Anja Pärson in
Aspen in 2006.
Anja Pärson in
Monaco in 2006.
Anja Sofia Tess Pärson (Swedish pronunciation: [ˌanjaˈpæːʂɔn]; born 25 April 1981, in Umeå, Sweden) is a Swedish-Sámi[1] alpine skier, the winner of seven World Championships gold medals and two Overall Alpine Skiing World Cup titles. She has won a total of 42 World cup races.
Pärson's athletics club is Fjällvinden, Tärnaby, the same to which skiing legend Ingemar Stenmark and Stig Strand belonged.
[edit] Biography
Pärson was introduced to ski racing by her sister, Frida, and is now trained by her father, Anders. Her first World Cup race was a giant slalom at the World Cup Finals at Crans-Montana, Switzerland (on 15 March 1998). She qualified for that race as the new junior World Champion but only finished 25th in last place. She won her first World Cup race, a slalom at Mammoth Mountain, California, in December 1998 at age 17, and her first gold medal at St. Anton, Austria, in 2001. She clinched the silver medal in the giant slalom and the bronze medal in the slalom at the 2002 Winter Olympics, and added the gold in slalom plus two more bronze medals in downhill and combined in 2006 Winter Olympics.
Pärson won the Alpine Skiing World Cup overall title in 2004 and 2005. The latter title was won by the smallest margin ever, only 3 points over her fierce rival, Janica Kostelić. Initially a slalom and giant slalom specialist, she won her first Super-G and downhill races in March 2005 at San Sicario, Italy, during the pre-Olympic competitions. As of January 2010, she has won a total of 41 World Cup races in all five disciplines.
Pärson has won seven gold medals in the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships, in 2001 (slalom), 2003 (giant slalom), 2005 (giant slalom, Super-G) and 2007 (Super-G, Super-combined, downhill). These go along with two silver and three bronze medals in other events in 2001, 2005, 2007 and 2011. With her three gold medals in 2007 at Åre, Sweden, she became the first skier in history to win World Championship golds in all five disciplines.
Pärson has earned a total of 17 individual medals in World Championships and Olympics, exceeding the record by Christl Cranz in women's alpine skiing. (In men's alpine skiing it's only beaten by Kjetil André Aamodt, with 20.)
After two disappointing seasons (2006/07 and 2007/08 where she finished fifth and sixth in the overall cup), she was back to her best over the 2008/09 season, finishing third in the overall cup.
With the victory in March 2011, she has won at least one race for ten consecutive World Cups, coming in this ranking only after Alberto Tomba for men and Vreni Schneider for women with eleven, and equalling Renate Götschl for women and Ingemar Stenmark for men with ten.
At the 2010 Winter Olympics, while trying to chase down eventual downhill champion Lindsey Vonn of the United States, Anja Pärson lost balance on the last jump before the finish, resulting in a 60-metre flight and subsequent fall, without however suffering serious injury.[2] She recovered from the fall and one day later won the bronze medal in the Combined event.
[edit] Personal life
She currently lives in Monaco. Her height is 170 cm[3] (5 ft 7 in). She was awarded the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal in 2006 and in 2007.
[edit] World Cup victories
[edit] Season titles
7 titles - (2 overall, 3 GS, 1 SL, 1 SC)
[edit] Individual races
42 wins - (6 DH, 4 SG, 11 GS, 18 SL, 3 SC)
| Season |
Date |
Location |
Discipline |
| 1999 |
3 Dec 1998 |
 Mammoth Mountain, USA |
Slalom |
| 2002 |
9 Dec 2001 |
 Sestriere, Italy |
Slalom |
| 29 Dec 2001 |
 Lienz, Austria |
Slalom |
| 5 Jan 2002 |
 Maribor, Slovenia |
Slalom |
| 6 Jan 2002 |
Slalom |
| 2003 |
30 Nov 2002 |
Aspen, USA |
Slalom |
| 15 Dec 2002 |
Sestriere, Italy |
KO-Slalom |
| 19 Jan 2003 |
Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy |
Giant Slalom |
| 25 Jan 2003 |
Maribor, Slovenia |
Giant Slalom |
| 26 Jan 2003 |
Slalom |
| 6 Mar 2003 |
 Åre, Sweden |
Giant Slalom |
| 2004 |
28 Nov 2003 |
Park City, USA |
Giant Slalom |
| 29 Nov 2003 |
Slalom |
| 16 Dec 2003 |
Madonna di Campiglio, Italy |
Slalom |
| 28 Dec 2003 |
Lienz, Austria |
Slalom |
| 5 Jan 2004 |
 Megève, France |
Slalom |
| 24 Jan 2004 |
Maribor, Slovenia |
Giant Slalom |
| 25 Jan 2004 |
Slalom |
| 7 Feb 2004 |
 Zwiesel, Germany |
Giant Slalom |
| 8 Feb 2004 |
Slalom |
| 21 Feb 2004 |
Åre, Sweden |
Giant Slalom |
| 14 Mar 2004 |
Sestriere, Italy |
Giant Slalom |
| 2005 |
23 Nov 2004 |
Sölden, Austria |
Giant Slalom |
| 23 Jan 2005 |
Maribor, Slovenia |
Slalom |
| 25 Feb 2005 |
San Sicario, Italy |
Super-G |
| 26 Feb 2005 |
Downhill |
| 2006 |
11 Dec 2005 |
Aspen, USA |
Slalom |
| 22 Dec 2005 |
 Špindlerův Mlýn, Czech Rep. |
Slalom |
| 28 Dec 2005 |
Lienz, Austria |
Giant Slalom |
| 13 Jan 2006 |
Bad Kleinkirchheim, Austria |
Downhill |
| 27 Jan 2006 |
Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy |
Super-G |
| 4 Feb 2006 |
Ofterschwang, Germany |
Giant Slalom |
| 11 Mar 2006 |
 Levi, Finland |
Slalom |
| 15 Mar 2006 |
Åre, Sweden |
Downhill |
| 2007 |
15 Mar 2007 |
 Lenzerheide, Switzerland |
Super-G |
| 2008 |
15 Dec 2007 |
St. Moritz, Switzerland |
Downhill |
| 16 Dec 2007 |
Super-G |
| 9 Mar 2008 |
Crans-Montana, Switzerland |
Combined |
| 2009 |
19 Dec 2008 |
St. Moritz, Switzerland |
Combined |
| 18 Jan 2009 |
Altenmarkt-Zauchensee, Austria |
Downhill |
| 2010 |
29 Jan 2010 |
St. Moritz, Switzerland |
Combined |
| 2011 |
5 Mar 2011 |
Tarvisio, Italy |
Downhill |
[edit] References
[edit] External links
| Persondata |
| Name |
Pärson, Anja Sofia Tess |
| Alternative names |
|
| Short description |
Swedish Alpine skier |
| Date of birth |
25 April 1981 |
| Place of birth |
Umeå |
| Date of death |
living |
| Place of death |
|
Sweden
Mammoth Mountain, USA
Sestriere, Italy
Lienz, Austria
Maribor, Slovenia
Megève, France
Zwiesel, Germany
Špindlerův Mlýn, Czech Rep.
Levi, Finland
Lenzerheide, Switzerland
