Sultry pace skater now a profitable businesswoman after funding sporting dream

Stunning Norwegian speed skater Ane Farstad has pivoted from competing on the ice to building up her own fashion brand ‘Caspara’, alongside her brother Odin

Ane Farstad had been hoping to make it to the next Winter Olympics only for those plans being put on ice after building up a successful clothing brand.

The stunning Norwegian speed skater harboured ambitions of competing at the 2026 edition of the Winter Olympics, which is being held in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo.

The 24-year-old, who had skated since she was eight, has a huge social media following of 213,000, with Farstad using her platform to promote her successful clothing brand, Caspara, which she set up with her brother Odin, which they launched in 2023.

Both Ana and Odin were excellent speed skaters, having won bronze medals at both the World Championships and European Championships in Team Sprint.

However, having to travel across the globe between Canada and the Netherlands for training, they opted to commit their full attention to making Caspara, which is based in Norway, a success.

“It didn’t work out,” Ane told 730.no on her decision to quit speed skating earlier this year.

“We [her and Odin] were completely exhausted when the season came. It was just me and my brother who had all the roles in the big company, and suddenly we had a lot of customers who expected orders and that everything would be perfect.

“I was sitting there on Christmas Eve answering emails. So then we just had to make a choice. Either we had to stop with Caspara, who was on the rise, or we had to stop skating – and I’ve had a dream of being a skater my whole life.”

She added: “It was very difficult, because I wanted to do both. When you’ve been involved in a sport your whole life, it’s… I associate myself with [being] a skater.

“And now I was entering a whole new world, had no idea what I was doing and was just trying to learn things every day. Being a skater I could do, I was good at it. I knew exactly what I had to do all the time. So it was a really big change, but I’ve learned a lot.”

The pair now employ eight people and made a turnover of just over £560,000 in 2023, with big plans currently in the works for 2025 which include potential international expansion.

While in the past Ane’s Instagram feed was filled up by shots of her training out on the ice, coupled with some modelling snaps too, the latter has almost now exclusively taken over her account.

The blonde also finds herself now modelling for Caspara too alongside her brother.