Athlete profile:
Henrik Forsberg
Posted: Tue February 3, 1998 at 5:00 PM
ET
| Athlete
information |
| Name | Henrik Forsberg |
| Country | Sweden |
| Pronounced | HEN-rick FORSH-berg |
| Age | 30 |
| Birthdate | 02/16/67 |
| Birthplace | Borlänge, Sweden
(BOR-lang-eh) |
| Residence | Timraa, Sweden
(TIM-roh) |
| Height/Weight | 6'2", 185 |
| Events | 10 km cl., Pursuit, 30 km free, 50
km cl., 4x10 km relay |
|
Athlete notes
Henrik Forsberg's quest to win his first Olympic medal, and give himself a
timely birthday present, will be overshadowed by his gun-toting wife
Magdalena, who finished atop the 1997 overall World Cup biathlon standings
and took two gold medals home from the ‘97 World Championships in Osrblie,
Slovakia...she is considered one of Sweden's best hopes for a gold medal in
Nagano...the couple has been together since 1987, when they were both on
Sweden's Junior National Team, and married since June 1996...like her
husband, Magdalena was a cross-country skier and competed in the
Albertville Olympics, where the first thoughts of a switch entered her
mind..."I did not like Albertville," Magdalena recalls. "I was not in good
shape and I skied bad. I watched the biathlon in Albertville (where
women's biathlon made its Olympic debut) and really liked it"... a maternal
uncle had competed in the biathlon and her then-boyfriend Henrik convinced
her to give it a try...Henrik, an avid hunter, helped teach Magdalena the
mechanics of the biathlon's rifle..."He showed me how to use the gun in
1993," says Magdalena. "I thought he was a really good shooter"...on a
whim, she decided to compete in the biathlon in the '93 Swedish National
Championships but continued to train in cross-country for
Lillehammer...after tearing an Achilles tendon in September 1993, which
prEventsed her from competing in Lillehammer, and realizing that her
cross-country career was not progressing as hoped, she decided to make the
switch to biathlon..."I was tired of cross-country because I was doing it
for so long," she says. "I felt like I was not improving and I wanted to
do something new"...as they say, the rest is history -- she started
full-time biathlon training in June 1994 and earned a third-place finish in
the 1996 Worlds' sprint competition, before last year's impressive
results...when the minister that tied Henrik and Magdalena's matrimonial
knot declared that they must "love, honor, cherish and obey, in sickness
and in health," he hopefully emphasized the sickness part...in addition to
Magdalena's torn Achilles, she injured her right shoulder last May,
hampering her ability to do weight training...but even she says, "Henrik
has had a lot more injuries than me. Because of his troubles with injury,
he hasn't shown what he can do"...a brief summary of Henrik's medical
bill...
- Missed the 1989 and 1993 World Championships due to viral infections
- Missed eight weeks in 1996 due to a fractured leg
- Required surgery for an arm inflammation in July 1997... he convincingly
states that the surgery will have no impact on his performance during the
1997-98 season.
too bad for Henrik's doctors that they practice under a nationalized
medical system...after disappointing results in both Albertville and
Lillehammer, the veteran skier hopes to use his experience to "ski more
consistently and (earn) more top finishes"...Henrik has been anything but
consistent for much of his career... a win in the 1991 World Cup 30 km
freestyle at Falun, which he claims to be "the high point of my career,"
has been more than offset by a failure to garner any medals in either World
Championship or Olympic competition...his biggest disappointment came in
Albertville when "We (the Swedish relay) were expected to win the gold and
I expected nothing less than gold. We came in fourth -- only .01 seconds
from a medal"...Henrik began skiing at the age of nine at the encouragement
of his father, who, himself a recreational skier, took his son to a ski
club and introduced him to a coach...his father, a salesman for a large
company, and his mother, who no longer works, have been, according to
Henrik, "extremely supportive throughout my ski career"...he also played
soccer as a youngster but decided to focus on skiing at the age of 15, when
he chose to attend a special ski academy...Henrik is sandwiched between two
sisters, the younger of whom is a skier but is more interested in playing
golf -- like her compatriot Annika Sorenstam...Magdalena began skiing
competitively at the encouragement of her mother, a nurse who used to run
marathons and trained with her daughter in the past...Magdalena's father is
an engineer...her two younger sisters are also athletically inclined --
Anna teaches physical education and plays soccer while Sara is a physical
therapist...the Forsbergs have no children yet -- "Maybe later," says
Magdalena...Henrik and Magdalena enjoy hunting birds in the Swedish
mountains with their dog Vorsteh (VORSH-taw)...Henrik also spends his free
time playing golf, while Magdalena is an avid cook, baker, and gardener --
"I love my potatoes and carrots," she says...Henrik and Magdalena both
speak English well...Henrik is somewhat more reserved than his cheerful,
outgoing wife...
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