Lars “Lövis” came from Sweden
1955-2016. He was born in 1955 and has used a wheelchair since he was 10 years old. He used a U2 light
For over 30 years, Lars was part of the Swedish world elite in a number of sports. He was a member of the national teams in wheelchair basketball, athletics and sailing. His real breakthrough came in 1972, won a gold medal at the Paralympics and 1973 winning a gold medal at the Swedish wheelchair slalom championships. Wheelchair slalom was one of Lars’ best events for many years. He also defended his gold medal at the 1976 Paralympics in Toronto despite tougher competition.
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Lars “Lövis” was born in 1955. He is best known as a wheelchair athlete, a sprinter, but is truly a man of many talents. Like many of his fellow wheelchair athletes, he began his sporting career at the Norrbackainstitutet in Sweden.Wheelchair basketball was the major sport in those days and Lars began practising and playing with the Norrbacka HIF team. There was no real athletics training to speak of at the time but was more a matter of practising wheelchair skills on a basketball court. Lars quickly established himself as one of the fastest basketball players in the world.
This led Lars to focus his interest on athletics and wheelchair races. At the Swedish athletics championships in Falkenberg in 1970, Lars was a reserve and did not have the opportunity to compete but that was soon to change. In 1971, at the Swedish championships in Strängnäs, he won a bronze medal.
This was followed by more and more serious training. His real breakthrough came in 1973, which he began by winning a gold medal at the Swedish wheelchair slalom championships and later the same year won a gold medal at the Paralympics. Wheelchair slalom was one of Lars’ best events for many years. He also defended his slalom gold medal at the 1976 Paralympics in Toronto despite tougher competition. At the 1980 Paralympics in Arnhem, he won the 100 m wheelchair event and set a new world record. In 1988 in Soul, he won both the 200 m and 1,500 m races. In 1979–1980, Lars studied in the United States, where he was a standout at wheelchair basketball and softball. He was a member of four different Swedish national teams between 1971–2004: wheelchair basketball 1971–1984 and 1994–1997, a total of 190 international matches, took part in the Paralympics, World Championships, European Athletics Championships in 1971–1982 and 1985–1993. He took part in the Paralympics, World, European and Scandinavian Bench-press Championships 1972–1978. He took part in the Paralympics, Scandinavian Sailing Championships 1998–2004. He took part in the Paralympics, World Championships. Lars represented Sweden at eight Paralympics in the years 1972–1988 and 1996–2004 and won a total of twelve medals (5 gold, 4 silver and 3 bronze). The gold medals came in 1972 (when he was 17 years old), 1976, 1980 and 1988.
He has a total of 22 medals from World Championships: 12 gold, 6 silver and 4 bronze. 22 medals from European Championships: 1 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze. 7 medals from Scandinavian Championships: 4 gold and 3 silver. 74 medals from Swedish Championships: 49 gold, 15 silver and 10 bronze. “Lövis” also played on the American softball championship team in 1980 while studying in the United States. Honours: Radiosportens (radio sport) award as the disabled athlete of the year in 1988.
He has travelled by wheelchair, a Panthera X, from Casablanca to Stockholm, a journey of 6,300 km.
He has climbed Mount Kilimanjaro using a Panthera U2 light.
