Anja Pärson facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Anja Pärson

Alpine skier
Pärson in 2008
Disciplines	Downhill, super-G, slalom, combined, giant slalom
Club	Tärna IK Fjällvinden
Born	(1981-04-25) 25 April 1981 (age 44) Tärnaby, Sweden
Height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
World Cup debut	15 March 1998 (age 16)
Retired	15 March 2012 (age 30)
Olympics
Teams	3 – (2002–2010)
Medals	6 (1 gold)
World Championships
Teams	7 – (1999–2011)
Medals	13 (7 gold)
World Cup
Seasons	15 – (1998–2012)
Wins	42
Podiums	95
Overall titles	2 – (2004, 2005)
Discipline titles	5 – (3 GS, 1 SL, 1 SC)
Medal record Women's alpine skiing Representing  Sweden World Cup race podiums Event 1st 2nd 3rd Slalom 17 9 7 Giant slalom 11 11 6 Downhill 6 3 6 Super-G 4 4 2 Combined 3 3 2 Parallel 1 0 0 International competitions Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 1 1 4 World Championships 7 2 4 Junior World Championships 4 0 2 Olympic Games Gold 2006 Turin Slalom Silver 2002 Salt Lake City Giant slalom Bronze 2002 Salt Lake City Slalom Bronze 2006 Turin Downhill Bronze 2006 Turin Combined Bronze 2010 Vancouver Combined World Championships Gold 2001 St. Anton Slalom Gold 2003 St. Moritz Giant slalom Gold 2005 Bormio Super-G Gold 2005 Bormio Giant slalom Gold 2007 Åre Super-G Gold 2007 Åre Combined Gold 2007 Åre Downhill Silver 2005 Bormio Combined Silver 2007 Åre Team event Bronze 2001 St. Anton Giant slalom Bronze 2007 Åre Slalom Bronze 2011 Garmisch-Partenkirchen Combined Bronze 2011 Garmisch-Partenkirchen Team event Junior World Ski Championships Gold 1998 Megève Giant slalom Gold 1999 Pra Loup Slalom Gold 2000 Quebec City Slalom Gold 2000 Quebec City Giant slalom Bronze 1998 Megève Slalom Bronze 2000 Quebec City Super-G

Anja Sofia Tess Pärson was born on April 25, 1981. She is a famous Swedish alpine skier who has now retired. Anja is an amazing athlete! She won an Olympic gold medal and seven gold medals at the World Championships. She also won the overall Alpine Skiing World Cup title twice. In 2007, she won three gold medals at the World Championships in her home country, Sweden. Anja won a total of 42 World Cup races during her career.

Anja Pärson's Skiing Journey

Anja Pärson was born in Tärnaby, Sweden. She has roots from the Sámi people, who are native to parts of northern Europe. Anja's older sister, Frida, first introduced her to ski racing. Her father, Anders, later became her coach.

Early Career and First Wins

Anja's first big race was a giant slalom in Switzerland on March 15, 1998. She was only 16 years old. She had just become the junior World Champion. Even though she finished 25th in that race, she quickly improved. In December 1998, at age 17, Anja won her first World Cup race. It was a slalom event in California, USA.

Her first gold medal at the World Championships came in 2001 in Austria. At the 2002 Winter Olympics, she earned a silver medal in giant slalom and a bronze in slalom. Then, at the 2006 Winter Olympics, she won a gold medal in slalom. She also added two more bronze medals in downhill and combined events.

World Cup Success

Anja Pärson won the overall Alpine Skiing World Cup title in 2004 and 2005. Her 2005 win was very close! She won by just 3 points over her rival, Janica Kostelić. Anja started as a specialist in slalom and giant slalom races. But in March 2005, she won her first super-G and downhill races. These wins happened in Italy during practice for the Olympics. Overall, she won 42 World Cup races across all five skiing types.

World Championship Achievements

Anja won seven gold medals at the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships. These wins happened in 2001 (slalom), 2003 (giant slalom), and 2005 (giant slalom, super-G). In 2007, she won three more gold medals in super-G, super combined, and downhill in Åre, Sweden. This made her the first skier ever to win World Championship golds in all five skiing events! She also earned two silver and three bronze medals at other World Championship events.

Anja has won a total of 17 individual medals at World Championships and Olympics. This is a record for women's alpine skiing! Only Kjetil André Aamodt in men's skiing has won more, with 20 medals. After a couple of tough seasons, Anja returned to top form in 2008/09. She finished third in the overall World Cup.

Olympic Moments and Retirement

At the 2010 Winter Olympics, Anja had a scary moment. She fell during the downhill race but was not seriously hurt. The very next day, she bravely won a bronze medal in the combined event!

In March 2011, Anja won a downhill race. This meant she had won at least one race for ten years in a row! Only Alberto Tomba and Vreni Schneider have longer streaks. On March 12, 2012, Anja Pärson announced she was retiring from skiing. Her last race was the World Cup final that same weekend.

After retiring, Anja became a sports expert. In 2014, she was a commentator for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. As of 2015, she works for the broadcaster Sveriges Television. She also runs a company with her wife. In 2017, Anja competed in the TV dance show Let's Dance 2017.

Anja's Personal Life

Anja Pärson's sports club is Fjällvinden in Tärnaby. This is the same club where famous skiers like Ingemar Stenmark and Stig Strand trained. Anja is 170 cm (5 feet 7 inches) tall. She received the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal in both 2006 and 2007 for her amazing achievements.

After living in Monaco for several years during her skiing career, Anja moved back to Sweden in 2012. She now lives in Umeå. In June 2012, Anja shared on a Swedish radio show that she was in a relationship with a woman named Filippa Rådin. They were expecting a child together. Their son, Elvis, was born on July 4, 2012. Anja and Filippa got married in Umeå, Sweden, on August 2, 2014. In January 2015, they announced they were expecting their second child. Their second son, Maximilian, was born in May 2015.

World Cup Results

Season Standings

Season Titles

Anja won 7 World Cup titles: 2 overall, 3 in Giant Slalom, 1 in Slalom, and 1 in Combined.

Individual Race Wins

Anja won 42 individual World Cup races: 6 Downhill, 4 Super-G, 11 Giant Slalom, 18 Slalom, and 3 Combined.

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 Republic	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, Austria	Downhill
2010	29 Jan 2010	St. Moritz, Switzerland	Combined
2011	5 Mar 2011	Tarvisio, Italy	Downhill

World Championship Results

Olympic Results

Images for kids

• 

  Anja Pärson in Aspen in 2006

• 

  Anja Pärson in Monaco in 2006

See also

In Spanish: Anja Pärson para niños