Gunnar Pétursson (31 March 1930 – 4 May 2022) was an Icelandic cross-country skier who competed in the 1950s. He finished 32nd in the 18 km event at the

1952 Winter Olympics The 1952 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VI Olympic Winter Games (; ) and commonly known as Oslo 1952, were a winter multi-sport event held from 14 to 25 February 1952 in Oslo, the capital of Norway. Discussions about Oslo hosting ...

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

where he was one of five skiers from

Skutulsfjörður Skutulsfjörður is the westernmost fjord branching off the major Icelandic fjord of Ísafjarðardjúp. The town of Ísafjörður is located in the fjord. Two main valleys enter from Skutulsfjörður, Engidalur and Tungudalur, separated by the mo ...

who competed at the games. He later competed several times in the

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 ...

Personal life and death

Gunnar was born in Brautarholt, Skutulsfjörður in the

Westfjords The Westfjords or West Fjords (, ) is a large peninsula in northwestern Iceland and an administrative region, the least populous in the country. It lies on the Denmark Strait, facing the east coast of Greenland. It is connected to the rest of I ...

of Iceland. He was the brother of cross-country skier

Oddur Pétursson Oddur Pétursson (2 July 1931 – 24 May 2018) was an Icelandic cross-country skier. He competed at the 1952 and 1956 Winter Olympics in 15–30 km events and placed 48–61. Personal life Oddur was the brother of cross country skier Gu ...

who competed at the

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...

and

1956 Winter Olympics The 1956 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VII Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Cortina d'Ampezzo 1956 ( or ), were a multi-sport event held in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, from 26 January to 5 February 1956. Cortina, which ...

. Gunnar died in the nursing home ''Eyri'' in

Ísafjörður Ísafjörður (pronounced , meaning ''ice fjord'', literally ''fjord of ices'') is a town in the northwest of Iceland. The oldest part of Ísafjörður with the town centre is located on a spit of sand, or ''eyri'', in Skutulsfjörður, a fjord ...

, on 4 May 2022, at the age of 92.

References

External links

Olympedia profile

1930 births 2022 deaths Gunnar Petursson Cross-country skiers at the 1952 Winter Olympics Gunnar Petursson Gunnar Petursson Gunnar Petursson {{Iceland-crosscountry-skiing-bio-stub