When Grill recruited a promising young Gunde Svan to the ski brand he was then working for, it was the start of a ground-breaking collaboration. A collaboration that increasingly came to revolve around Gunde, despite the fact that “Ferry” also had several of his competitors to serve.
– Gunde always got the best material and “Ferry” worked mostly with Gunde – that’s just the way it was, says Vladimir Smirnov, one of Svan’s biggest competitors who represented the Soviet Union and rode the same ski brand.
– In the end, I wanted Ferry for myself, says Svan, and they began a collaboration that was unique in the cross-country skiing world where Gunde paid to have “Ferry” as his personal service man.
The unlikely gold bonus
Before the World Cup in 1991, which was Svan’s last, they made an extra investment. Among other things, Gunde offered a financial bonus to his serviceman for a WC gold.
– When Gunde asked how much I wanted, I thought that now I should take it in. I said an amount and then Gunde replied: “Double!”
A defeated Gunde Svan won the WC gold in 30 kilometers – an emotional highlight, which completed a long collaboration.
– It was a competition that is enough for the rest of your life, summarizes “Ferry” Grill with shiny eyes.
Today he is godfather to Gunde’s son, who bears his name, Ferry.
The entire documentary series Gunde Svan – the skier available on SVT Play.
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See the first part, out of a total of three, of “Gunde Svan – The Skier” here.