Erik August Larsson (12 April 1912 – 10 March 1982) was a Swedish cross-country skier who competed in the 1930s. He won two medals at the

1936 Winter Olympics The 1936 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1936, were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 16 February 1936 in the market town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Nazi Ger ...

Garmisch-Partenkirchen Garmisch-Partenkirchen (; ) is an Northern Limestone Alps, Alpine mountain resort, ski town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the seat of government of the Garmisch-Partenkirchen (district), district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen (abbreviated ...

with a gold in the 18 km and a bronze in the 4 × 10 km relay. The same year he was awarded the

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

. Larsson also won a bronze in the 4 × 10 km relay at the

1935 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1935 took place February 13–18, 1935 in Vysoké Tatry (town), Vysoké Tatry, Czechoslovakia. Men's cross country 18 km February 15, 1935 50 km February 17, 1935 4 × 10 km relay February 18, 19 ...

. Larsson was born as the second youngest of six siblings in a religious Finnish-speaking family. In 1935, he started working as a cleaner at the

Kiruna (; ; ; ) is the northernmost Stad (Sweden), city in Sweden, situated in the province of Lapland, Sweden, Lapland. It had 17,002 inhabitants in 2016 and is the seat of Kiruna Municipality (population: 23,167 in 2016) in Norrbotten County. The c ...

iron ore mine in the summer and as a lumberjack in the winter. In 1939, after attending a prayer meeting in Kurravaara he gave up his sport career and became a Laestadian Christian. He was later a preacher in the Firstborn Laestadian congregation in Kiruna. His son Lars became a preacher in

Luleå Luleå ( , , locally ; ; ) is a Cities in Sweden, city on the coast of northern Sweden, and the County Administrative Boards of Sweden, capital of Norrbotten County, the northernmost county in Sweden. Luleå has 48,728 inhabitants in its urban ...

, while his granddaughter

Åsa Larsson Åsa Larsson is a Swedish crime-fiction writer, with her novels featuring Rebecka Martinsson. Her books and characters serve as the basis for the internationally successful TV series ''Rebecka Martinsson''. The 2007 Swedish film ''Solstorm'' w ...

was a tax lawyer and a writer of crime novels.

Cross-country skiing results

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

Olympic Games

* 2 medals – (1 gold, 1 bronze)

World Championships

* 1 medal – (1 bronze)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Larsson, Erik August 1912 births 1982 deaths People from Kiruna Municipality Swedish male cross-country skiers Cross-country skiers at the 1936 Winter Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Sweden Olympic bronze medalists for Sweden Olympic medalists in cross-country skiing FIS Nordic World Ski Championships medalists in cross-country skiing Medalists at the 1936 Winter Olympics Swedish Lutherans 20th-century Lutherans 20th-century Swedish sportsmen