Cross-Country Skiing
Marcus Hellner – the birth of a national hero
Charting the rise of the cross-country skier who has become one of Sweden’s best-loved sports stars.
Looking sharp
© Richard Ström/Red Bull Content Pool
He wasn’t even much of a talent. Today his three Olympic gold medals, his sprint gold against Petter Northug in Oslo and his ability to resist pain and fatigue and squeeze out more than any skier in the world make him one of Sweden’s most-loved athletes.
Marcus’s parents were athletic and introduced him to sports at an early age. His mother put him on skis at the age of two and in his youth he played football, floorball and tennis. In the end skiing became his true passion.
Marcus Hellner in action
© Richard Ström/Red Bull Content Pool
3 min
Hellner - Hero Can
Hellner - Hero Can
Getting serious about cross-country skiing, Marcus won his first major race at the age of 13, becoming the district champion of Västergötland. But measuring up against talents from all over Sweden, Marcus came up shorthanded. His best result in the national youth championship was 18th.
Aspiring for a chance to join other young skiing talents at Mora’s skidgymnasium (skiing highschool), Marcus discovered that he wasn’t talented enough. The school wouldn’t take him in.
Eventually Marcus was accepted by another skiing school, the Gällivare skidgymnasium.
“Coming to Gällivare was truly an eye-opener to me. I came there believing that I had trained super-hard in the past. But I quickly learned that I hadn’t. Not at all”, says Marcus Hellner.
Skiing at night
© Richard Ström/Red Bull Content Pool
4 min
Hellner - Hero Can
Hellner - Hero Can
Under the wings of the wise Lars-Gunnar Petterson, the school’s skiing coach and former national team coach, Marcus increased the training dosage significantly. The coach appreciated what he saw.
Marcus impressed me with his attitude. He had an iron will to take on hard training, and he almost immediately wanted to set up a plan for the future. A long-term plan reaching to the age of 24-25 when he wanted to be at his best
The rest is history. Marcus Hellner’s first appearance as a senior was the 2007 world championship in Sapporo, where he helped the relay team to a bronze medal and placed 9th in the individual 15km classic race.
On home turf
© Richard Ström/Red Bull Content Pool
In the 2010 Olympics he earned a special place in the hearts of Swedish TV viewers as he claimed double gold, one individual and one in the team relay. His ability to push himself far beyond what any normal person could endure has also earned him the title Athlete Of The Year both 2011 and 2012.
But what makes us love him even more is perhaps his on-going fight with Petter Northug, resulting in both one-liner trash talking in best-boxing promotion style and honest mano-a-mano showdowns in the skiing tracks.