Alpine skiing icon Ingemar Stenmark continues to amaze fans with his athletic prowess, this time trading his skis for a pole vault as he competes at the age of 68.
The Swedish sports legend, renowned for his impressive career in alpine skiing, including two Winter Olympic gold medals and five World Championship titles, recently participated in the World Masters Athletics Championship. There, Stenmark cleared a height of three meters in the pole vault event, drawing enthusiastic applause from the audience.
Despite his late entry into the sport, Stenmark placed eighth in the Final A of the men’s 65-69 age category. His pole vaulting debut was highlighted in a recent Instagram post, where he shared a video of himself clearing a makeshift pole vault and humorously noted, “The gym was busy.”
Stenmark retired from Alpine World Cup skiing in 1989, holding a record of 86 career victories until March 2023, when it was surpassed by American skier Mikaela Shiffrin. Stenmark’s record for the largest margin of victory in a World Cup race—a staggering 4.06 seconds set in 1979—remains unbeaten.
In a tribute to Shiffrin in 2023, Stenmark praised her exceptional skills, stating, “She’s much better than I was. You cannot compare. She has everything … she can ski well both in slalom and in super-G and downhill also. I could never have been so good in all disciplines.”
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