Åsarna IK, founded in 1924, is a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

sports club in Åsarna,

Jämtland Jämtland (; no, Jemtland or , ; Jamtish: ''Jamtlann''; la, Iemptia) is a historical province () in the centre of Sweden in northern Europe. It borders Härjedalen and Medelpad to the south, Ångermanland to the east, Lapland to the north a ...

. The club has had many prominent competitors in

cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...

, which is evident in the nickname of the village Åsarna, ''Guldbyn'' (Gold Village), which was coined after the

1988 Winter Olympics The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games (french: XVes Jeux olympiques d'hiver) and commonly known as Calgary 1988 ( bla, Mohkínsstsisi 1988; sto, Wîchîspa Oyade 1988 or ; cr, Otôskwanihk 1998/; srs, Guts� ...

when three out of the four competitors in the men's relay competition came from the club. Åsarna IK has also spawned prominent track and field athletes.

History

The club was founded on 1 May 1924 as Åsarna IK, before changing name on 1 February 1942, following a merger with Åsarna BK.

Anton Bolinder Anton Bolinder (3 June 1915 – 7 December 2006) was a Swedish high jumper. He won a gold medal at the 1946 European Athletics Championships setting a new national record at . For this achievement he was awarded the Stora grabbars märke Stor ...

(b. 1915), who started jumping in a gravel pit in Åsarna, became the European champion in

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

in 1946 (jumping 1,99 m), and runner John Isberg broke the junior world record for 1500 m five times in the 1940s. By the time of their international breakthroughs, both Bolinder and Isberg hade changed clubs to

IFK Östersund IFK Östersund is a Swedish football club located in Östersund in Jämtland. Background Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Östersund were founded on 7 March 1906 at the Café Temperance in Östersund. The club subsequently joined the IFK movement ...

. Bolinder became Swedish champion twice in high jump. In mid 2015 a book about Åsarna IK appeared. The club's chairperson since 2014, Ingvar Borg (1954–2017), died in a snow scooter accident in December 2017.

Notable skiers from Åsarna IK

Jens Burman Jens Burman (born 16 August 1994) is a Swedish cross-country skier who competes internationally. He competed for Sweden at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2017 in Lahti, Finland. Cross-country skiing results All results are sourced from ...

* Hanna Erikson *

Ida Ingemarsdotter Ida Maria Erika Ingemarsdotter (born 26 April, 1985) is a Swedish cross-country skiing coach and former skier who competed between 2003 and 2019. Skiing career Ingemarsdotter has a total of five individual victories at various levels up to 15&n ...

Mats Larsson Ål Mats Arne Larsson (born 20 March 1980) is a Swedish cross-country skier who has raced since 1999. He won a bronze medal in the 4 × 10 km relay and finished 20th in the 15 km event at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. Larsson won ...

* Moa Lundgren *

Torgny Mogren Torgny Mogren (born 26 July 1963) is a Swedish former cross-country skier who competed from 1984 to 1998. He won the gold medal in the 4 × 10 km relay at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. His best individual finish was a fifth in the com ...

* Lars Nelson * Anna Olsson * Johan Olsson * Jan Ottosson *

Thomas Wassberg Thomas Lars 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 Je ...

* Emma Wikén *

Lars-Göran Åslund Lars-Göran Åslund (born June 7, 1945 in Åsarna). is a former Swedish cross-country skier who competed in the late 1960s and early 1970s. His biggest success was at the 1970 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Vysoké Tatry where he won ...

Winners of Vasaloppet

Sofia Lind Sofia Lind, (born 4 September 1975), is a Swedish cross-country skier Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assis ...

– 1996, 1997, 1999, 2004 and 2005 * Hans Persson – 1984 * Peter Göransson – 1998 * Jan Ottosson – 1989, 1991, 1992, 1994

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Asarna IK Sports clubs and teams established in 1924 Multi-sport clubs in Sweden 1924 establishments in Sweden