Sven-Åke Lundbäck (born 26 January 1948) is a former Swedish cross-country skier. He competed at the 1972, 1976 and 1980 Olympics in the 15 km, 30 km and 4 × 10 km events and won a gold medal over 15 km in 1972. He was close to a bronze medal in the 4 × 10 km relay in 1972, but fell near the finish; he had another fourth place in the relay in 1980. Lundbäck won the 50 km and 4 × 10 km events at the 1978 World Championships, the 50 km race at the 1976

Holmenkollen ski festival The Holmenkollen Ski Festival ( or ) is a traditional annual Nordic skiing event in Holmenkollen, Oslo, Norway. The full official name of the event is Holmenkollen FIS World Cup Nordic. History It takes place in March and has been arranged every ...

, and the 90 km

Vasaloppet (Swedish language, Swedish for 'the Vasa race') is an annual long distance cross-country skiing (sport), cross-country ski race held on the first Sunday of March. The course starts in the village of :sv:Berga, Malung-Sälens kommun, Berga, jus ...

in 1981. After his 1981 win, one of the Vasaloppet hills was named after Lundbäck. Domestically he collected 10 Swedish individual titles, clean-sweeping the 15, 30 and 50 km gold medals in 1976 and 1978. He was known for having an exceptionally high

oxygen Oxygen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group (periodic table), group in the periodic table, a highly reactivity (chemistry), reactive nonmetal (chemistry), non ...

consumption rate of 94.6 mL/kg/minute. Lundbäck took up competitive skiing in 1964, when his family moved from

Töre Töre ( Kalix Language: ''te'or'') is a locality situated in Kalix Municipality, Norrbotten County, Sweden with 1,099 inhabitants as of 2010. Its harbour is the northernmost of the Bothnian Bay (and thus, of the Baltic Sea) that is accessible ...

Luleå Luleå ( , , locally ; ; ) is a Cities in Sweden, city on the coast of northern Sweden, and the County Administrative Boards of Sweden, capital of Norrbotten County, the northernmost county in Sweden. Luleå has 48,728 inhabitants in its urban ...

. After retiring from competitions he received a degree in physical education from the

Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences The Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences (, GIH) in Stockholm is a Swedish institution offering higher education in the fields of teaching profession in Physical Education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools w ...

in Stockholm in 1984. After that he worked as a school teacher in Luleå until 2011, when his school was closed down. He is married to the Olympic cross-country skier Lena Carlzon-Lundbäck; they have a daughter and a son, who also competed in cross-country skiing. Lundbäck did not receive the ''

Svenska Dagbladet (, "The Swedish Daily News"), abbreviated SvD, is a daily List of Swedish newspapers, newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden. History and profile The first issue of appeared on 18 December 1884. During the beginning of the 1900s the pap ...

'' gold medal in 1978. In protest to this decision his teammate

Thomas Wassberg 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 ...

refused to accept his ''Svenska Dagbladet'' medal in 1980.

Cross-country skiing results

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

Olympic Games

* 1 medal – (1 gold)

World Championships

* 2 medals – (2 gold)

References

External links

*
Holmenkollen winners since 1892
– click Vinnere for downloadable pdf file * Wallechinsky, David and Jaime Loucky (2009). "Cross-Country (Nordic) Skiing, Men: 15 Kilometers (Classical)". In ''The Complete Book of the Winter Olympics''. London: Aurum Press Limited. p. 228. * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lundback, Sven Ake 1948 births Living people People from Kalix Municipality Cross-country skiers from Norrbotten County Cross-country skiers at the 1972 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 1976 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 1980 Winter Olympics Holmenkollen Ski Festival winners Olympic cross-country skiers for Sweden Swedish male cross-country skiers Vasaloppet winners Olympic medalists in cross-country skiing FIS Nordic World Ski Championships medalists in cross-country skiing Bergnäsets AIK cross-country skiers Medalists at the 1972 Winter Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Sweden 20th-century Swedish sportsmen