Swedish cross-country skier
Thomas Wassberg Thomas Wassberg in December 2013
Country Sweden Full name Lars Thomas Wassberg Born (1956-03-27 ) 27 March 1956 (age 68) Årjäng , SwedenHeight 185 cm (6 ft 1 in) Ski club Åsarna IK Seasons 7 – (1982 –1988 ) Starts 44 Podiums 18 Wins 6 Overall titles 0 – (2nd in 1982 , 1984 , 1987 )
Lars Thomas Wassberg (born 27 March 1956) is a Swedish former cross-country skier . A fast skating style – push for every leg – is still called "Wassberg" after him in several countries. Wassberg's skiing idols when growing up were Sixten Jernberg and Oddvar Brå . He has described his mental strength and physical fitness as his greatest abilities as a skier, with his main weakness being a lack of sprinting ability.[ 1]
Wassberg won four Olympic gold medals: in 15 km (1980), 50 km (1984), and the 4 × 10 km relay (1984, 1988), and served as the Olympic flag bearer for Sweden in 1988.[ 2] At the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships , he earned three golds (50 km: 1982, 30 km: 1987, and 4 × 10 km relay: 1987), three silvers (15 km: 1985, 1987; 50 km (1987), and one bronze (4 × 10 km relay: 1985). Additionally, Wassberg won the 50 km at the Holmenkollen ski festival three times (1980, 1982 and 1987) and the 15 km twice (1979, 1985).[ 3]
At the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid , Wassberg edged out Finland 's Juha Mieto by 0.01 seconds in the 15 km, the closest cross-country ski race in Olympic history. Wassberg subsequently suggested to Mieto that the gold medal should be split between them "as one one-hundredth of a second is nothing in a 15-kilometer race". This incident led the International Ski Federation (FIS) to change their timing to the nearest one-tenth of a second. It also resulted in an apocryphal urban legend that Wassberg and Mieto's medals were cut in half and re-welded into half-gold, half-silver medals.[ 4] At the 1984 Winter Olympics , Wassberg beat out fellow Swede Gunde Svan by 4.9 seconds in the 50 km, the closest margin of victory ever in that event until Giorgio Di Centa edged out Yevgeny Dementyev by 0.8 seconds at the 2006 Winter Olympics though the 2006 event was a mass start event while the 1984 event was an interval start event.
He won the World Cup in 1977, and in 1980 was awarded the Holmenkollen medal . For some reason his teammate Sven-Åke Lundbäck did not receive the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal in 1978. In protest to this decision Wassberg refused to accept his Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal in 1980.[ 3] [ 5]
According to Bengt Erik Bengtsson, Chief of the Nordic Office of the FIS from 1984 to 2004, Wassberg was the first to suggest in 1984 the splitting of the sport of cross country skiing into classic and freestyle disciplines. This was subsequently implemented by FIS in 1986.[ 6]
After retiring from competitions Wassberg worked as a sports reporter for Swedish Radio and a cross-country skiing coach for his club Åsarna IK. In 2009 he appeared on Swedish television in the show contests Mästarnas mästare , and in 2016 participated in Let's Dance 2016 which was broadcast on TV4 .[ 7] In the 2010s he oversaw the preparation of ski tracks for Åsarna IK, organized bird hunting events for tourists and worked as a forester.[ 3]
Cross-country skiing results
All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS) .[ 8]
Olympic Games
World Championships
7 medals – (3 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze)
Year
Age
15 km
30 km
50 km
4 × 10 km relay
1982
25
18
16
Gold
5
1985
28
Silver
4
—
Bronze
1987
30
Silver
Gold
Silver
Gold
World Cup
Season standings
Individual podiums
No.
Season
Date
Location
Race
Level
Place
1
1981–82
9 January 1982
Reit im Winkl , West Germany
15 km Individual
World Cup
3rd
2
16 January 1982
Le Brassus , Switzerland
15 km Individual
World Cup
2nd
3
27 February 1982
Oslo , Norway
50 km Individual
World Championships[1]
1st
4
12 March 1982
Falun , Sweden
30 km Individual
World Cup
3rd
5
19 March 1982
Štrbské Pleso , Czechoslovakia
15 km Individual
World Cup
2nd
6
1982–83
26 February 1983
Falun , Sweden
30 km Individual
World Cup
2nd
7
27 March 1983
Labrador City , Canada
30 km Individual
World Cup
3rd
8
1983–84
19 February 1984
Sarajevo , Yugoslavia
50 km Individual
Olympic Games[1]
1st
9
25 February 1984
Falun , Sweden
30 km Individual
World Cup
2nd
10
2 March 1984
Lahti , Finland
15 km Individual
World Cup
2nd
11
1984–85
22 January 1985
Seefeld , Austria
15 km Individual
World Championships[1]
2nd
12
9 March 1985
Falun , Sweden
30 km Individual
World Cup
3rd
13
14 March 1985
Oslo , Norway
15 km Individual
World Cup
1st
14
1985–86
8 March 1986
Falun , Sweden
30 km Individual C
World Cup
1st
15
1986–87
12 February 1987
Oberstdorf , West Germany
30 km Individual C
World Championships[1]
1st
16
15 February 1987
15 km Individual C
World Championships[1]
2nd
17
21 February 1987
50 km Individual F
World Championships[1]
2nd
18
21 March 1987
Oslo , Norway
50 km Individual C
World Cup
1st
Team podiums
No.
Season
Date
Location
Race
Level
Place
Teammates
1
1983–84
16 February 1984
Sarajevo , Yugoslavia
4 × 10 km Relay
Olympic Games[1]
1st
Kohlberg / Ottosson / Svan
2
26 February 1984
Falun , Sweden
4 × 10 km Relay
World Cup
1st
Östlund / Ottosson / Svan
3
1984–85
24 January 1985
Seefeld , Austria
4 × 10 km Relay
World Championships[1]
3rd
Östlund / Eriksson / Svan
4
10 March 1985
Falun , Sweden
4 × 10 km Relay
World Cup
2nd
Östlund / Mogren / Svan
5
17 March 1985
Oslo , Norway
4 × 10 km Relay
World Cup
1st
Eriksson / Danielsson / Svan
6
1985–86
13 March 1986
Oslo , Norway
4 × 10 km Relay F
World Cup
3rd
Majbäck / Håland / Danielsson
7
1986–87
17 February 1987
Oberstdorf , West Germany
4 × 10 km Relay F
World Championships[1]
1st
Östlund / Svan / Mogren
8
8 March 1987
Falun , Sweden
4 × 10 km Relay C
World Cup
1st
Östlund / Mogren / Majbäck
9
19 March 1987
Oslo , Norway
4 × 10 km Relay C
World Cup
1st
Ottosson / Mogren / Eriksson
10
1987–88
24 February 1988
Calgary , Canada
4 × 10 km Relay F
Olympic Games[1]
1st
Ottosson / Svan / Mogren
References
External links
1936 : Sulo Nurmela , Klaes Karppinen , Matti Lähde , Kalle Jalkanen (FIN )
1948 : Nils Östensson , Nils Täpp , Gunnar Eriksson , Martin Lundström (SWE )
1952 : Heikki Hasu , Paavo Lonkila , Urpo Korhonen , Tapio Mäkelä (FIN )
1956 : Fyodor Terentyev , Pavel Kolchin , Nikolay Anikin , Vladimir Kuzin (URS )
1960 : Toimi Alatalo , Eero Mäntyranta , Väinö Huhtala , Veikko Hakulinen (FIN )
1964 : Karl-Åke Asph , Sixten Jernberg , Janne Stefansson , Assar Rönnlund (SWE )
1968 : Odd Martinsen , Pål Tyldum , Harald Grønningen , Ole Ellefsæter (NOR )
1972 : Vladimir Voronkov , Yuri Skobov , Fyodor Simashev , Vyacheslav Vedenin (URS )
1976 : Matti Pitkänen , Juha Mieto , Pertti Teurajärvi , Arto Koivisto (FIN )
1980 : Vasily Rochev , Nikolay Bazhukov , Yevgeny Belyayev , Nikolay Zimyatov (URS )
1984 : Thomas Wassberg , Benny Kohlberg , Jan Ottosson , Gunde Svan (SWE )
1988 : Jan Ottosson , Thomas Wassberg , Gunde Svan , Torgny Mogren (SWE )
1992 : Terje Langli , Vegard Ulvang , Kristen Skjeldal , Bjørn Dæhlie (NOR )
1994 : Maurilio De Zolt , Marco Albarello , Giorgio Vanzetta , Silvio Fauner (ITA )
1998 : Sture Sivertsen , Erling Jevne , Bjørn Dæhlie , Thomas Alsgaard (NOR )
2002 : Anders Aukland , Frode Estil , Kristen Skjeldal , Thomas Alsgaard (NOR )
2006 : Fulvio Valbusa , Giorgio Di Centa , Pietro Piller Cottrer , Cristian Zorzi (ITA )
2010 : Daniel Rickardsson , Johan Olsson , Anders Södergren , Marcus Hellner (SWE )
2014 : Lars Nelson , Daniel Rickardsson , Johan Olsson , Marcus Hellner (SWE )
2018 : Didrik Tønseth , Martin Johnsrud Sundby , Simen Hegstad Krüger , Johannes Høsflot Klæbo (NOR )
2022 : Aleksey Chervotkin , Alexander Bolshunov , Denis Spitsov , Sergey Ustiugov (ROC )
1933: Per-Erik Hedlund , Sven Utterström , Nils-Joel Englund , Hjalmar Bergström
1934: Sulo Nurmela , Klaes Karppinen , Martti Lappalainen , Veli Saarinen
1935: Mikko Husu , Klaes Karppinen , Väinö Liikkanen , Sulo Nurmela
1937: Annar Ryen , Oskar Fredriksen , Sigurd Røen , Lars Bergendahl
1938: Jussi Kurikkala , Martti Lauronen , Pauli Pitkänen , Klaes Karppinen
1939: Pauli Pitkänen , Olavi Alakulppi , Eino Olkinuora , Klaes Karppinen
1950: Nils Täpp , Karl-Erik Åström , Martin Lundström , Enar Josefsson
1954: August Kiuru , Tapio Mäkelä , Arvo Viitanen , Veikko Hakulinen
1958: Sixten Jernberg , Lennart Larsson , Sture Grahn , Per-Erik Larsson
1962: Lars Olsson , Sture Grahn , Sixten Jernberg , Assar Rönnlund
1966: Odd Martinsen , Harald Grønningen , Ole Ellefsæter , Gjermund Eggen
1970: Vladimir Voronkov , Valery Tarakanov , Fyodor Simashev , Vyacheslav Vedenin
1974: Gerd Heßler , Dieter Meinel , Gerhard Grimmer , Gert-Dietmar Klause
1978: Sven-Åke Lundbäck , Christer Johansson , Tommy Limby , Thomas Magnuson
1982: Lars Erik Eriksen , Ove Aunli , Pål Gunnar Mikkelsplass , Oddvar Brå 0 and Vladimir Nikitin , Oleksandr Batyuk , Yuriy Burlakov , Alexander Zavyalov
1985: Arild Monsen , Pål Gunnar Mikkelsplass , Tor Håkon Holte , Ove Aunli
1987: Erik Östlund , Gunde Svan , Thomas Wassberg , Torgny Mogren
1989: Christer Majbäck , Gunde Svan , Lars Håland , Torgny Mogren
1991: Øyvind Skaanes , Terje Langli , Vegard Ulvang , Bjørn Dæhlie
1993: Sture Sivertsen , Vegard Ulvang , Terje Langli , Bjørn Dæhlie
1995: Sture Sivertsen , Erling Jevne , Bjørn Dæhlie , Thomas Alsgaard
1997: Sture Sivertsen , Erling Jevne , Bjørn Dæhlie , Thomas Alsgaard
1999: Markus Gandler , Alois Stadlober , Mikhail Botvinov , Christian Hoffmann
2001: Frode Estil , Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset , Thomas Alsgaard , Tor Arne Hetland
2003: Anders Aukland , Frode Estil , Tore Ruud Hofstad , Thomas Alsgaard
2005 : Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset , Frode Estil , Lars Berger , Tore Ruud Hofstad
2007 : Eldar Rønning , Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset , Lars Berger , Petter Northug
2009 : Eldar Rønning , Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset , Tore Ruud Hofstad , Petter Northug
2011 : Martin Johnsrud Sundby , Eldar Rønning , Tord Asle Gjerdalen , Petter Northug
2013 : Tord Asle Gjerdalen , Eldar Rønning , Sjur Røthe , Petter Northug
2015 : Niklas Dyrhaug , Didrik Tønseth , Anders Gløersen , Petter Northug
2017 : Didrik Tønseth , Niklas Dyrhaug , Martin Johnsrud Sundby , Finn Hågen Krogh
2019 : Emil Iversen , Martin Johnsrud Sundby , Sjur Røthe , Johannes Høsflot Klæbo
2021 : Pål Golberg , Emil Iversen , Hans Christer Holund , Johannes Høsflot Klæbo
2023 : Hans Christer Holund , Pål Golberg , Simen Hegstad Krüger , Johannes Høsflot Klæbo
Note: Until 1981/82, World Cup was being held unofficially.
Until 1900 1900–1950
1901: Aksel Refstad (NOR)
1903: Karl Hovelsen (NOR)
1904: Harald Smith (NOR)
1905: Jonas Holmen (NOR)
1907: Per Bakken
1908: Einar Kristiansen (NOR)
1909: Thorvald Hansen
1910: Lauritz Bergendahl
1911: Otto Tangen (NOR), Knut Holst (NOR)
1912: Olav Bjaaland (NOR)
1914: Johan Kristoffersen (NOR)
1915: Sverre Østbye (NOR)
1916: Lars Høgvold (NOR)
1918: Hassa Horn (NOR), Jørgen Hansen (NOR)
1919: Thorleif Haug (NOR), Otto Aasen (NOR)
1923: Thoralf Strømstad (NOR)
1924: Harald Økern (NOR), Johan Grøttumsbråten (NOR)
1925: Einar Landvik (NOR)
1926: Jacob Tullin Thams
1927: Hagbart Haakonsen (NOR), Einar Lindboe (NOR)
1928: Torjus Hemmestveit (NOR), Mikkjel Hemmestveit (NOR)
1931: Hans Vinjarengen (NOR), Ole Stenen (NOR)
1934: Oddbjørn Hagen (NOR)
1935: Arne Rustadstuen (NOR)
1937: Olaf Hoffsbakken (NOR), Birger Ruud (NOR), Martin P. Vangsli (NOR)
1938: Reidar Andersen (NOR), Johan R. Henriksen (NOR)
1939: Sven Selånger (SWE), Lars Bergendahl (NOR), Trygve Brodahl (NOR)
1940: Oscar Gjøslien (NOR), Annar Ryen (NOR)
1947: Elling Rønes (NOR)
1948: Asbjørn Ruud (NOR)
1949: Sigmund Ruud (NOR)
1950: Olav Økern (NOR)
1951–2000
1951: Simon Slåttvik (NOR)
1952: Stein Eriksen (NOR), Torbjørn Falkanger (NOR), Heikki Hasu (FIN), Nils Karlsson (SWE)
1953: Magnar Estenstad (NOR)
1954: Martin Stokken (NOR)
1955: Haakon VII (NOR), Hallgeir Brenden (NOR), Veikko Hakulinen (FIN), Sverre Stenersen (NOR)
1956: Borghild Niskin (NOR), Arnfinn Bergmann (NOR), Arne Hoel (NOR)
1957: Eero Kolehmainen (FIN)
1958: Inger Bjørnbakken (NOR), Håkon Brusveen (NOR)
1959: Gunder Gundersen (NOR)
1960: Helmut Recknagel (GDR), Sixten Jernberg (SWE), Sverre Stensheim (NOR), Tormod Knutsen (NOR)
1961: Harald Grønningen (NOR)
1962: Toralf Engan (NOR)
1963: Alevtina Kolchina (URS), Pavel Kolchin (URS), Astrid Sandvik (NOR), Torbjørn Yggeseth (NOR)
1964: Veikko Kankkonen (FIN), Eero Mäntyranta (FIN), Georg Thoma (FRG), Halvor Næs (NOR)
1965: Arto Tiainen (FIN), Bengt Eriksson (SWE), Arne Larsen (NOR)
1967: Toini Gustafsson (SWE), Ole Ellefsæter (NOR)
1968: Olav V (NOR), Assar Rönnlund (SWE), Gjermund Eggen (NOR), Bjørn Wirkola (NOR)
1969: Odd Martinsen (NOR)
1970: Pål Tyldum (NOR)
1971: Marjatta Kajosmaa (FIN), Berit Mørdre (NOR), Reidar Hjermstad (NOR)
1972: Rauno Miettinen (FIN), Magne Myrmo (NOR)
1973: Einar Bergsland (NOR), Ingolf Mork (NOR), Franz Keller (FRG)
1974: Juha Mieto (FIN)
1975: Gerhard Grimmer (GDR), Oddvar Brå (NOR), Ivar Formo (NOR)
1976: Ulrich Wehling (GDR)
1977: Helena Takalo (FIN), Hilkka Kuntola (FIN), Walter Steiner (SUI)
1979: Ingemar Stenmark (SWE), Erik Håker (NOR), Raisa Smetanina (URS)
1980: Thomas Wassberg (SWE)
1981: Johan Sætre (NOR)
1983: Berit Aunli (NOR), Tom Sandberg (NOR)
1984: Lars Erik Eriksen (NOR), Jakob Vaage (NOR), Armin Kogler (AUT)
1985: Anette Bøe (NOR), Per Bergerud (NOR), Gunde Svan (SWE)
1986: Brit Pettersen (NOR)
1987: Matti Nykänen (FIN), Hermann Weinbuch (FRG)
1989: Marja-Liisa Kirvesniemi (FIN)
1991: Vegard Ulvang (NOR), Trond Einar Elden (NOR), Ernst Vettori (AUT), Jens Weißflog (GER)
1992: Yelena Välbe (RUS)
1993: Emil Kvanlid (NOR)
1994: Lyubov Yegorova (RUS), Vladimir Smirnov (KAZ), Espen Bredesen (NOR)
1995: Kenji Ogiwara (JPN)
1996: Manuela Di Centa (ITA)
1997: Bjarte Engen Vik (NOR), Stefania Belmondo (ITA), Bjørn Dæhlie (NOR)
1998: Fred Børre Lundberg (NOR), Larisa Lazutina (RUS), Alexey Prokurorov (RUS), Harri Kirvesniemi (FIN)
1999: Kazuyoshi Funaki (JPN)
Since 2001
2001: Adam Małysz (POL), Bente Skari (NOR), Thomas Alsgaard (NOR)
2003: Felix Gottwald (AUT), Ronny Ackermann (GER)
2004: Yuliya Chepalova (RUS)
2005: Andrus Veerpalu (EST)
2007: Frode Estil (NOR), Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset (NOR), Harald V (NOR), Sonja (NOR), Simon Ammann (SUI)
2010: Marit Bjørgen (NOR)
2011: Ole Einar Bjørndalen (NOR), Michael Greis (GER), Andrea Henkel (GER), Janne Ahonen (FIN)
2012: Magdalena Neuner (GER), Emil Hegle Svendsen (NOR)
2013: Tora Berger (NOR), Martin Fourcade (FRA), Therese Johaug (NOR), Gregor Schlierenzauer (AUT)
2014: Magnus Moan (NOR), Eric Frenzel (GER), Thomas Morgenstern (AUT), Darya Domracheva (BLR)
2015: Eldar Rønning (NOR), Anders Bardal (NOR), Anette Sagen (NOR), Kamil Stoch (POL)
2016: Noriaki Kasai (JPN), Tarjei Bø (NOR)
2017: Marie Dorin Habert (FRA), Sara Takanashi (JPN)
2018: Charlotte Kalla (SWE), Princess Astrid (NOR), Hannu Manninen (FIN), Kaisa Mäkäräinen (FIN)
2021: Maren Lundby (NOR), Johannes Thingnes Bø (NOR), Dario Cologna (SWI), Johannes Rydzek (GER)
2022: Tiril Eckhoff (NOR), Marte Olsbu Røiseland (NOR), Johannes Høsflot Klæbo (NOR), Jørgen Graabak (NOR)
2023: Maiken Caspersen Falla (NOR), Stefan Kraft (AUT)
2024: Jessie Diggins (USA), Simen Hegstad Krüger (NOR)