A three-time medalist of the World Ski Championships has announced his intention to end his career. According to him, he is forced to do so because of the low salaries in sports.
“If I stopped skiing, I could earn more money almost anywhere”
In an interview, the 34-year-old athlete stated that he is unable to support his family in such conditions: “I need a stable income. A salary that would allow me to live with two children, a house, and everything else. If I stopped skiing, I’m absolutely sure that I could earn more money almost anywhere.”
The athlete, who has dedicated his life to skiing, admitted that his requests to consider raising salaries were unsuccessful – the national federation responded with a refusal.
The medalist of the World Championships said he was tired of waiting for the situation to change: “I’ve been talking about this for ten years. It’s damn frustrating that it’s all happening this way. Even if you’re on the national team, you have to constantly feel like you need to go out and make money.”
Who is Calle Halvarsson?
Now is the time to acknowledge – sports in the country is going through tough times. And one could even dare to say: “What has Carl XVI Gustav done to the athletes!” The dissatisfied skier with his financial situation is named Calle Halvarsson, and he represents Sweden in the national team.
Halvarsson was a junior world champion and won bronze medals in the 4×10 km relay three times at the World Championships for Sweden. He has also been a medalist in 19 World Cup stages, including three victories, and once finished third overall in the popular multi-day ski race “Tour de Ski.”
Many curious stories have happened in his career. For instance, before the Sochi-2014 Olympics, he had a bout of gastroenteritis and at the Games, he complained that people were avoiding him: “I’m trying to explain to people that it’s not contagious. I fully recovered from the illness. But in the Olympic Village, everyone is afraid of me and avoids me. I sit alone in the dining hall. It feels like everyone in Sochi hates me.”
In November 2023, he nearly lost his manhood due to severe frostbite during a World Cup stage. In an interview with Expressen, the skier said: “I frosted my genitals for real! It hurt unbelievably. Damn, I had to lie down for 10 minutes before everything warmed up. It hurt unbelievably, it’s terrible. It’s good that I’m having a second child, because if everything goes on like this, I’ll have issues with it.”
Fraud for Money
But what concerned the Swede much more were questions related to winnings. In November 2022, at a World Cup stage, Halvarsson won bronze and also received a prize of 55,000 Swedish kronor.
However, he was disqualified – the matter was that the Swede went outside the course, thereby managing to overtake his competitor.
Learning about the disqualification, Halvarsson was furious: “I don’t understand why I was disqualified. I gained no advantage, on the contrary, I lengthened my distance. You know what? They just don’t want to see Swedes and Norwegians on the podium. They think we’re ruining the sport.”
Halvarsson’s teammate in the Swedish national team, William Poromaa, was much more candid with journalists, revealing the real reasons for the action: “He’s an experienced old man, he understands everything. Now he has children to support, a house. So he needs to earn money.”
The fact is that for the bronze at the World Cup stage, Halvarsson could expect a bonus of 20,000 kronor from the national federation (approximately 174,000 rubles), which is usually distributed among several athletes. But for the sake of this money, the Swede was willing to cheat. However, it didn’t help him.
“Help Him”
The Swede admits that he is “not Klæbo”, so attracting sponsor interest is extremely difficult. In a recent interview with Expressen, Calle Halvarsson suggested to journalists to post his photo with the caption “Help Him.”
If this plea goes unheard, the World Championships medalist will have to retire from sports. The Swede, who not long ago clashed with Alexander Bolshunov, admits: perhaps skiing is the national sport in his country, but in terms of salary, it doesn’t show at all.