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.
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]
^ abcEvans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. . Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020.
thomas, wassberg, lars, born, march, 1956, swedish, former, cross, country, skier, fast, skating, style, push, every, still, called, wassberg, after, several, countries, wassberg, skiing, idols, when, growing, were, sixten, jernberg, oddvar, brå, described, me. 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 Bra 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 Thomas WassbergThomas Wassberg in December 2013Country SwedenFull nameLars Thomas WassbergBorn 1956 03 27 27 March 1956 age 67 Arjang SwedenHeight185 cm 6 ft 1 in Ski clubAsarna IKWorld Cup careerSeasons7 1982 1988 Starts44Podiums18Wins6Overall titles0 2nd in 1982 1984 1987 Medal record Men s cross country skiingRepresenting SwedenInternational nordic ski competitionsEvent 1st 2nd 3rdOlympic Games 4 0 0World Championships 3 3 1Total 7 3 1Olympic Games1980 Lake Placid 15 km1984 Sarajevo 50 km1984 Sarajevo 4 10 km relay1988 Calgary 4 10 km relayWorld Championships1982 Oslo 50 km1987 Oberstdorf 30 km classical1987 Oberstdorf 4 10 km relay1985 Seefeld 15 km1987 Oberstdorf 15 km classical1987 Oberstdorf 50 km freestyle1985 Seefeld 4 10 km relayWassberg 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 Ake Lundback 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 Asarna IK In 2009 he appeared on Swedish television in the show contests Mastarnas mastare 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 Asarna IK organized bird hunting events for tourists and worked as a forester 3 Contents 1 Cross country skiing results 1 1 Olympic Games 1 2 World Championships 1 3 World Cup 1 3 1 Season standings 1 3 2 Individual podiums 1 3 3 Team podiums 2 References 3 External linksCross country skiing results editAll results are sourced from the International Ski Federation FIS 8 Olympic Games edit 4 medals 4 gold Year Age 15 km 30 km 50 km 4 10 km relay 1976 19 15 41980 23 Gold 4 51984 27 14 Gold Gold1988 31 42 DNF GoldWorld Championships edit 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 51985 28 Silver 4 Bronze1987 30 Silver Gold Silver GoldWorld Cup edit Season standings edit Season Age Overall1982 25 nbsp 1983 26 51984 27 nbsp 1985 28 nbsp 1986 29 151987 30 nbsp 1988 31 19Individual podiums edit 6 victories 18 podiumsNo Season Date Location Race Level Place1 1981 82 9 January 1982 nbsp Reit im Winkl West Germany 15 km Individual World Cup 3rd2 16 January 1982 nbsp Le Brassus Switzerland 15 km Individual World Cup 2nd3 27 February 1982 nbsp Oslo Norway 50 km Individual World Championships 1 1st4 12 March 1982 nbsp Falun Sweden 30 km Individual World Cup 3rd5 19 March 1982 nbsp Strbske Pleso Czechoslovakia 15 km Individual World Cup 2nd6 1982 83 26 February 1983 nbsp Falun Sweden 30 km Individual World Cup 2nd7 27 March 1983 nbsp Labrador City Canada 30 km Individual World Cup 3rd8 1983 84 19 February 1984 nbsp Sarajevo Yugoslavia 50 km Individual Olympic Games 1 1st9 25 February 1984 nbsp Falun Sweden 30 km Individual World Cup 2nd10 2 March 1984 nbsp Lahti Finland 15 km Individual World Cup 2nd11 1984 85 22 January 1985 nbsp Seefeld Austria 15 km Individual World Championships 1 2nd12 9 March 1985 nbsp Falun Sweden 30 km Individual World Cup 3rd13 14 March 1985 nbsp Oslo Norway 15 km Individual World Cup 1st14 1985 86 8 March 1986 nbsp Falun Sweden 30 km Individual C World Cup 1st15 1986 87 12 February 1987 nbsp Oberstdorf West Germany 30 km Individual C World Championships 1 1st16 15 February 1987 15 km Individual C World Championships 1 2nd17 21 February 1987 50 km Individual F World Championships 1 2nd18 21 March 1987 nbsp Oslo Norway 50 km Individual C World Cup 1stTeam podiums edit 7 victories 10 podiumsNo Season Date Location Race Level Place Teammates1 1983 84 16 February 1984 nbsp Sarajevo Yugoslavia 4 10 km Relay Olympic Games 1 1st Kohlberg Ottosson Svan2 26 February 1984 nbsp Falun Sweden 4 10 km Relay World Cup 1st Ostlund Ottosson Svan3 1984 85 24 January 1985 nbsp Seefeld Austria 4 10 km Relay World Championships 1 3rd Ostlund Eriksson Svan4 10 March 1985 nbsp Falun Sweden 4 10 km Relay World Cup 2nd Ostlund Mogren Svan5 17 March 1985 nbsp Oslo Norway 4 10 km Relay World Cup 1st Eriksson Danielsson Svan6 1985 86 13 March 1986 nbsp Oslo Norway 4 10 km Relay F World Cup 3rd Majback Haland Danielsson7 1986 87 17 February 1987 nbsp Oberstdorf West Germany 4 10 km Relay F World Championships 1 1st Ostlund Svan Mogren8 8 March 1987 nbsp Falun Sweden 4 10 km Relay C World Cup 1st Ostlund Mogren Majback9 19 March 1987 nbsp Oslo Norway 4 10 km Relay C World Cup 1st Ottosson Mogren Eriksson10 1987 88 24 February 1988 nbsp Calgary Canada 4 10 km Relay F Olympic Games 1 1st Ottosson Svan MogrenNote 1 Until the 1999 World Championships and the 1994 Winter Olympics World Championship and Olympic races were included in the World Cup scoring system References edit Cross Country Legend Thomas Wassberg SWE in Interview Fischer Sports 14 November 2014 Retrieved 21 March 2015 Sweden sports reference com a b c Evans Hilary Gjerde Arild Heijmans Jeroen Mallon Bill et al Thomas Wassberg Olympics at Sports Reference com Sports Reference LLC Archived from the original on 17 April 2020 Perman Cindy 2013 New York Curiosities 2nd Quirky Characters Roadside Oddities amp Other Offbeat Stuff Lanham Maryland Rowman amp Littlefield p 151 ISBN 9780762774968 Thomas Wassberg Swedish Olympic Committee Bengt Erik Bengtsson 2010 Cross country skating how it started Retrieved 27 March 2016 Deltagare i Let s dance tv4 se tv4 se Retrieved 1 April 2016 WASSBERG Thomas FIS Ski International Ski Federation Retrieved 14 January 2020 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Thomas Wassberg Thomas Wassberg at the International Ski and Snowboard Federation Holmenkollen medalists click Holmenkollmedaljen for downloadable pdf file in Norwegian Holmenkollen winners since 1892 click Vinnere for downloadable pdf file in Norwegian Wassberg tar emot Bragdguldet efter 33 ar Preceded byMalmo FF Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal1980 Succeeded byAnnichen Kringstad Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Thomas Wassberg amp oldid 1200934340, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
