Erik Larsson (skier)

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 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen 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. Larsson also won a bronze in the 4 × 10 km relay at the 1935 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships.[1][2]

Erik Larsson

Erik Larsson at the 1936 Olympics
Personal information
Born	12 April 1912 Kurravaara, Sweden
Died	10 March 1982 (aged 69) Kiruna, Sweden
Height	163 cm (5 ft 4 in)
Weight	59 kg (130 lb)
Sport
Sport	Cross-country skiing
Club	IFK Kiruna
Medal record Men's cross-country skiing Representing  Sweden Olympic Games 1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen 18 km 1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen 4 × 10 km relay World Championships 1935 Vysoké Tatry 4 × 10 km relay

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 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, while his granddaughter Åsa Larsson was a tax lawyer and a writer of crime novels.[1]