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| Event type

18 kilometres, Men

Date31 January 1948 — 10:00
StatusOlympic
LocationSkistadion, St. Moritz
Participants84 from 15 countries
DetailsCourse Length: ?
Height Differential: 457 m
Intermediate 1: 6.0 km
Intermediate 2: 12.0 km
Maximum Climb: ?
Total Climbing: ?

The Swedes were highly favored in the cross-country skiing events in 1948. During the war Swedish skiers had developed new training methods to increase their stamina, and changed their technique, giving more importance to the diagonal style. They had also developed a new type of ski wax, the famous brand Swix. At the Holmenkollen competition in 1947, Nils Karlsson won the 18 km. race, followed by three countrymen and two Finns, with the best Norwegian placing seventh, almost four minutes behind the winner.

Karlsson was regarded as the favorite, but after a fast opening section he struggled with the thin air and finished in fifth place, last among the Swedes, save for the Nordic combined entrants. Martin Lundström, a 29-year old from Umeå, had his international breakthrough and won comfortably ahead of Nils Östensson and Gunnar Eriksson. The winner of the Nordic Combined, Heikki Hasu (FIN), was the only skier able to split the Swedish quartet, beating Karlsson by 11 seconds for fourth place. For the Norwegians, the event was a great disappointment. Their best skier, Olav Hagen, came in ninth, beaten by Lundström by over five minutes.

Before 1948, Lundström had been unable to win a Swedish Championship, but this was his great year. Later in the season he won the Holmenkollen 18 km. race followed by four more Swedes, and he would also claim three Swedish titles – 18 km., 30 km. and as a member of his club’s relay team.

PosNumberCompetitorNOCTime
118Martin LundströmSWE1-13:50Gold
250Nils ÖstenssonSWE1-14:22Silver
372Gunnar ErikssonSWE1-16:06Bronze
415Heikki HasuFIN1-16:43
533Nils KarlssonSWE1-16:54
625Sauli RytkyFIN1-18:10
765August KiuruFIN1-18:25
84Teuvo LaukkanenFIN1-18:51
962Olav HagenNOR1-19:05
1064Martti HuhtalaFIN1-19:28
1121Benoît CarraraFRA1-20:03
1276Eero RautiolaFIN1-20:18
1323Olav ØkernNOR1-20:37
1471Olav OddenNOR1-21:35
1573Erling EvensenNOR1-21:40
1656Sven IsraelssonSWE1-21:44
171Reidar NyborgNOR1-21:47
1859Olaf DufsethNOR1-21:50
1934Erik ElmsäterSWE1-22:12
=2058Edi SchildSUI1-22:15
=2055Niklaus StumpSUI1-22:15
2227Severino CompagnoniITA1-22:21
2326Olavi SihvonenFIN1-22:26
2482Pauli SalonenFIN1-22:28
257Max MüllerSUI1-22:40
2632Robert ZurbriggenSUI1-22:51
2722Eilert DahlNOR1-22:52
2867Karl RafreiderAUT1-23:19
2914Alfred PruckerITA1-23:26
3084Theo AllenbachSUI1-23:54
3160Rizzieri RodeghieroITA1-24:12
3213Kåre ØsterdalNOR1-24:20
339Clas HaraldssonSWE1-24:21
3439Alfons SupersaxoSUI1-24:29
3512Cristiano RodeghieroITA1-24:34
3661Josl GstreinAUT1-25:04
3747Marius MoraFRA1-25:06
3828Stefan DziedzicPOL1-25:33
3938Engelbert HundertpfundAUT1-25:41
4030Jaroslav CardalTCH1-25:44
4175Karl BrikerSUI1-25:47
4237René JeandelFRA1-25:57
4310Gottlieb PerrenSUI1-26:27
4483André BuffardFRA1-27:18
4570Hias NoichlAUT1-27:34
465Josef DeutschmannAUT1-27:43
473Tadeusz KwapieńPOL1-27:55
4816Paul BouveretFRA1-28:07
4951András HarangvölgyiHUN1-28:10
5029Alberto TassottiITA1-28:16
5145Tone RazingerYUG1-28:24
5278Arcangelo ChiocchettiITA1-28:36
5311Matevž KordežYUG1-28:37
5463Vincenzo PerruchonITA1-28:50
5544Jože KnificYUG1-29:01
5677Anton PogačnikYUG1-29:08
5736Imre BetákHUN1-29:24
=588Vít Fousek, Sr.TCH1-29:37
=5817Bohumil KosourTCH1-29:37
6046Jaroslav ZajíčekTCH1-29:44
6131Paul HaslwanterAUT1-31:00
6248Józef Daniel KrzeptowskiPOL1-31:05
6380Štefan KovalčíkTCH1-31:06
6469Karl MartitschAUT1-31:19
6554Wendall BroomhallUSA1-31:40
6642Don JohnsonUSA1-32:03
6766Jaroslav KadavýTCH1-32:17
6819Hubert HammerschmidtAUT1-32:47
6935Alojz KlančnikYUG1-33:02
7081Stanisław BukowskiPOL1-34:17
7149Walter JeandelFRA1-34:19
7268František ŠimůnekTCH1-35:21
7357Tom DennieCAN1-35:41
746Ralph Townsend, Jr.USA1-37:12
7579Corey EngenUSA1-37:24
7674Leopold TajnerPOL1-38:45
7724Gordy WrenUSA1-40:12
7841Jaroslav LukešTCH1-41:00
792Christof FrommeltLIE1-42:35
8043Nikola DelevBUL1-43:29
8152Bill IrwinCAN1-44:43
8240Egon MattLIE1-48:41
8353Erwin JehleLIE1-49:26
DNF20Georgi DoykovBUL1