Sven-Åke Lundbäck

Sven-Åke Lundbäck (born January 26, 1948 in Töre, Norrbotten) is a former Swedish cross-country skier who competed from 1972 to 1980. He won the 15 km gold at the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo.

Lundbäck also won the 50 km event at the Holmenkollen ski festival in 1976.

His biggest success as a cross country skier was at the 1978 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships where he won golds in the 50 km and the 4 x 10 km relay.

For many years, Lundbäck was working as a teacher at the school of Bergviken in Luleå, Sweden. He retired when the school was closed in 2011. He also was known for having an oxygen consumption rate of 94.6 mL/kg/minute. The most fit long distance runners test in the low 80s.

References

• Sven-Ake Lundbaeck at the International Ski Federation
• Holmenkollen winners since 1892 - click Vinnere for downloadable pdf file (Norwegian)
• Wallechinsky, David and Jaime Loucky (2009). "Cross-Country (Nordic) Skiing, Men: 15 Kilometers (Classical)". In The Complete Book of the Winter Olympics. London: Aurum Press Limited. p. 228.