Ingemar Stenmark

In 1974 Stenmark, at the age of seventeen, joined the European racing circuit. In his first World Cup event in March of 1974, Stenmark placed second in the slalom. On December 17, 1974 he earned his first World Cup victory on the slalom course at Madonna di Campiglio, Italy. He was soon challenging Italy's Gustavo Thoeni for the World Cup title but was edged out by Thoeni, 250 points to 245 points. The following season Stenmark surpassed Thoeni to win his first overall World Cup in 1976, thus beginning his decade-long reign of dominance in the slalom and giant slalom. He was heralded as a hero in Sweden, and Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf received Stenmark in a private audience and awarded him with a special gold medal, the highest honor bestowed on a Swedish citizen. Stenmark's first appearance in the Olympics in 1976, however, proved rather disappointing. Going in as the favorite for the gold in at least one, if not both, slalom events, he fell in the slalom and only managed a bronze medal in the giant slalom.

In 1977 and 1978, Stenmark won two more World Cup titles. He also won gold medals in both the slalom and giant slalom at the 1978 World Championships in Garmisch. During the 1978-79 season he won a total of 13 slalom and giant slalom races, breaking the previous record of 12 set by renowned skier Jean-Claude Killy. In fact, Stenmark outscored the remainder of the field so badly during the 1978-79 season that he had the World Cup title locked up in January, two months before the season's end. In an effort to balance the playing field, the International Skiing Association altered its point system so that the overall World Cup ranking was based on points not only from the slalom and giant slalom, but also the downhill, an event in which Stenmark had never competed. As a result, even though he won both the slalom and giant slalom in 1979, he placed fifth in the overall World Cup standings due to his lack of points from downhill races.

Following the 1978-79 season, after fulfilling his mandatory three-month obligation to the Swedish army, Stenmark decided to prepare for the downhill so that he could once again be competitive for the World Cup title. During a training run on the Italian Alps in September 1979 he hit a compression at a high rate of speed, was buffeted by the wind, and flew wildly out of control. Rushed to a hospital via helicopter, Stenmark was diagnosed with a severe concussion and remained in the hospital three weeks. After he recuperated, he competed in a downhill race in January 1980, in which he finished thirty-four among thirty-nine finishers. Following that event, he decided to put away his downhill skis and focus on the slalom and giant slalom. At the 1980 Olympic Games in Lake Placid, New York, Stenmark took gold medals in both the slalom and giant slalom. During the 1979-80 World Cup competition, he won ten races and once again took both the slalom and giant slalom titles, but finished second in overall World Cup points.