The story
Two sports at once
Lars-Erik Hovland trained indoors through the Norwegian winter and in the fjord at Ålesund through the summer. From 1984 to 1992 he entered both the Indoor and the Outdoor World Championship every year, something no other athlete since the 1968 split has managed at the top level.
Sølvgutten
He reached every final he ever entered, 18 in all, the most in FIMP history. But he kept finishing second. The Norwegian press called him Sølvgutten, “the silver boy”. His 14 silver medals are a record that is unlikely ever to be broken.
The breakthrough
In 1987 Hovland finally beat Lieselotte Achterberg to win the Indoor title. Two years later he won the Outdoor title too. He is still the only athlete to win both World Championships.
Passing the torch
In the 1991 Indoor final Hovland finished second to a 24-year-old Kaori Ishizuchi. He retired after the 1992 championships with 17 medals from 18 finals, and many people still argue he is the greatest Marco Polo athlete of all time.
“Silver is a colour too. But I wanted the other one.”Lars-Erik Hovland
Rivals
- Lieselotte Achterberg GER: Hamburg v Ålesund. Head-to-head over 6 shared championships: Hovland 2, Achterberg 4. Rivalries →
- Kaori Ishizuchi JPN: The Torch. Head-to-head over 5 shared championships: Hovland 1, Ishizuchi 4. Rivalries →