Rolf Rämgård participated in his first international championship in 1958 when he was 11th over 50 km and 20th over 30 km at the World Championships in Lahti. In the same season he became Swedish champion in the 50 km, a feat he would repeat the following year. In 1959 he joined a “round the world” tour to promote Nordic skiing together with other runners from Sweden and Norway. Rämgård took two medals at the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley. In the 30 km his compatriot Sixten Jernberg was able to cling to an early lead ahead of fast finishing Rämgård, only 13 seconds behind. In the 50 km Rämgård secured the bronze medal in spite of losing two minutes to the two leading Finns. Later in the season he ranked fourth in the 50 km at the Holmenkollen ski festival behind three Norwegians. In his last season, at the 1962 World Championships at Zakopane, he placed seventh in the 50 km. In the same season he had great success, winning the 30 km at the Swedish Ski Games in Falun. The following year Rämgård’s skiing career ended with another attempt to win the Vasa, where he repeated his second place finish of the year before.
In the 1970s Rämgård launched a political career with the Centre Party. He was a Member of Parliament from 1974-85, elected from the Kopparberg county constituency and became minister of sports in the government, and also became the mayor of the municipality of Älvdalen.
Sweden