Tommy Limby

– the ski star who became an entrepreneur

In the 1970s, Orsa IF arguably had its strongest ski team ever, featuring Lars-Arne Bölling, Esbjörn Ulvenvall and Tommy Limby. All three had already shown their talent as juniors, and Tommy was among the winners at the 1967 Junior Swedish Championships.

Tommy excelled in long-distance racing and finished second in the Vasaloppet in 1973, and third in 1976 and 1977.

At the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, he placed eighth in the 50 km. His greatest success came at the 1978 World Championships in Lahti, where Sweden won relay gold in the 4 × 10 km. The relay was raced in the classic technique. Tommy skied the third leg and recorded the fastest split time of the day. On the final leg, Thomas Magnusson (who also competed for Orsa for a period) made his decisive move on a climb that still bears his name, pulling away from Finland’s final-leg skier The other two members of the Swedish team were Sven-Åke Lundbäck and Christer Johansson.

After retiring from competitive skiing, Tommy became politically active and was also involved in Orsa’s development in other ways, especially in Grönklitt. Among other things, he founded and ran Limbygården.