Mathias FREDRIKSSON

Mathias Fredriksson made his international début at the age of 18 winning a gold and bronze medal at the Junior World Championships. He began competing as a professional in 1993, winning 34 races at the national, FIS, and World Cup levels at various distances. He participated at six World Championships in 25 events and at four Olympic Games in 10 events. At Worlds he won two silver medals (15 km and 4 x 10 km) in 2001 and two bronzes (4 x 10 km relay) in 2003 and 2007 and added a bronze medal in the relay at the 2006 Winter Olympics. Fredriksson won the 2002-03 World Cup and was runner-up the following season. In the summer of 2006 he, his brother Thobias Fredriksson, a gold and bronze medalist in Torino 2006 in sprint races, and some other skiers left the national team and founded a private team, but later returned. After the 2007-08 season he concentrated more on ski-marathons. Between 1999 and 2007 he won 12 national titles individually, including six in the 30 km, of which five were won consecutively, and another three in the relay with his brother on the team. Fredriksson retired at the end of the 2012 season. His last competition was the Åre Cross Country Open in 2012 and he subsequently auctioned his equipment for UNICEF.

Fredriksson grew up in Dals Rostock in Dalsland and went to the ski gymnasium in Torsby. At the beginning of his career, he also was successful in orienteering. He married Emma Helena Nilsson, a former Miss Sweden and cross-country skier, and lives in Östersund.