Karl Gunnar Larsson (born 12 May 1951) is a former swimmer from

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

. He won the 400 metre individual

medley Medley or Medleys may refer to: Sports *Medley swimming, races requiring multiple swimming styles * Medley relay races at track meets Music * Medley (music), multiple pieces strung together People * Medley (surname), list of people with this n ...

event at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 19 ...

by two one-thousandths (0.002) of a second over American

Tim McKee Alexander Timothy McKee (born March 14, 1953) is an American former competition swimmer and three-time Olympic silver medalist. He was a successful medley and backstroke swimmer, and is often remembered for being a part of the closest Olympic ...

, breaking the Olympic record. The controversy over the accuracy of such timing was the reason the international swimming rules were subsequently changed, and today swimming times are measured in hundredths of a second. He also won the 200 metre individual medley event at the same Olympic Games, setting the new world record. Two years earlier, Larsson received the

Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal The Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal ( sv, Svenska Dagbladets guldmedalj, but usually simply called ''Bragdguldet'', "The Feat Gold") is an annual award "for the most significant Swedish sports achievement of the year". It has been awarded by a jury l ...

due to his swimming at the 1970 European championships where he won three gold (200 metre medley, 400 metre medley and 400 metre freestyle) and one silver (200 m freestyle). A year later, 1973, Larsson won the

200 metre individual medley The 200-metre individual medley is a race in competitive swimming in which swimmers compete in all 4 strokes (butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle) in one race, with each leg being 50 metres in length. The stroke order is different t ...

at the first official FINA World Championships in

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. During his career, Larsson set three world and eight European records. Together with

Arne Borg Claes Arne Borg (18 August 1901 – 7 November 1987) was a Swedish swimmer. He is best known for breaking 32 world records and winning five Olympic medals in the 1920s. In 1926 Borg won the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal, shared with Edvin Wi ...

he is considered as Sweden's greatest swimmer of all time. In 1979, he was inducted in the

International Swimming Hall of Fame The International Swimming Hall of Fame and Museum (ISHOF) is a history museum and hall of fame, located at One Hall of Fame Drive, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States, operated by private interests and serving as the central point for the stu ...

. Larsson retired from competitive swimming in 1973 and until 1980 worked as a swimming coach. Later he took miscellaneous jobs, mostly with McDonald's and the Swedish Swimming Federation (2000–2005); he also did one year of acting in 2003. Between 1974 and 2004 he worked as part-time swimming commentator with radio stations. His mother died in 1960 when he was only 9 years old. In 1979, he married Marianne Larsson. They have three children: Lotten (b. 1978), Emelie (b. 1980) and Amanda (b. 1989). His elder sisters, Karin and Kristina, are also former Olympic swimmers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Larsson, Gunnar 1951 births Living people Swedish male freestyle swimmers Swimmers at the 1968 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1972 Summer Olympics Olympic swimmers of Sweden Olympic gold medalists for Sweden Sportspeople from Malmö World record setters in swimming World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in swimming Malmö SS swimmers SK Ran swimmers Swedish male medley swimmers

See also

References