Eriksson came from Färingsö, an island on Sweden's Lake Mälaren to the West of Stockholm.

He had begun his sporting career as a skier, but switched to bobsled after an encounter with a Swedish bobsleigh team which needed a replacement for injury during an event at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, West Germany, in 1957.

Eriksson went on to make his name in bobsled and was chosen for the Innsbruck 1964 Winter Olympics, the first of six consecutive Games at which he competed and finished 11th in the four-man competition.

By this time, Eriksson had proved an outstanding competitor in domestic events and won the Swedish two man championships in 1965,1966, 1968 and 1970, all representing his club Djurgården IF.

He was called up for Olympic duty again at the Grenoble 1968 Winter Games.

This time, he partnered 50-year-old Eric Wennerberg to 18th place in the two-man.

Thereafter, Eriksson appeared in both two-man and four-man events.

His best Olympic finish was sixth place in the two-man at Sapporo 1972 Games alongside Jan Edvin Johansson.

As the Winter Olympics returned to Innsbruck in 1976, Eriksson was chosen to carry the Swedish flag.

At the Lake Placid 1980 Games, he was again part of the four man team, and they seemed to be on course for a medal before crashing out.

Eriksson returned to the Olympic stage one final time in 1984 at the Sarajevo Games.

At the age of 53, he became the first Swede to take part in six Winter Olympics.

He placed 19th in the two-man bob and 21st in the four-man.

After his competitive career was over, he sold bobsleigh accessories and briefly coached the national team.

He also became involved in developing Sweden’s luge and skeleton sports and remained a member of the national governing Board until 2010.

In 2018, his efforts were recognised with the association’s gold merit medal.

Eriksson was known as "Jatten" (the Jet) but he also enjoyed another nickname.

Although he stood only 1.76 metres tall, Eriksson was dubbed "Giant" after a picture appeared in a newspaper which depicted him apparently carrying the one side of a bobsleigh on his own.

In their tribute, SweSliding said simply "Rest in peace 'Giant' and thank you for all you have done for luge!"