Snowboarders: from party people to elite athletes

“I think people can underestimate snowboarders, because they see us as kids that just have fun and go out there, and go home and party,” says Sochi 2014 Olympian Sven Thorgren.

The 22–year-old smashes all expectations as his speed, strength and endurance are tested to the limit at a leading human performance laboratory on the Olympic Channel’s Anatomy of a Snowboarder.

Watch more episodes of Anatomy of an Olympian on the Olympic Channel.

With 10 per cent body fat, faster acceleration than many professional footballers and a level of endurance typically seen in Olympic rowers, Thorgren has world-renowned sports scientist and Olympic modern pentathlete Professor Greg Whyte reaching for the superlatives.

“Sven for me really demonstrates where slopestyle snowboard has come from, the migration towards the truly elite, truly professional athlete,” Whyte confirms.