Winter sports or winter activities are competitive sports or non-competitive recreational activities which are played on snow or ice. Most are variations of skiing, ice skating and sledding. Traditionally, such games were only played in cold areas during winter, but artificial snow and artificial ice allow more flexibility. Playing areas and fields consist of either snow or ice.
Pernilla Wiberg is a Swedish former alpine ski racer and businesswoman. She competed on the World Cup circuit between 1990 and 2002, where she became one of the few all-event winners. Having won two Olympic gold medals, four World Championships and one World Cup overall title, she is one of the most successful alpine ski racers of the 1990s. On club level, she represented Norrköpings SK. She was born in Norrköping.
Magdalena "Magda" Forsberg 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.
Sport is considered a national pastime in Sweden, and about half of the population actively takes part in sports activities. The most important all-embracing organisations for sports in Sweden are the Swedish Sports Confederation, and the Swedish Olympic Committee. In total over 2 million people are members of a sports club.
Stig Strand is a Swedish former alpine skier and a sports commentator on alpine skiing. He is known for being sports commentator for SVT during many years after his career, and a few years on Eurosport, but ended TV commenting in 2016. He has also worked as a political advisor for the Swedish Social Democratic Party, and as a hotel owner.
Sweden first participated at the Olympic Games at the inaugural 1896 Games, and has sent athletes to compete in every Games since then with one exception, the sparsely attended 1904 Summer Olympics. Sweden has earned medals at all Olympic games except for two, the 1896 Games and the 1904 Games. The only other nation having earned medals at every Olympic game since 1908 is Sweden's neighboring country Finland.
Tärna IK Fjällvinden in Tärnaby, Sweden is arguably the most successful alpine skiing club in the history of the sport. Although Tärnaby has a population of a mere 500, Fjällvinden has produced several of the greatest alpine skiers of all time: Ingemar Stenmark, Anja Pärson, Stig Strand, Jens Byggmark, and Bengt Fjällberg.
The Egebergs Ærespris is a prize awarded to Norwegian athletes who excel in more than one sport. The prize was created by Ferdinand Julian Egeberg, and consists of a bronze statuette modelled by sculptor Magnus Vigrestad.
The Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal is an annual award "for the most significant Swedish sports achievement of the year". It has been awarded by a jury led by the Swedish morning paper Svenska Dagbladet since 1925. According to its statutes the Medal may be awarded in November or December to either an individual sportsperson or a team. An individual can be awarded the Medal no more than twice, and to receive a second medal, that athlete must be "regarded a class of his own".
Marina Charlotte Kalla is a Swedish retired cross-country skier. A four-time Olympian, Kalla won three golds and nine medals overall at the Olympics between 2004 and 2022. She holds the joint record as Sweden's most decorated Olympic competitor and is the all-time leader among Swedish female athletes. She is also a 13-time medalist at the World Championships, including a gold medal at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2015 10 km freestyle event in Falun. This made Kalla the first Swedish female cross-country skier to win individual golds in both the Olympics and World Championships. In 2008, Kalla won the Jerring Award.
Tove Alexandersson is a Swedish foot orienteer, ski orienteer, skyrunner, trail runner and ski mountaineer. She has won a total of 19 gold medals at the World Orienteering Championships and 10 gold medals at the World Ski Orienteering Championships. In 2018, she won the Sky Marathon event at the Skyrunning World Championships, in her second skyrunning race ever. In 2021, she won the combined discipline at the World Championships of Ski Mountaineering, and in 2023 she won a silver medal in the up and down discipline at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships. She competes for Stora Tuna OK in orienteering and Alfta-Ösa OK in ski orienteering. Alexandersson holds the record for the number of gold medals in a row at the World Orienteering Championships, winning 11 in a row between 2018 and 2022.
Peder Fredricson is a Swedish equestrian and Olympic medalist. He was born in Flen in Södermanland. He has won one Olympic gold medal in team jumping at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, and three Olympic silver medals, his first in team jumping at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, his second in individual jumping at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, and his third in Individual jumping at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. He also participated at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, in eventing. In 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games, Peder Fredricson with his horse H&M All In won team gold medal with Malin Baryard-Johnsson and Henrik von Eckermann and also a silver medal as individual. Among his top horses, there are H&M Christian K, H&M All In, Catch me Not S, Jumper d’Oase and Thelma Hästak.
Christer Ulfbåge, is a Swedish sports journalist and commentator and earlier presenter of Sportspegeln and Sportnytt which are broadcast on SVT. Ulfbåge was for many years commentator for SVTs sports broadcasts of skiing, athletics. He started his career at Radiosporten at Sveriges Radio where between 1974 and 1980 amongst others he covered the achievements of Ingemar Stenmark. In 1991, he reported from the World Championships final for 100 meters in Tokyo.
Helene Barbro Ripa is a Swedish former Paralympic athlete who has participated in swimming, cross-country skiing, mountain bike orienteering and canoeing events. She qualified as a swimmer for the 1992 Paralympic Games but finished outside the medal considerations. Ripa won a gold medal in cross-country skiing—her first Paralympic skiing event—and subsequently a silver medal at the 2014 Paralympics in Sochi, Russia. She competed in canoeing at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, marking three Paralympic appearances in three sports. She competed at the 2020 Summer Paralympics, in Women's KL3.
Ebba Kristina Andersson is a Swedish cross-country skier who represents the club Piteå Elit. She has by 2023 three World Championships gold medals. On 22 January 2024, she was awarded the Jerring Award for her 2023 performances.
