Krång Erik Gunnar Eriksson (13 September 1921 – 8 July 1982) was 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 ...

cross-country skier who won two medals at the

1948 Winter Olympics The 1948 Winter Olympics, officially known as the V Olympic Winter Games (german: V. Olympische Winterspiele; french: Ves Jeux olympiques d'hiver; it, V Giochi olimpici invernali; rm, V Gieus olimpics d'enviern) and commonly known as St. Moritz ...

, a gold in the 4 × 10 km relay and a bronze in the individual 18 km. Eriksson won the 50 km event at the 1950 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, but finished 12th at the 1952 Olympics and 21st at the 1954 World Championships. Eriksson had five brothers and three sisters. Their father died aged 42, and the children had to start working in their teens at the local knife factory; in 1946 they started their own hardware business. Eriksson married Kerstin Norlin, the winner of the 1949 Vasa ski marathon, who lived next door. She died aged 38. After retiring from competitions in 1954 Eriksson spent time collecting stamps, fishing, hunting and working as timberjack. In 1980 he developed

Lou Gehrig’s disease Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most commo ...

and died in July 1982.

Cross-country skiing results

All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).

Olympic Games

* 2 medals – (1 gold, 1 bronze)

World Championships

* 1 medal – (1 gold)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eriksson, Gunnar 1921 births 1982 deaths People from Mora Municipality Cross-country skiers from Dalarna County Swedish male cross-country skiers Olympic cross-country skiers for Sweden Cross-country skiers at the 1948 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 1952 Winter Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Sweden Olympic bronze medalists for Sweden Olympic medalists in cross-country skiing FIS Nordic World Ski Championships medalists in cross-country skiing Medalists at the 1948 Winter Olympics