Karl HOLMSTRÖM

Karl Holmström competed in the years 1943-60 for IFK Kiruna as a ski jumper. His first international appearance was at the 1950 World Championships in Lake Placid, where he placed 16th. At home, he won the ski jumping during the Swedish Ski Games for three consecutive years, 1951-53. Holmström also won the ski jumping competition at the 1951Lahti Games. His best year was 1952, when he became Swedish champion and won the bronze medal at the Winter Olympics in Oslo on the famous Holmenkollen hill. Holmström participated in the very first Four Hills Tournament in Austria and Germany. He had a bad start in the first competition, in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in 1953, when he finished 17th. In Oberstdorf, he placed fifth and he was sixth at his last two competitions, in Innsbruck and Bischofshofen, placing ninth overall ranking. His end was a tragic one, when he was killed in a road accident in 1974.