During his skiing career he became known for his dedication and attention to detail. For instance, he used a lighter alloy on the tips of his ski poles, saving . He won two golds (
15 km and
relay), one bronze (
30 km) and one silver (
50 km) at the
1984 Winter Olympics in
Sarajevo. At the
1988 Winter Olympics in
Calgary, he won two golds for 50 km and relay. He also won the World championship gold six times and won the World cup five times. As a competitor in
rallycross he got one gold medal in the Swedish Championship and a bronze medal in the
FIA European Championship for Rallycross Drivers (1995: Division 1 – Group N category; with a
Toyota Celica GT-Four). One of the reasons for getting into another sport was that some people called him a natural skier while he himself maintained that it's just a matter of will and dedication, according to his famous tagline "nothing is impossible". He applied the same methods to his driving as his skiing and even built his own reaction-tester to practice for the rallycross eminently important starts. When his compatriot and teamboss, the late Christer Bohlin, was not able to fulfill his promise to upgrade his Toyota team for 1996 into the top ERC category (Division 2 by then), Svan quit and gave up rallycross. After retiring from his athletic career he has worked as the host for some game shows such as the Swedish versions of
American Gladiators and
Fort Boyard along the swedish national lotery
Bingolotto. He has played a seductive lady in the short movie
En handelsresandes nöd, directed by rock group Svenne Rubins and starring
Claes Månsson,
Björn Skifs and Gert Klötzke. He has also appeared in numerous commercials including a famous commercial where he impersonated fellow skier
Thomas Wassberg. Svan resigned from his position as Chief of Cross-Country for Sweden on the week of 4 May 2009 after he was involved in its reorganization. He participated in ''
Let's Dance 2018'' broadcast on
TV4 where he finished third together with
Jeanette Carlsson. He retired to his forest farm, where he worked with his son,
Ferry Svan, and now supports his children's careers. ==Cross-country skiing results==