Toini Gustafsson Explained

Fullname:Toini Lempi Gustafsson Rönnlund
Birth Date:17 January 1938
Birth Place:Suomussalmi, Kainuu, Finland
Height:162 cm
Club:IFK Likenäs
Skellefteå SK
Show-Medals:yes

Toini Gustafsson Rönnlund (born Toini Karvonen; 17 January 1938) is a Swedish former cross-country skier. She competed in the 1964 and 1968 Winter Olympics and won four medals. Gustafsson also won the 10 km race at the Holmenkollen ski festival in each of 1960, 1967, and 1968. At the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships she collected three medals with a silver in 1962 (3 × 5 km relay) and two bronzes in 1966 (10 km and 3 × 5 km relay).

For her successes in Nordic skiing and at the Holmenkollen, Gustafsson received the Holmenkollen medal in 1967 (Shared with Ole Ellefsæter). She is the first Swedish woman to win the Holmenkollen medal. In 1968, she was awarded the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal.[1]

She was married twice and had a daughter, Eva, born in 1956. In 1968 she divorced her first husband and married Swedish former cross-country skier Assar Rönnlund, with whom she had two more children.[2] They became the second husband-wife team to win the Holmenkollen medal (Rönnlund earned the medal in 1968). Additionally, they are the only husband-wife team to win the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal.

Gustafsson is an ethnic Finn. She was born in Suomussalmi, Finland, but was evacuated to Sweden as a Finnish war child in 1944. She retired from competition in 1968 and later worked as a physical education teacher.

She is the paternal grandmother of cross-country skier Elina Rönnlund.[3]

Cross-country skiing results

All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).[4]

Olympic Games

 Year   Age   5 km  10 km  3 × 5 km 
 relay 
26
30

World Championships

 Year   Age   5 km  10 km  3 × 5 km 
 relay 
24 Silver
28 6 Bronze Bronze

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Bragdmedaljörer genom tiderna. Svenska dagbladet. sv. 6 December 2005. 19 January 2015.
  2. Web site: Assar Rönnlund död. Svenska dagbladet. sv. 5 January 2011. 19 January 2015.
  3. Web site: Thorén . Petra . Ikonens barnbarn gör debut: "Jag är stolt..." . . 13 December 2019 . sv . 3 December 2018.
  4. Web site: GUSTAFSSON Toini . . FIS-Ski . International Ski Federation . 13 December 2019.