Lars-Gunnar Björklund (24 February 1937 – 30 November 2012) was a Swedish radio and TV journalist. He was famous as a sports reporter, especially reporting from

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 ...

and the

Ice Hockey World Championships The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual international men's ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), first officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics. The IIHF was created in 1908 while the I ...

Early life

Björklund was born on 24 February 1937 in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, Sweden, the son of Oscar Björklund, a tram driver, and his wife Gerda. He passed ''

studentexamen Studentexamen (Swedish for "students' examination" or "students' degree"), earlier also ''mogenhetsexamen'' ("maturity examination") was the name of the university entrance examination in Sweden from the 17th century to 1968. From 1862 to 1968, ...

'' in 1957 and conducted university studies in Stockholm in 1962 and studied television at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in 1963. Björklund also attended the

Adolf Fredrik's Music School Adolf Fredrik's Music School () is a general municipal junior high school () in Stockholm, Sweden with a focus on choral music, and highly competitive admission based on audition in singing and musical ability. The school has two campuses and thr ...

. He played handball for

Djurgårdens IF Djurgårdens Idrottsförening, commonly known simply as Djurgårdens IF, Djurgården (), and (especially locally) Djurgår'n (), Dif or DIF – is a Swedish sports association with several sections, located in Stockholm. Djurgårdens IF is an s ...

Career

Björklund worked as an editor at

Sveriges Radio Sveriges Radio Aktiebolag, AB (; "Sweden's Radio") is Sweden's national publicly funded radio programming, radio broadcaster. Sveriges Radio is a public limited company, owned by an independent foundation, previously funded through a television ...

from 1958 to 1979, and as marketing director at AB Tipstjänst from 1979 to 1995. He was then Director Corporate Affairs at Tipstjänst/

Svenska Spel Svenska Spel () is a state-owned company operating in the regulated gambling market in Sweden. For many years, the company was the only one permitted to offer online gambling to people in Sweden, whether it be casino games, sports betting, or othe ...

from 1996 to 1998, and at LGB Publicity AB. He was an important part of Sweden's first TV sports editorial team, where he recruited employees such as Arne Hegerfors, Fredrik Belfrage and

Ingvar Oldsberg Ingvar Gunnar Oldsberg (31 March 194510 February 2022) was a Swedish television presenter and sports journalist. Early life Oldsberg was born on 31 March 1945 in Annedal Parish, Gothenburg. Oldsberg grew up in Mölnlycke outside Gothenburg. On ...

. During the 1970s, he then became a well-known face for Tipsextra, and was awarded, among other things, as the first sports journalist the

Stora Journalistpriset Stora Journalistpriset ("The Swedish Grand Prize for Journalism") is an annual Swedish award, founded in 1966 by Bonnier AB, given to "recognize achievement in journalism". The prize money is SEK 100,000 and is awarded in four categories: * Sc ...

in radio and television. Björklund hosted the TV show in

Sveriges Television Sveriges Television AB ("Sweden's Television aktiebolag, Stock Company"), shortened to SVT (), is the Sweden, Swedish national public broadcasting, public television broadcaster, funded by a public service tax on personal income set by the Riksd ...

from 1988.

Personal life

In 1964, Björklund married secretary/script supervisor Lena Ekvall (born 1942), the daughter of Einar Ekvall and Brita (née Nygren). They had two sons.

Selected bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bjorklund, Lars-Gunnar 1937 births 2012 deaths Swedish sports broadcasters Swedish sports journalists Swedish television presenters Swedish male handball players Djurgårdens IF Handboll players Journalists from Stockholm 20th-century Swedish sportsmen