Den egensinnige från Kittelfjäll

This article is a sports biography of Bengt-Erik Grahn, a prominent figure in Swedish alpine skiing during the 1960s. By discussing representations of Bengt-Erik Grahn in the Swedish daily press and comparing these with his own life story and memories from his time as an elite alpine skier, the objective is to study the cultural identities that appear in relation to his sports career. Bengt-Erik Grahn grew up in a Sámi family in Kittelfjäll in the Swedish province of Västerbotten and spent his early school years at the Sámi nomad school in Tärnaby. Due to his Sámi background and position as a representative of the Swedish national alpine team, the article focuses in particular on how identity constructs such as “Swedishness” and “Sáminess” appear in the source material. For instance, it is argued that his Sámi identity served an important function when Bengt-Erik Grahn was depicted as a Swedish sports hero. In addition, his Sámi background, meager way of life, odd sporting outfit (a hand-knitted wool sweater and hat) and profession as a forestry worker were all characteristics presented in the press coverage as distinguishing the Swedish sporting identity of amateurism from what was perceived as a jet-set and playboy mentality represented by the professional Continental European alpine skiers. However, simultaneously with this idealization, Bengt-Erik Grahn’s Sámi heritage was also used as a stereotype to explain his aggressive and risky tactics, which often resulted in crashes in the most important competitions. Bengt-Erik Grahn’s own life story in several ways offers nuance to the perceptions of the daily press.In particular, it reveals the challenges facing Bengt-Erik Grahn in his youth as he chose to focus on a career in alpine skiing. For example, there were strong expectations that a Sámi skier should devote him- or herself to cross-country skiing, which was considered a traditional Sámi sport at the time. Alpine skiing, on the other hand, was perceived as modern and alien to Sámi sports culture. In that way, Bengt-Erik Grahn’s odd and independent way of skiing appears in his life story as a demonstration of empowerment. Despite the prevailing culture, he chose the sport and how to perform it entirely on his own.

Restoring Harmony in the Lifeworld? Identity, Learning, and Leaving Preelite Sport

Sport provides many youth participants with a central life project, and yet very few eventually fulfill their athletic dreams, which may lead them to disengage from sport entirely. Many studies have explored the processes of athletic retirement, but little is known about how youth athletes actually reconstruct their relationship with sport and embodiment postretirement. The authors explored these issues in the story of “Pilvi,” a Finnish alpine skier who disengaged from sport in her late adolescence. Employing an existential-phenomenological approach, they conducted six low-structured interviews with Pilvi, combined with visual methods, and identified key themes relating to the body, space, culture, and time. Their findings highlight the difficulty of building a new relationship with sport and the often restrictive cultural horizons of sport and exercise culture that limit the “possible selves.” The authors discuss the significant implications for applied practitioners helping youth athletes and effectively supporting them in leaving their sport.

Blockage Correction and Reynolds Number Dependency of an Alpine Skier: A Comparison Between Two Closed-Section Wind Tunnels

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of blockage effect and Reynolds Number dependency by comparing measurements of an alpine skier in standardized positions between two wind tunnels with varying blockage ratios and speed ranges. The results indicated significant blockage effects which need to be corrected for accurate comparison between tunnels, or for generalization to performance in the field. Using an optimized blockage constant, Maskell’s blockage correction method improved the mean absolute error between the two wind tunnels from 7.7% to 2.2%. At lower Reynolds Numbers (<8 × 105, or approximately 25 m/s in this case), skier drag changed significantly with Reynolds Number, indicating the importance of testing at competition specific wind speeds. However, at Reynolds Numbers above 8 × 105, skier drag remained relatively constant for the tested positions. This may be advantageous when testing athletes from high speed sports since testing at slightly lower speeds may not only be safer, but may also allow the athlete to reliably maintain difficult positions during measurements.

Case Studies in Physiology: Temporal changes in determinants of aerobic performance in individual going from alpine skier to world junior champion time trial cyclist

This paper reports temporal changes in physiological measurements of exercise performance in a young man transitioning from alpine skiing until he became a world junior champion time trial cyclist after only 3 yr of bike-specific training. At the time he became World Champion he also achieved among the highest reported maximal oxygen uptake (V̇o2max) value, 96.7 ml·min−1·kg−1, or 7,397 ml/min in absolute terms at 76.5 kg, which had increased by 29.6% from 74.6 ml·min−1·kg−1 pre-bike-specific training. After 15 mo with almost no structured exercise training, V̇o2max returned to 77.0 mL·min−1·kg−1 and was similar to the value reported before specific bike training, albeit with absolute term (6,205 ml/min) still being 11.3% higher. Part of the explanation for his athletic achievements is likely also related to the up to 20.9% improvement in Power@4 mmol/l (W). Although genetic profiles of endurance athletes have not generated data suggesting a shared genetic signature associated with elite endurance performance, this case study highlights the importance of intrinsic biological factors in elite endurance performance. NEW & NOTEWORTHY This study shows that very high V̇o2max values (>70 ml·min−1·kg−1) can be found in individuals not previously specializing in aerobic training and that values of >90 ml·min−1·kg−1, as well as a cycling world junior champion title, can be achieved in such individuals with just 3 yr of dedicated exercise training.

ACL rupture in the immediate build-up to the Olympic Games: return to elite alpine ski competition 5 months after injury and ACL repair

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture in the immediate build-up to a major international competition can preclude an athletes' participation due to the prolonged period of rehabilitation that is typically required after ACL reconstruction. ACL repair is an alternative strategy that has been postulated to confer the advantage of rapid rehabilitation and earlier return to sport. A 33-year-old professional alpine skier sustained a right knee ACL rupture in September 2017. The athlete indicated that she wanted to participate in the 2018 Olympics. Arthroscopic ACL repair and reconstruction of the anterolateral ligament was undertaken. At 3 months, Lachman’s test revealed a hard end point, a negative pivot shift and no side-to-side laxity difference. MRI at 6 and 12 weeks demonstrated a continuous ACL with no intraligament signal change. At 20 weeks postoperatively, she successfully participated in the slalom at the 2018 Olympic Games.