 She won a silver medal in the K-4 500 m event at the 1984 Summer Olympics, together with teammates Susanne Wiberg-Gunnarsson, Anna Olsson and Agneta Andersson.Karlsson's husband Thomas Ohlsson won a silver medal in the K-4 1000 m event at those same games.She also won a bronze medal in the K-4 500 m event at the 1981 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Nottingham.