Thomas Wassberg
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox skier
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 Jernberg and Oddvar Brå. He has described his mental strength and physical fitness as his greatest abilities as a skier, with his main weakness being a lack of sprinting ability.[1]
Wassberg won four Olympic gold medals: in 15 km (1980), 50 km (1984), and the 4 × 10 km relay (1984, 1988), and served as the Olympic flag bearer for Sweden in 1988.[2] At the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, he earned three golds (50 km: 1982, 30 km: 1987, and 4 × 10 km relay: 1987), three silvers (15 km: 1985, 1987; 50 km (1987), and one bronze (4 × 10 km relay: 1985). Additionally, Wassberg won the 50 km at the Holmenkollen ski festival three times (1980, 1982 and 1987) and the 15 km twice (1979, 1985).[3]
At the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, Wassberg edged out Finland's Juha Mieto by 0.01 seconds in the 15 km, the closest cross-country ski race in Olympic history. Wassberg subsequently suggested to Mieto that the gold medal should be split between them "as one one-hundredth of a second is nothing in a 15-kilometer race". This incident led the International Ski Federation (FIS) to change their timing to the nearest one-tenth of a second. It also resulted in an apocryphal urban legend that Wassberg and Mieto's medals were cut in half and re-welded into half-gold, half-silver medals.[4] At the 1984 Winter Olympics, Wassberg beat out fellow Swede Gunde Svan by 4.9 seconds in the 50 km, the closest margin of victory ever in that event until Giorgio Di Centa edged out Yevgeny Dementyev by 0.8 seconds at the 2006 Winter Olympics though the 2006 event was a mass start event while the 1984 event was an interval start event.
He won the World Cup in 1977, and in 1980 was awarded the Holmenkollen medal. For some reason his teammate Sven-Åke Lundbäck did not receive the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal in 1978. In protest to this decision Wassberg refused to accept his Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal in 1980.[3][5]
According to Bengt Erik Bengtsson, Chief of the Nordic Office of the FIS from 1984 to 2004, Wassberg was the first to suggest in 1984 the splitting of the sport of cross country skiing into classic and freestyle disciplines. This was subsequently implemented by FIS in 1986.[6]
After retiring from competitions Wassberg worked as a sports reporter for Swedish Radio and a cross-country skiing coach for his club Åsarna IK. In 2009 he appeared on Swedish television in the show contests Mästarnas mästare, and in 2016 participated in Let's Dance 2016 which was broadcast on TV4.[7] In the 2010s he oversaw the preparation of ski tracks for Åsarna IK, organized bird hunting events for tourists and worked as a forester.[3]
Cross-country skiing results
All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).[8]
Olympic Games
- 4 medals – (4 gold)
| Year | Age | 15 km | 30 km | 50 km | 4 × 10 km relay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | 19 | 15 | — | — | 4 |
| 1980 | 23 | Gold | 4 | — | 5 |
| 1984 | 27 | — | 14 | Gold | Gold |
| 1988 | 31 | — | 42 | DNF | Gold |
World Championships
- 7 medals – (3 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze)
| Year | Age | 15 km | 30 km | 50 km | 4 × 10 km relay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | 25 | 18 | 16 | Gold | 5 |
| 1985 | 28 | Silver | 4 | — | Bronze |
| 1987 | 30 | Silver | Gold | Silver | Gold |
World Cup
Season standings
| Season | Age | Overall |
|---|---|---|
| 1982 | 25 | Template:Silver02 |
| 1983 | 26 | 5 |
| 1984 | 27 | Template:Silver02 |
| 1985 | 28 | Template:Bronze03 |
| 1986 | 29 | 15 |
| 1987 | 30 | Template:Silver02 |
| 1988 | 31 | 19 |
Individual podiums
- 6 victories
- 18 podiums
| No. | Season | Date | Location | Race | Level | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1981–82 | 9 January 1982 | Template:Flagicon Reit im Winkl, West Germany | 15 km Individual | World Cup | 3rd |
| 2 | 16 January 1982 | Template:Flagicon Le Brassus, Switzerland | 15 km Individual | World Cup | 2nd | |
| 3 | 27 February 1982 | Template:Flagicon Oslo, Norway | 50 km Individual | World Championships<templatestyles src="Citation/styles.css"/>[1] | 1st | |
| 4 | 12 March 1982 | Template:Flagicon Falun, Sweden | 30 km Individual | World Cup | 3rd | |
| 5 | 19 March 1982 | Template:Flagicon Štrbské Pleso, Czechoslovakia | 15 km Individual | World Cup | 2nd | |
| 6 | 1982–83 | 26 February 1983 | Template:Flagicon Falun, Sweden | 30 km Individual | World Cup | 2nd |
| 7 | 27 March 1983 | Template:Flagicon Labrador City, Canada | 30 km Individual | World Cup | 3rd | |
| 8 | 1983–84 | 19 February 1984 | Template:Flagicon Sarajevo, Yugoslavia | 50 km Individual | Olympic Games<templatestyles src="Citation/styles.css"/>[1] | 1st |
| 9 | 25 February 1984 | Template:Flagicon Falun, Sweden | 30 km Individual | World Cup | 2nd | |
| 10 | 2 March 1984 | Template:Flagicon Lahti, Finland | 15 km Individual | World Cup | 2nd | |
| 11 | 1984–85 | 22 January 1985 | Template:Flagicon Seefeld, Austria | 15 km Individual | World Championships<templatestyles src="Citation/styles.css"/>[1] | 2nd |
| 12 | 9 March 1985 | Template:Flagicon Falun, Sweden | 30 km Individual | World Cup | 3rd | |
| 13 | 14 March 1985 | Template:Flagicon Oslo, Norway | 15 km Individual | World Cup | 1st | |
| 14 | 1985–86 | 8 March 1986 | Template:Flagicon Falun, Sweden | 30 km Individual C | World Cup | 1st |
| 15 | 1986–87 | 12 February 1987 | Template:Flagicon Oberstdorf, West Germany | 30 km Individual C | World Championships<templatestyles src="Citation/styles.css"/>[1] | 1st |
| 16 | 15 February 1987 | 15 km Individual C | World Championships<templatestyles src="Citation/styles.css"/>[1] | 2nd | ||
| 17 | 21 February 1987 | 50 km Individual F | World Championships<templatestyles src="Citation/styles.css"/>[1] | 2nd | ||
| 18 | 21 March 1987 | Template:Flagicon Oslo, Norway | 50 km Individual C | World Cup | 1st |
Team podiums
- 7 victories
- 10 podiums
| No. | Season | Date | Location | Race | Level | Place | Teammates |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1983–84 | 16 February 1984 | Template:Flagicon Sarajevo, Yugoslavia | 4 × 10 km Relay | Olympic Games<templatestyles src="Citation/styles.css"/>[1] | 1st | Kohlberg / Ottosson / Svan |
| 2 | 26 February 1984 | Template:Flagicon Falun, Sweden | 4 × 10 km Relay | World Cup | 1st | Östlund / Ottosson / Svan | |
| 3 | 1984–85 | 24 January 1985 | Template:Flagicon Seefeld, Austria | 4 × 10 km Relay | World Championships<templatestyles src="Citation/styles.css"/>[1] | 3rd | Östlund / Eriksson / Svan |
| 4 | 10 March 1985 | Template:Flagicon Falun, Sweden | 4 × 10 km Relay | World Cup | 2nd | Östlund / Mogren / Svan | |
| 5 | 17 March 1985 | Template:Flagicon Oslo, Norway | 4 × 10 km Relay | World Cup | 1st | Eriksson / Danielsson / Svan | |
| 6 | 1985–86 | 13 March 1986 | Template:Flagicon Oslo, Norway | 4 × 10 km Relay F | World Cup | 3rd | Majbäck / Håland / Danielsson |
| 7 | 1986–87 | 17 February 1987 | Template:Flagicon Oberstdorf, West Germany | 4 × 10 km Relay F | World Championships<templatestyles src="Citation/styles.css"/>[1] | 1st | Östlund / Svan / Mogren |
| 8 | 8 March 1987 | Template:Flagicon Falun, Sweden | 4 × 10 km Relay C | World Cup | 1st | Östlund / Mogren / Majbäck | |
| 9 | 19 March 1987 | Template:Flagicon Oslo, Norway | 4 × 10 km Relay C | World Cup | 1st | Ottosson / Mogren / Eriksson | |
| 10 | 1987–88 | 24 February 1988 | Template:Flagicon Calgary, Canada | 4 × 10 km Relay F | Olympic Games<templatestyles src="Citation/styles.css"/>[1] | 1st | Ottosson / Svan / Mogren |
Template:Refbegin Note: <templatestyles src="Citation/styles.css"/>1 Until the 1999 World Championships and the 1994 Winter Olympics, World Championship and Olympic races were included in the World Cup scoring system. Template:Refend
References
External links
- Template:FIS cross-country skier
- Holmenkollen medalists – click Holmenkollmedaljen for downloadable pdf file Template:In lang
- Holmenkollen winners since 1892 – click Vinnere for downloadable pdf file Template:In lang
- Wassberg tar emot Bragdguldet – efter 33 år
- Template:Olympedia
- Template:Olympics.com profile
- Template:SOK
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- ↑ Sweden. sports-reference.com
- ↑ a b c Template:Cite Sports-Reference
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- ↑ Thomas Wassberg. Swedish Olympic Committee
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- Pages with script errors
- 1956 births
- Living people
- People from Årjäng Municipality
- Cross-country skiers from Värmland County
- Cross-country skiers at the 1976 Winter Olympics
- Cross-country skiers at the 1980 Winter Olympics
- Cross-country skiers at the 1984 Winter Olympics
- Cross-country skiers at the 1988 Winter Olympics
- Holmenkollen medalists
- Holmenkollen Ski Festival winners
- Olympic cross-country skiers for Sweden
- Olympic gold medalists for Sweden
- Swedish male cross-country skiers
- Olympic medalists in cross-country skiing
- FIS Nordic World Ski Championships medalists in cross-country skiing
- Medalists at the 1984 Winter Olympics
- Åsarna IK cross-country skiers
- Medalists at the 1988 Winter Olympics
- Medalists at the 1980 Winter Olympics
- 20th-century Swedish sportsmen