Torgny MOGREN

Torgny Mogren is considered one of Sweden's top cross-country skiers of all-time. In the winter 1982/1983, he did his military service on I5 in Östersund in the same sport platoon as Gunde Svan. Mogren had his breakthrough at the age of 20, when he finished in 10th place at a World Cup race in Reit im Winkl, Germany. He competed in five Olympics from 1984 to 1998 in 13 events. Individually, his best Olympics were in 1992 with his best finish being fifth in the pursuit. But his best Olympic performance was the gold medal in the relay at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. At his last Olympics in 1998 he was the flag bearer for Sweden at the Opening Ceremony. His biggest successes occurred at the Nordic World Ski Championships where he earned nine medals. This included four golds (relay in 1987 and 1989 and individually the 50 km in 1991 and 1993), three silvers (15 km and 30 km in 1989 and relay in 1991), and two bronzes (50 km in 1987 and 10 km in 1991). He won the overall World Cup in 1986/87, and five times placed in the top three overall. Including his victories at World Championships he won a total of 15 World Cup races. Nationally, he won nine individual championships including the triple in 1986 and another nine in the relay. In 1990 he had acquired bronchial problems like others in the family. His asthma forced him to quit competitions when it was colder than minus 10°.

Mogren competed for Åsarna IK, but later lived in Mora, where he served on the board of Mora IK. He also works as an expert commentator on the radio in skiing competitions. In 1993, he was awarded the gold medal of the newspaper Svenska Dagbladet and the Radiosportens Jerringpris for his 50 km World Championship gold medal in Falun. In 2000, he quit skiing at an international level and later worked in marketing and customer contacts in the heating and air conditioning industry. In 2008, Mogren participated together with partner Lotta Falkenbäck, one of Sweden’s best figure skaters, in the TV show contest Stars on Ice, but unfortunately he was involved in an accident and had to leave the competition.