Tomas Gustafson

This article is about the speed skater. For other uses, see Tomas Gustafson (disambiguation).

Tomas Gustafson

Gustafson in 2010
Personal information
Birth name	Sven Tomas Gustafson
Nationality	Swedish
Born	28 December 1959 (1959-12-28) (age 65) Katrineholm, Sweden
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight	70 kg (154 lb)
Spouse	Elisabet Gustafson
Sport
Country	Sweden
Sport	Speed skating
Turned pro	1979
Retired	1992
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	500 m: 38.10 (1990) 1000 m: 1:18.48 (1981) 1500 m: 1:53.22 (1990) 3000 m: 4:03.17 (1987) 5000 m: 6:44.51 (1987) 10 000 m: 13:48.20 (1988)
Medal record Men's speed skating Olympic Games 1984 Sarajevo 5000 m 1988 Calgary 5000 m 1988 Calgary 10,000 m 1984 Sarajevo 10,000 m World Championships 1983 Oslo Allround European Championships 1982 Oslo Allround 1988 The Hague Allround 1990 Heerenveen Allround 1986 Oslo Allround

Sven Tomas Gustafson (born 28 December 1959) is a retired Swedish speed skater, and one of the most successful distance skaters of the 1980s.

Early career

Born in Katrineholm, he won the World Junior Championships title in Grenoble, France, in 1979. A year later, at the European Championships for seniors, he finished 4th. The following month, he participated in the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid, New York, achieving a 7th place finish in the 1500 m as his best performance. Later that same month, he defended his Junior World title.

1982 to Sarajevo leadup

In 1982, he became allround European Champion in Oslo, where he set a 10,000 m world record. As of 2017 This is the last outdoor world record for men on a lowland track. For this performance, he was awarded the Oscar Mathisen Award, recognizing the best skating performance of the season. A year later, on the same track, he won silver at the World Allround Championships, finishing second behind Rolf Falk-Larssen. Gustafson had the better allround point sum (samalog), but Falk-Larssen was declared champion due to a rule stating that a skater winning three distances, and merely finishing the fourth, was automatically pronounced the champion. This result caused a renewed debate about the three-distance-wins rule, which was subsequently abolished. From 1984 onwards, the champion was determined by the skater with the best allround point sum.

Sarajevo to Calgary leadup

The following year, his focus shifted from the World Allround Championships to the 1984 Winter Olympics at Sarajevo. He won Olympic gold in the 5,000 m, finishing just two hundredths of a second ahead of Soviet skater Igor Malkov. In the 10,000 m, he again faced a close finish with Malkov, this time losing by five hundredths of a second. Following these Olympics, Gustafson faced challenges including knee surgery, meningitis, and the death of his father.

Calgary glory

By the Olympic year 1988, he had regained his form. In January, he won the European Allround Championships in The Hague, winning all four distances, an achievement unmatched in post-war speedskating. With his rival Malkov retired, Gustafson focused on outpacing long-distance skaters like Dutchmen Leo Visser and Gerard Kemkers and Austrian skater Michael Hadschieff. Gustafson first succeeded in the 5000 m. He trailed Leo Visser's pace by eight hundredths of a second with only 400 m remaining but skated a strong final lap to win by one third of a second. Four days later, he won Olympic gold again, this time in the 10,000 m, setting a new world record time of 13:48.20. This record stood for three years before being broken by Johann Olav Koss. Gustafson received the Oscar Mathisen Award again for his 1988 performances. He also earned the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal and the Jerring Award.

Late career

Gustafson's only notable achievement after the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary was a second-place finish behind Bart Veldkamp in the 1990 European Allround Championships. At the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, he only participated in the 5000 m, finishing 13th. This marked Gustafson's last international race.

Personal life

Gustafson is married to curler Elisabet Gustafson.

Records

World records

Gustafson set two world records:

Discipline	Time	Date	Location
10,000 m	14.23,59	January 31, 1982	Oslo
10,000 m	13.48,20	February 21, 1988	Calgary

Source: SpeedSkatingStats.com

Personal records

Distance	Time	Date	Location
500 m	38.10	19 January 1990	Heerenveen
1000 m	1:18.48	15 March 1981	Savalen
1500 m	1:53.22	8 December 1990	Calgary
3000 m	4:03.17	26 December 1987	Inzell
5000 m	6:44.51	4 December 1987	Calgary
10,000 m	13:48.20	21 February 1988	Calgary
Big combination	160.347	21 January 1990	Heerenveen

Gustafson holds an Adelskalender score of 157.701 points. In March 1988, he reached third place in the ranking, behind Eric Flaim and Michael Hadschieff. After improving his personal best time in the 1500 metres distance in December 1990, he reached second place. Gustafson was ranked among the top 3 for 1468 days.

References

• Tomas Gustafson at SpeedSkatingStats.com
• Official website of the Olympic Movement
• Tomas Gustafson (1994) Mål, vilja och seger Sportförlaget ISBN 91-88540-42-1 (in Swedish)

External links

• Tomas Gustafson at Olympics.com
• Tomas Gustafson at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)