Adolf Jakob Wiklund (19 December 1921 – 21 September 1970) was a Swedish biathlon competitor who won two world championship titles in 1958, individual (20 km) and with a team. He competed at the

1960 Winter Olympics The 1960 Winter Olympics (officially the VIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Squaw Valley 1960) were a winter multi-sport event held from February 18 to 28, 1960, at the Squaw Valley Resort (now known as Palisades Tahoe) in Squaw Vall ...

and finished 19th. He was elected for the Swedish Biathlon Hall of Fame in September 2013.

Career

Wiklund initially began his

cross-country Cross country or cross-country may refer to: Places * Cross Country, Baltimore, a neighborhood in northwest Baltimore, Maryland * Cross County Parkway, an east–west parkway in Westchester County, NY * Cross County Shopping Center, a mall in Yo ...

skiing career in 1948, having previously worked as a flight technician at a

military airfield An air base (sometimes referred to as a military air base, military airfield, military airport, air station, naval air station, air force station, or air force base) is an aerodrome used as a military base by a military force for the operation ...

. At the first biathlon world championships in Saalfelden in 1958, he won the 20 km distance and was the first biathlon world champion. He also won a

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

with the still unofficially held relay. A year later, he won a

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

Courmayeur Courmayeur (; Valdôtain: ) is a town and ''comune'' in northern Italy, in the autonomous region of Aosta Valley. History The toponym ''Courmayeur'' has been mentioned as ''Curia majori'' (1233–1381), ''Corte Maggiore'' (1620), ''Cormoyeu'' (164 ...

with the still unofficial relay behind the team from the Soviet Union and finished 9th in the individual over 20 km. At the

in Squaw Valley, he finished 19th and retired the following year.

Personal life

Wiklund, who lived in

Frösön Frösön (, ; " Frey's island"), (Old no, Frøys øy) is the largest island in the lake Storsjön, located west of the city Östersund in Jämtland, Sweden. During most of recorded history Frösön was the regional centre of Jämtland, and it is t ...

, practiced various sports and he was also a good

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player and a good

and

steeplechase runner The steeplechase is an obstacle race in athletics, which derives its name from the steeplechase in horse racing. The foremost version of the event is the 3000 metres steeplechase. The 2000 metres steeplechase is the next most common distance. ...

References

1921 births 1970 deaths Biathletes at the 1960 Winter Olympics Swedish male biathletes Olympic biathletes for Sweden Biathlon World Championships medalists 20th-century Swedish people {{Sweden-biathlon-bio-stub