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Report nowIt will soon be the 20th anniversary of Tanja Frieden’s gold-medal run at the Turin Olympics. In an interview with blue, she looks back on her victory—and the “Plämpu” she was allowed to wear around her neck.
Yeah, yeah, we know: joy and sorrow go hand in hand. A cliché that couldn’t be more boring. Sometimes, though, you can’t help but use it. For example, when writing about the greatest success of snowboarder Tanja Frieden, the 2006 Olympic champion in boardercross. Her gold medal was made possible by Lindsey Jacobellis’s failure. The American, with a penchant for eccentricity, seemed to have an unassailable lead—until she fell after pulling off a showy move just before the finish line, paving the way for Frieden’s victory in the final meters.
“The whole day was crazy,” Frieden recalls. “I hadn’t slept, but even so, that morning before the competition, I had the feeling: ‘Today is my day.’” Hour by hour, the confidence of the 50-year-old native of the Bernese Oberland grew. “I would have taken any other medal. That it turned out to be gold was a dream.”
Jacobellis drew scorn and ridicule for her unnecessary antics—she was labeled a bluffer. But Frieden still stands up for her rival today. “Sure, she made a mistake and lost her focus.” In the snowboarding world, putting on a show is just part of the game, says Frieden. “I’ve lost my focus before, too. It happens to all of us—in other parts of life as well. For example, it can happen when you’re giving a talk,” she says with a laugh. “That’s the crux of boardercross: You always have to stay centered, stick to your line, even though there’s a lot of commotion all around you.”
It wasn’t just Jacobellis; Frieden herself had to deal with some light teasing and hear that her gold medal was just a matter of luck. “Of course I was lucky. But that certainly wasn’t the only factor. It’s also about seeing a run through to the very end. Besides, I’d already stood on the podium 28 times before. That wasn’t easy either.”
The criticism came mainly from people who didn't know anything about snowboarding—besides, boardercross made its Olympic debut in Turin in 2006. “We were, and still are, a fringe sport. But that was a situation that wasn't always fun for me.”
She was particularly annoyed by the accusations leveled at all snowboarders that they lacked seriousness. “People said, ‘Here come the ones who party and do drugs.’” They did party—but they also trained hard. Her ex-boyfriend, ski coach Stefan Abplanalp, was certainly amazed when he realized the extent of Frieda’s training regimen.
Frieden & Co. were often confronted with prejudice and ignorance. But even among people who don’t know much about snowboarding, one word is still making the rounds today: “Plämpu.” In her victory interview, Frieden referred to her medal by that name—much to the amusement of the fans.
Frieden laughs and says, “People still ask me about it today. Not everyone knows my name anymore—but everyone remembers ‘Plämpu.’” Frieden grew up bilingual; her mother was Norwegian. “I didn’t plan to say that. And sometimes I feel more than I think. But it also shows that I don’t always take myself—or a situation—dead seriously.”
15.07.2026, 18:32
