He is regarded as a legendary skier and one of the most prominent Swedish athletes ever,[1] having won several Olympic medals and world cups during his career.

Born in Joesjö, Storuman Municipality, Lapland, Stenmark and his family moved to Tärnaby near Norway when he was four years old.

He became a childhood neighbour of Stig Strand (also born 1956), who tied Stenmark for the World Cup slalom title in 1983.

Stenmark still holds the record for the biggest win margin in a World Cup alpine race: 4.06 seconds ahead of 2nd placed Bojan Križaj in Jasna on 4 February 1979.

[1][5][6] For his three straight World Cup titles (1976–78), Stenmark earned the Holmenkollen medal in 1979 (shared with Erik Håker and Raisa Smetanina).

At the next worlds in 1982 in Austria, he had a sub-standard first run in the giant slalom and was upset by American Steve Mahre and settled for silver.

Stenmark's exploits led to him being described as the "slalom king" meaning that when he was not allowed to participate in the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo by the International Ski Federation (FIS) for accepting promotional payments directly, rather than through the national ski federation, it was a major blow to the Swedish team's medal hopes.

[21] In 2024, at the age of 68, Stenmark participated in the World Masters Athletic Championship where he jumped three meters and placed eighth overall.