermanyGiant slalom9 January 1978Slalom18 March 1978 Arosa, SwitzerlandGiant slalom19799 December 1978 Schladming, AustriaGiant slalom21 December 1978 Kranjska Gora, Yugoslavia Slalom22 December 1978Giant slalom7 January 1979 Courchevel, FranceGiant slalom16 January 1979 Adelboden, SwitzerlandGiant slalom23 January 1979 Steinach, AustriaGiant slalom4 February 1979 Jasná, CzechoslovakiaGiant slalom10 February 1979 Åre, SwedenGiant slalom11 February 1979Slalom4 March 1979 Lake Placid, USAGiant slalom12 March 1979 Heavenly Valley, USAGiant slalom17 March 1979 Furano, JapanSlalom19 March 1979Giant slalom19808 December 1979 Val d'Isère, France Giant slalom11 December 1979 Madonna di Campiglio, ItalySlalom12 December 1979Giant slalom21 January 1980 Adelboden, SwitzerlandGiant slalom27 January 1980 Chamonix, FranceSlalom27 February 1980 Waterville Valley, USASlalom1 March 1980 Mont-Sainte-Anne, CanadaGiant slalom10 March 1980 Cortina d'Ampezzo, ItalySlalom11 March 1980Giant slalom13 March 1980 Saalbach, AustriaGiant slalom15 March 1980Slalom19819 December 1980 Madonna di Campiglio, Italy Slalom10 December 1980Giant slalom6 January 1981 Morzine, FranceGiant slalom18 January 1981 Kitzbühel, AustriaSlalom26 January 1981 Adelboden, SwitzerlandGiant slalom1 February 1981 St. Anton, AustriaSlalom2 February 1981 Schladming, AustriaGiant slalom8 February 1981 Oslo, NorwaySlalom11 February 1981 Voss, NorwayGiant slalom14 February 1981 Åre, SwedenGiant slalom19829 January 1982 Morzine, France Giant slalom12 January 1982 Bad Wiessee, West GermanySlalom17 January 1982 Kitzbühel, AustriaSlalom19 January 1982 Adelboden, SwitzerlandGiant slalom9 February 1982 Kirchberg, AustriaGiant slalom1983 14 December 1982 Courmayeur, ItalySlalom23 January 1983 Kitzbühel, AustriaSlalom11 February 1983 Markstein, FranceSlalom13 February 1983 Todtnau, West GermanyGiant slalom26 February 1983 Gällivare, SwedenGiant slalom198413 December 1983 Courmayeur, ItalySlalom20 December 1983 Madonna di Campiglio, ItalySlalom10 January 1984 Adelboden, SwitzerlandGiant slalom17 January 1984 Parpan, SwitzerlandSlalom23 January 1984 Kirchberg, AustriaGiant slalom4 February 1984 Borovetz, Bulgaria Giant slalom7 March 1984 Vail, USAGiant slalom198615 December 1985 Alta Badia, ItalyGiant slalom25 January 1986 St. Anton, AustriaSlalom27 February 1986 Hemsedal, NorwayGiant slalom18 March 1986 Lake Placid, USAGiant slalom198729 November 1986 Sestriere, ItalySlalom14 February 1987 Markstein, FranceSlalom1989 19 February 1989 Aspen, USAGiant slalom
Podiums Discipline1st2nd3rdTotalSlalom40 29 12 81Giant46 13 13 72Parallel0 1 0 1Combined0 0 1 186 43 26 155
World championship results Year Age Slalom Giant slalom Super-G Downhill Combined197417DNF9not run——197619DNF23——19782111——1980231 1 —— 19822512——1985284DNF——198730510———198932DNF26——— From 1948 through 1980, the Winter Olympics were also the World Championships for alpine skiing. At the World Championships from 1954 through 1980, the combined was a "paper race" using the results of the three events (DH, GS, SL).
Olympic results Year Age Slalom Giant slalom Super-G Downhill Combined197619DNF23not run—not run 19802311— 1984 27 Banned1988315DNF2——— Stenmark and fellow reigning double Olympic champion Hanni Wenzel were banned from the 1984 Olympics for having accepted promotional payments directly, rather than through their national ski federations.
Other honours
Jerring Award: 1979, 1980 H. M. The King's Medal: 1978
References
External links