Magdalena Forsberg

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

Magdalena Forsberg

Magdalena Forsberg during the Swedish Sports Awards inside the Stockholm Globe Arena in Stockholm, Sweden in January 2014
Personal information
Birth name	Magdalena Wallin
Full name	Maria Magdalena Forsberg
Nickname	Magda
Born	(1967-07-25) 25 July 1967 (age 57) Ullånger, Sweden
Height	1.66 m (5 ft 5 in)
Professional information
Sport	Biathlon
Club	Sundsvall Biathlon
World Cup debut	8 December 1994
Retired	24 March 2002
Olympic Games
Teams	2 (1998, 2002)
Medals	2 (0 gold)
World Championships
Teams	8 (1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002)
Medals	12 (6 gold)
World Cup
Seasons	8 (1994/95–2001/02)
Individual victories	42
Individual podiums	87
Overall titles	6 (1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2001–02)
Discipline titles	17: 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 2002 Salt Lake City 15 km individual 2002 Salt Lake City 7.5 km sprint World Championships 1997 Brezno-Osrblie 15 km individual 1997 Brezno-Osrblie 10 km pursuit 1998 Pokljuka 10 km pursuit 2000 Oslo 10 km pursuit 2001 Pokljuka 15 km individual 2001 Pokljuka 12.5 km mass start 1999 Kontiolahti 7.5 km sprint 1996 Ruhpolding 7.5 km sprint 1997 Brezno-Osrblie 7.5 km sprint 1999 Oslo 12.5 km mass start 2000 Oslo 15 km individual 2001 Pokljuka 10 km pursuit Women's cross-country skiing Representing  Sweden World Championships 1987 Oberstdorf 4 × 5 km relay Junior World Championships 1985 Täsch 3 × 5 km relay 1986 Lake Placid 3 × 5 km relay 1987 Asiago 15 km

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, was 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 Swedish national 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.^[10]

Biathlon results

All results are sourced from the International Biathlon Union.^[11]

Olympic Games

2 medals (2 bronze)

Event	Individual	Sprint	Pursuit	Relay
1998 Nagano	14th	17th	—	10th
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
1995 Antholz-Anterselva	7th	19th	—	—	—	14th
1996 Ruhpolding	15th	Bronze	—	—	9th	10th
1997 Brezno-Osrblie	Gold	Bronze	Gold	—	11th	16th
1998 Pokljuka	—	—	Gold	—	7th	—
1999 Kontiolahti	6th	Silver	5th	Bronze	—	—
2000 Oslo Holmenkollen	Bronze	4th	Gold	4th	—	13th
2001 Pokljuka	Gold	6th	Bronze	Gold	—	—
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)

Season	Date	Location	Discipline	Level
1994–95 1 victory (1 Sp)	28 January 1995	Ruhpolding	7.5 km sprint	Biathlon World Cup
1995–96 1 victory (1 In)	14 December 1995	Oslo Holmenkollen	15 km individual	Biathlon World Cup
1996–97 4 victories (1 In, 1 Sp, 2 Pu)	4 January 1997	Oberhof	7.5 km sprint	Biathlon World Cup
	5 January 1997	Oberhof	10 km pursuit	Biathlon World Cup
	2 February 1997	Brezno-Osrblie	10 km pursuit	Biathlon World Championships
	7 February 1997	Brezno-Osrblie	15 km individual	Biathlon World Championships
1997–98 6 victories (1 In, 3 Sp, 2 Pu)	13 December 1997	Östersund	7.5 km sprint	Biathlon World Cup
	20 December 1997	Kontiolahti	10 km pursuit	Biathlon World Cup
	8 January 1998	Ruhpolding	7.5 km sprint	Biathlon World Cup
	3 March 1998	Pokljuka	15 km individual	Biathlon World Cup
	7 March 1998	Pokljuka	7.5 km sprint	Biathlon World Cup
	8 March 1998	Pokljuka	10 km pursuit	Biathlon World Championships
1998–99 4 victories (2 Sp, 2 Pu)	11 December 1998	Hochfilzen	7.5 km sprint	Biathlon World Cup
	12 December 1998	Hochfilzen	10 km pursuit	Biathlon World Cup
	25 February 1999	Lake Placid	7.5 km sprint	Biathlon World Cup
	6 March 1999	Valcartier	10 km pursuit	Biathlon World Cup
1999–2000 3 victories (1 Sp, 2 Pu)	9 December 1999	Pokljuka	7.5 km sprint	Biathlon World Cup
	20 February 2000	Oslo Holmenkollen	10 km pursuit	Biathlon World Championships
	18 March 2000	Khanty-Mansiysk	10 km pursuit	Biathlon World Cup
2000–01 14 victories (2 In, 4 Sp, 6 Pu, 2 MS)	8 December 2000	Antholz-Anterselva	10 km pursuit	Biathlon World Cup
	16 December 2000	Antholz-Anterselva	7.5 km sprint	Biathlon World Cup
	17 December 2000	Antholz-Anterselva	10 km pursuit	Biathlon World Cup
	5 January 2001	Oberhof	7.5 km sprint	Biathlon World Cup
	6 January 2001	Oberhof	10 km pursuit	Biathlon World Cup
	7 January 2001	Oberhof	12.5 km mass start	Biathlon World Cup
	13 January 2001	Ruhpolding	7.5 km sprint	Biathlon World Cup
	14 January 2001	Ruhpolding	10 km pursuit	Biathlon World Cup
	18 January 2001	Antholz-Anterselva	7.5 km sprint	Biathlon World Cup
	6 February 2001	Pokljuka	15 km individual	Biathlon World Championships
	9 February 2001	Pokljuka	12.5 km mass start	Biathlon World Championships
	28 February 2001	Salt Lake City	15 km individual	Biathlon World Cup
	3 March 2001	Salt Lake City	10 km pursuit	Biathlon World Cup
	17 March 2001	Oslo Holmenkollen	10 km pursuit	Biathlon World Cup
2001–02 9 victories (2 In, 1 Sp, 5 Pu, 1 MS)	6 December 2001	Hochfilzen	7.5 km sprint	Biathlon World Cup
	9 December 2001	Hochfilzen	10 km pursuit	Biathlon World Cup
	12 December 2001	Pokljuka	15 km individual	Biathlon World Cup
	16 December 2001	Pokljuka	10 km pursuit	Biathlon World Cup
	20 December 2001	Brezno-Osrblie	15 km individual	Biathlon World Cup
	22 December 2001	Brezno-Osrblie	12.5 km mass start	Biathlon World Cup
	11 January 2002	Oberhof	10 km pursuit	Biathlon World Cup
	10 March 2002	Östersund	10 km pursuit	Biathlon World Cup
	23 March 2002	Oslo Holmenkollen	10 km pursuit	Biathlon World Cup

*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
Seasons	7 – (1988–1994)
Starts	31
Podiums	1
Wins	0
Overall titles	0 – (17th in 1989)

All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).^[12]

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	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	Oberstdorf, West Germany	4 × 5 km Relay F	World Championships[1]	3rd	Lamberg-Skog / Dahlman / Westin
2	1988–89	12 March 1989	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. 18 March 2001.
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". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). 2 April 2006. 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 vann fyra Jerringpris". Sveriges Radio (in Swedish). 2008-08-31. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
11. "Magdalena Forsberg". IBU Datacenter. International Biathlon Union. Archived from the original on 28 November 2014. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
12. "Athlete : FORSBERG WALLIN Magdelena". FIS-Ski. International Ski Federation. Retrieved 30 March 2018.

External links

Media related to Magdalena Forsberg at Wikimedia Commons

• Magdalena Forsberg Wallin at the International Ski and Snowboard Federation
• Women's 4 x 5 km cross-country relay Olympic results: 1976-2002 (in Italian)