Toini Gustafsson Rönnlund (born Toini Karvonen; 17 January 1938) 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 ...

former

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 assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...

. She competed in the 1964 and 1968 Winter Olympics and won four medals. Gustafsson also won the 10 km race at the

Holmenkollen ski festival The Holmenkollen Ski Festival ( no, Holmenkollen skifestival 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 ...

in each of 1960, 1967, and 1968. At the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships she collected three medals with a silver in 1962 (3 × 5 km relay) and two bronzes in 1966 (10 km and 3×5 km relay). For her successes in Nordic skiing and at the Holmenkollen, Gustafsson received the Holmenkollen medal in 1967 (Shared with

Ole Ellefsæter Ole Martin Ellefsæter (15 February 1939 – 18 October 2022) was a Norwegian athlete. He mostly competed in cross-country skiing, and won two gold medals at the 1968 Winter Olympics. At the 1966 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships he won one go ...

). She is the first Swedish woman to win the Holmenkollen medal. In 1968, she was awarded 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 le ...

. She was married twice and had a daughter, Eva, born in 1956. In 1968 she divorced her first husband and married Swedish former cross-country skier

Assar Rönnlund Bernt Assar Rönnlund (3 September 1935 – 5 January 2011) was a Swedish cross-country skier. Rönnlund's biggest success was at the 1962 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Zakopane where he won two gold medals (15 km and 4 × 10 ...

, with whom she had two more children. They became the second husband-wife team to win the Holmenkollen medal (Rönnlund earned the medal in 1968). Additionally, they are the only husband-wife team to win the

. Gustafsson is an

ethnic Finn Finns or Finnish people ( fi, suomalaiset, ) are a Baltic Finnic ethnic group native to Finland. Finns are traditionally divided into smaller regional groups that span several countries adjacent to Finland, both those who are native to these ...

. She was born in Suomussalmi,

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, but was evacuated to Sweden when she was a child as a

Finnish war child During World War II some 70,000 Finnish children ( fi, sotalapset, the 'war children' sv, krigsbarn) were evacuated from Finland, chiefly to Sweden, but also to Norway and Denmark.Korppi- Tommola, Aura"War and children in Finland during the Seco ...

. She retired from competition in 1968 and later worked as a physical education teacher. She is the paternal grandmother of cross-country skier

Elina Rönnlund Elina may refer to: *Elina (Epirus) an ancient Greek fortified town in the region of Epirus *'' Elina: As If I Wasn't There'', a 2002 Swedish film *Elina, protagonist of the '' Barbie: Fairytopia'' series of animated films * ''Elina'' (butterfly), ...

Cross-country skiing results

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

Olympic Games

* 4 medals – (2 gold, 2 silver)

World Championships

* 3 medals – (1 silver, 2 bronze)

References

External links

*
Holmenkollen medalists
– click Holmenkollmedaljen for downloadable pdf file
Holmenkollen winners since 1892
– click Vinnere for downloadable pdf file
IOC Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gustafsson, Toini 1938 births Living people People from Suomussalmi Cross-country skiers at the 1964 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 1968 Winter Olympics Holmenkollen medalists Holmenkollen Ski Festival winners Olympic cross-country skiers of Sweden Swedish female cross-country skiers Olympic medalists in cross-country skiing FIS Nordic World Ski Championships medalists in cross-country skiing Medalists at the 1964 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1968 Winter Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Sweden Olympic silver medalists for Sweden Finnish emigrants to Sweden Finnish refugees Refugees in Sweden