Ulla Lindkvist

Ulla Maria Lindkvist (born August 30, 1939 - † August 6,  2015 ) was a Swedish orienteer . In 1966 she became the first ever individual world champion in orienteering. In total, she won three world titles.

Lindkvist could look back on an impressive career. With one exception, she was able to win a medal in all individual and relay starts at European and World Championships as well as Nordic Championships. At the Nordic Championships in Tampere in 1961 , she won her first medal in front of her compatriot Siri Lundkvist . A relay competition has not yet been held. In 1962 she won her first individual title at the European orienteering championships when she was able to leave Norway behind in Løten Marit Økern . The relay race, which was not yet an official part of the European Championship in 1962, won Lindkvist together with Siri Lundkvist and Emy Gauffin . Another time Lindkvist made history in 1966 in Fiskari, Finland , when she won the first individual world championship title. Lindkvist had a lead of 7:45 minutes on the Swiss Katharina Perch-Nielsen . Two years later, she managed to defend the title. This time she had a lead of 5:40 minutes over Ingrid Hadler from Norway, her constant competitor at international events. In the season with Gun-Britt Nyberg and Kerstin Granstedt , she won silver behind the Norwegians. In 1970 Hadler managed to relegate Lindkvist to second place, for which Lindkvist won relay gold with Birgitta Larsson and Eivor Steen-Olsson . In her last World Cup participation in 1972, she missed the podium. With the season she was second. The following year, she also won the individual title at the Nordic Championships for the fourth time in a row and for the fifth time overall.

With eight consecutive victories in the multi-day orienteering O-rings between 1967 and 1974, she is the most successful athlete in this competition.

Lindkvist started for the OK Tjärnen club . In 1963 she was named Sportswoman of the Year in Sweden with swimmer Ann-Christine Hagberg.

Placements

	World championships			European championships			North. Championships			Swedish championships
year	E.	St.		E.	St.		E.	St.		E.	N	St.
1961							1.
1962				1.	(1.)
1963							2.	2.		1.
1964				3.	1.					1.
1965							2.	2.
1966	1.									1.
1967							1.	1.		1.
1968	1.	2.									1.	1.
1969							1.	1.		1.
1970	2.	1.								1.	1.
1971							1.	2.		1.
1972	4th	2.
1973							1.	3.		1.
Explanation: OWC = overall World Cup / Sp = sprint, KD = short distance, MD = middle distance, LD = long distance, Kl = classic distance, E = individual competition, St = relay, N = night orienteering

Web links

• World Championship results
• Results of the Nordic Championships

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Sveriges första världsmästarinna har lämnat oss ( Memento of the original of August 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.