Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Björn Ferry | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Stensele, Sweden | 1 August 1978||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Website | bjornferry.com | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Professional information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Biathlon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
World Cup debut | 6 December 2001 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Retired | 23 March 2014 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Olympic Games | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Teams | 4 (2002, 2006, 2010, 2014) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medals | 1 (1 gold) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
World Championships | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Teams | 11 (2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medals | 3 (1 gold) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
World Cup | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Seasons | 13 (2001/02–2013/14) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Individual victories | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
All victories | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Individual podiums | 22 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
All podiums | 31 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Björn Ferry (born 1 August 1978 in Stensele, Storuman, Västerbotten) is a former Swedish biathlete and medal winning Olympian. He began competing internationally in World Cup competitions in 2001, but did not win his first international race until the 2007–2008 season. In 2007, he won gold in the mixed relay event at the Biathlon World Championships. The next year, at his third Winter Olympics appearance, he won the gold medal in the pursuit event. He started the event in 8th place as determined by the previous sprint event, but managed to overtake the race leader on the final lap.
Career
Ferry debuted in the World Cup in Hochfilzen in 2001, and earned his first World Cup points after only skiing three races. He finished his first season ranked 36th in World Cup standings. In World Cup competition, he slowly improved his ranking, and by the 2006–2007 season was ranked in the top ten worldwide. His first Olympic appearance, at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, was disappointing, but four years later at the 2006 Games in Turin, Italy he was a member of a Swedish relay team that placed fourth, just off the medal stand.[1]
Ferry has seen some of his strongest efforts and best finishes in Italy, even beyond the 2006 success. His first two World Cup victories both came in the pursuit in Antholz-Anterselva, in the 2007–2008 and 2008–2009 seasons. In 2007, he won a gold medal in the mixed relay in the 2007 World Championships alongside Helena Jonsson, Anna Carin Olofsson, and Carl Johan Bergman. Although his 2009–2010 season was lackluster, and Ferry saw his ranking drop from 9th to 16th place in the World Cup, Ferry was again selected for the Swedish team for the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In the pursuit event held on February 16, Ferry finished in first place, winning the gold medal after catching and passing the race leader on the final lap of the race.[1] He beat second-place finisher Christoph Sumann of Austria by only 16.5 seconds. The victory marked the first Olympic biathlon gold for a Swedish athlete in a half-century.[2]
Ferry practices with the Storuman IK club. His personal coach was German Wolfgang Pichler[1] until Pichler left his role as coach of the Swedish biathlon team in 2010. He subsequently described the atmosphere in the team under Pichler as being like a cult, although he praised Pichler for the energy he brought to the role.[3]
In March 2014, Ferry confirmed that he would be retiring from the sport at the end of the 2013–14 season.[4]
Opposition to doping
Ferry has been outspoken in his opposition to the use of banned substances by athletes who participate in international competition, a practice known as doping. In 2009, he was quoted referring to Russian athletes who had used such substances as 'idiots' and received a number of death threats. During the 2010 winter Olympics, he was quoted saying he would not mind if athletes who use banned substances would get the death penalty or, "at least lots of kicks in the balls."[5][6] Further comments referred to dopers as people with low moral standards and suggested that the problem of use of banned substances in sport would not go away until more severe penalties were imposed.
Personal life
Ferry is married to arm wrestler Heidi Andersson, who has won multiple world championships in arm wrestling.[2][7] In November 2017, he announced he'd given up flying because of the environment.[8]
In March and April 2018, SVT aired programme series Storuman Forever, depicting the Heidi Andersson and Björn Ferry couple's climate engagement.[9][10]
Flygskam, translating as ‘Flight Shame’, or ‘Flight Conscience’, a social pressure not to fly because of the rising greenhouse gas emissions of the airline industry, was originally championed by Björn Ferry but has since gained considerable momentum after Thunberg’s refusal to fly on environmental grounds. Sweden has reported a 4% drop in domestic travel for 2019 and a 9% increase in rail use. The BBC claims that the movement could halve the growth of global air travel, but Airbus and Boeing claim that it will continue to grow at around 4% until 2035.[11][12]
Biathlon results
All results are sourced from the International Biathlon Union.[1]
Olympic Games
1 medal (1 gold)
Event | Individual | Sprint | Pursuit | Mass start | Relay | Mixed relay |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2002 Salt Lake City | 38th | 17th | 24th | — | 14th | — |
2006 Turin | 28th | 13th | 25th | 18th | 4th | — |
2010 Vancouver | 42nd | 8th | Gold | 12th | 4th | — |
2014 Sochi | 12th | 25th | 30th | 12th | 10th | — |
- *Mass start was added as an event in 2006, with the mixed relay being added in 2014.
World Championships
3 medals (1 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze)
Event | Individual | Sprint | Pursuit | Mass start | Relay | Mixed relay |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2002 Oslo Holmenkollen | — | — | — | 28th | — | — |
2003 Khanty-Mansiysk | 32nd | 43rd | 36th | — | 7th | — |
2004 Oberhof | 31st | DNF | — | — | 6th | — |
2005 Hochfilzen | 52nd | 17th | 16th | 18th | 7th | 13th |
2007 Antholz-Anterselva | 14th | 4th | 22nd | 15th | 7th | Gold |
2008 Östersund | 27th | 15th | 18th | 9th | 6th | 4th |
2009 Pyeongchang | — | 40th | 31st | — | 9th | — |
2010 Khanty-Mansiysk | — | — | — | — | — | Bronze |
2011 Khanty-Mansiysk | 5th | 23rd | 10th | 27th | 4th | 4th |
2012 Ruhpolding | 48th | 7th | 11th | Silver | 16th | 4th |
2013 Nové Město | 5th | 13th | 9th | 8th | 11th | 14th |
- *During Olympic seasons competitions are only held for those events not included in the Olympic program.
- **The mixed relay was added as an event in 2005.
Individual victories
7 victories (2 Sp, 4 Pu, 1 MS)
Season | Date | Location | Discipline | Level |
---|---|---|---|---|
2007–08 1 victory (1 Pu) | 19 January 2008 | Antholz-Anterselva | 12.5 km pursuit | Biathlon World Cup |
2008–09 1 victory (1 Pu) | 24 January 2009 | Antholz-Anterselva | 12.5 km pursuit | Biathlon World Cup |
2009–10 1 victory (1 Pu) | 16 February 2010 | Vancouver | 12.5 km pursuit | Winter Olympic Games |
2010–11 2 victories (1 Sp, 1 Pu) | 18 December 2010 | Pokljuka | 10 km sprint | Biathlon World Cup |
16 January 2011 | Ruhpolding | 12.5 km pursuit | Biathlon World Cup | |
2013–14 2 victories (1 Sp, 1 MS) | 6 March 2014 | Pokljuka | 10 km sprint | Biathlon World Cup |
9 March 2014 | Pokljuka | 15 km mass start | Biathlon World Cup |
- *Results are from UIPMB and IBU races which include the Biathlon World Cup, Biathlon World Championships and the Winter Olympic Games.
Cross-country skiing results
World Cup career | |
---|---|
Seasons | 2000–2001 |
Starts | 5 |
Podiums | 0 |
Overall titles | 0 |
Discipline titles | 0 |
All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).[13]
World Cup
Season standings
Season | Age | Season standings | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Overall | Long Distance | Middle Distance | Sprint | ||
2000 | 22 | NC | NC | NC | — |
2001 | 23 | NC | — | — | — |
References
- 1 2 3 4 "Björn Ferry". IBU Datacenter. International Biathlon Union. Archived from the original on 6 February 2010. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
- 1 2 Agence France-Presse (2010-02-16). "Biathlon (Sprint): Sweden's Ferry wins men's 12.5km pursuit". Vancouver 2010. Archived from the original on 2010-02-17. Retrieved 2010-02-17.
- ↑ Sundqvist, Lena; Antonsson, John (11 August 2010). "Ferry: "Det var som en sekt"" [Ferry: "It was like a cult"]. Sveriges Radio (in Swedish).
- ↑ "Biathlon world to see some retirements after season's end". biathlon-pokljuka.com. 8 March 2014. Archived from the original on 17 March 2014. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
- ↑ "Swedish Biathlon Star Bjorn Ferry on Doping: "Drug cheats should get the death penalty!"". Bild.com. 2010-02-15. Retrieved 2010-02-17.
- ↑ [Original Swedish: "För mig får det gärna bli dödsstraff eller alla fall en upprepad pungspark för alla dopningsbrott", translated: "For me it's ok if it would be death penalty or at least a repeated kick on the balls for all doping crimes"]
- ↑ Ferry, Björn. "Björnfakta" (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 2010-02-20. Retrieved 2010-02-17.
- ↑ Robert Börjesson (21 November 2017). "Björn Ferry nobbar OS i Sydkorea för klimatet" (in Swedish). Expressen. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
- ↑ "SVT1 2018-03-20" (in Swedish). Swedish Media Database. 20 March 2018. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
- ↑ "SVT1 2018-04-17" (in Swedish). Swedish Media Database. 17 April 2018. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
- ↑ Timperley, Jocelyn. "Why 'flight shame' is making people swap planes for trains". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 2020-01-13.
- ↑ "Sweden's Flight Shame Is Having A Turbulent Effect On P... | 10 daily". 10daily.com.au. Retrieved 2020-01-13.
- ↑ "FERRY Bjoern". FIS-Ski. International Ski Federation. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
External links
- Björn Ferry at IBU BiathlonWorld.com
- Björn Ferry at IBU BiathlonResults.com
- 2001 interview with Björn Ferry (in Swedish)