IFK Umeå
So I am now a card-carrying member of Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna (IFK) Umeå skidor. Literally translated, it means "The Comrades Sports Club". The IFK thing was started at the turn of the last century by two 16 year old kids in Stockholm. In 1895, Louis Zettersten and Pehr Ehnemark thought it would be fun to start a sports club. Today there are 167 IFK clubs across Sweden, all coordinated by a central office that is still in Stockholm.The Umeå branch is a relative newcomer, having been founded in 1901 (Nov. 1 to be precise). It is an umbrella organization with clubs for Badminton, Bowling, Boxing, Football (soccer), Friidrott (whatever that is), orienteering, xc skiing, and weightlifting. I honestly don't know much about the other sports, but IFK Umeå skidor had a few years of international attention in xc skiing a while back because of Per Eloffsen.
Per was the World Champion in 2001 and the dude who got totally screwed at the 2002 Olympics because of the druggie Johan Muehlegg. Per should have won several of the races, but was denied by Johan who was later stripped of his medals for blood doping infractions. Anyhow, that story is not the point of this post.
As I was saying, I am now a full member of IFK Umeå skidor, and I proudly picked up my racing suit today. Here it is - the first new suit I have owned since 2001.
posted by Jeff @ 8:35 AM
3 Comments:
How much does a snazzy Craft suit cost over there, compared to here in Canada?
What's Per up to now? Still just looking cool and picking up Swedish girls?
Sorry, that last one was me, I guess I should get one of these blogger accounts.
Nev
I will be publishing an update on Per sometime before the end of the winter. I have befriended the president of IFK Umea - I accidentally met him at Nydala and we ended up skiing together for about 2 hours. He knows Per very well and has promised to introduce us.
Per is expecting his second child next summer. He seems to spend his time playing heavy metal guitar and building fast cars.
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