The Most Famous

ATHLETES from Sweden

This page contains a list of the greatest Swedish Athletes. The pantheon dataset contains 6,025 Athletes, 141 of which were born in Sweden. This makes Sweden the birth place of the 6th most number of Athletes behind United Kingdom, and France.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Swedish Athletes of all time. This list of famous Swedish Athletes is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Swedish Athletes.

1. Sigfrid Edström (1870 - 1964)

With an HPI of 59.24, Sigfrid Edström is the most famous Swedish Athlete. His biography has been translated into 33 different languages on wikipedia.

Johannes Sigfrid Edström (11 November 1870 – 18 March 1964) was a Swedish industrialist, chairman of the Sweden-America Foundation, and fourth president of the International Olympic Committee.

2. Eric Lemming (1880 - 1930)

With an HPI of 55.65, Eric Lemming is the 2nd most famous Swedish Athlete. His biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

Eric Otto Valdemar Lemming (22 February 1880 – 5 June 1930) was a Swedish track and field athlete who competed at the 1900, 1906, 1908 and 1912 Olympics in a wide variety of events, which mostly involved throwing and jumping. He had his best results in the javelin throw, which he won at the 1906–1912 Games, and in which he set multiple world records between 1899 and 1912. His last record, measured at 62.32 m, was ratified by the International Association of Athletics Federations as the first official world record. Javelin throw was not part of the 1900 Olympics, where Lemming finished fourth in the hammer throw, high jump and pole vault. At the 1906 Intercalated Games he won a gold medal in the javelin throw and three bronze medals, in the shot put, tug of war and ancient pentathlon, which consisted of a standing long jump, discus throw (ancient style), javelin throw, 192 m run, and a Greco-Roman wrestling match. He also finished fourth in the discus throw and stone throwing contests. At the 1908 Olympics, Lemming won two gold medals in two types of javelin throw, and finished eighth in the hammer throw. He won another gold medal in the javelin at his last Olympics in 1912, where his half-brother Oscar placed tenth in pentathlon. Lemming died on 5 June 1930 at the age of 50.

3. Klas Lestander (1931 - 2023)

With an HPI of 53.00, Klas Lestander is the 3rd most famous Swedish Athlete. His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Klas Ivar Vilhelm Lestander (18 April 1931 – 13 January 2023) was a Swedish biathlete who won a gold medal at the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley. Lestander started as a cross-country skier, but he was also an experienced hunter, and thus ended up with biathlon. At the 1960 Olympics he placed 15th out of 30 in skiing, but became the first international competitor to ever hit all 20 targets, and hence won the gold medal. His rival Aleksandr Privalov needed to clear three targets out of five at the last post to win the event, but managed only two, and ended up with a bronze medal. Meanwhile, the fastest skier Victor Arbez hit only 2 targets out of 20, and placed 25th overall. Next year Lestander finished ninth individually at the World Championships in Umeå and third with the Swedish team. He retired the same year, never winning a Swedish Championship. Lestander lived all his life in Arjeplog, where a square is named after him. He was a cousin of the forest worker and Left Party Member of Parliament Paul Lestander. His son, Dan Lestander, was an artist and won the snow sculpture contest at the Olympic Arts Festival in Albertville, France, in 1992. Lestander died at his home in Arjeplog on 13 January 2023, at the age of 91.

4. Oscar Swahn (1847 - 1927)

With an HPI of 52.40, Oscar Swahn is the 4th most famous Swedish Athlete. His biography has been translated into 29 different languages.

Oscar Gomer Swahn (20 October 1847 – 1 May 1927) was a Swedish shooter who competed at three Olympic games and won six medals, including three gold. Swahn holds records as the oldest Olympian at the time of competition, the oldest person to win gold, and the oldest athlete to win an Olympic medal.

5. Henrik Sjöberg (1875 - 1905)

With an HPI of 52.15, Henrik Sjöberg is the 5th most famous Swedish Athlete. His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Kristian Henrik Rudolf Sjöberg (20 January 1875 in Stockholm – 1 August 1905 in Helsingør) was a Swedish athlete, gymnast and medical student. He competed as the only Swedish participant at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens. Sjöberg from 1892 competed for Stockholm AF, and in the same year he held the unofficial Swedish record for the long jump with 6.09 metres, even though he completely lacked the support from the Swedish Sports Confederation he refused to see himself omitted from the first Olympic Games. At the 1896 Summer Olympics, Sjöberg competed in five different events, one on the athletics track, three in the athletics field and one as a gymnast, on the track he competed in the 100 metres, his time is unknown and records only show he finished in fourth or fifth place in his heat so didn't qualify for the final. In the athletics field he competed in the discus, his distance is unknown and finished outside the top four, in the long jump, again his distance is unknown and was placed outside the top four, his best result was in the high jump where he cleared 1.60 metres to finish in fourth place just 5 centimetres short of a medal. Sjöberg also competed in the vault event in the gymnastics with 14 other competitors, in which they had two minutes to carry out as many jumps as they wished, again no score or position is recorded for his efforts. Sjöberg drowned during his summer stay in the eastern Denmark town of Helsingør in 1905.

6. Nils von Kantzow (1885 - 1967)

With an HPI of 52.06, Nils von Kantzow is the 6th most famous Swedish Athlete. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Nils Gustav von Kantzow (30 August 1885 – 7 February 1967) was a Swedish gymnast who competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics. He was a member of the Swedish team that won the all-around gold medal. He was born in a noble family and reached the rank of captain in the Swedish Army in 1916. In 1910 von Kantzow married Carin Axelina Hulda Fock, but they were later separated. Their only child, Thomas von Kantzow, was born in 1912. A few days after their divorce in December 1922, Carin married the German airline pilot Hermann Göring, who later became a leader of the Nazi Party.

7. Karl Staaf (1881 - 1953)

With an HPI of 51.83, Karl Staaf is the 7th most famous Swedish Athlete. His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Karl Gustaf Vilhelm Staaf (April 6, 1881 – February 15, 1953) was a Swedish track and field athlete and tug of war competitor who competed at the 1900 Summer Olympics. He was born in Stockholm and died in Motala. He finished seventh in the pole vault competition and fifth in the hammer throw event. In the triple jump event and in the standing triple jump event his exact results are unknown. He also participated on the Dano-Swedish tug of war team which won the gold medal against opponents France. These were the first Olympic gold medals for Sweden. Staaf represented Djurgårdens IF.

8. August Nilsson (1872 - 1921)

With an HPI of 51.82, August Nilsson is the 8th most famous Swedish Athlete. His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

August Nilsson (October 15, 1872 in Trollenäs – May 23, 1921 in Stockholm) was a Swedish track and field athlete and tug of war competitor who competed at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris, France.

9. Erik Lundqvist (1908 - 1963)

With an HPI of 51.48, Erik Lundqvist is the 9th most famous Swedish Athlete. His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Erik Hjalmar Lundqvist (29 June 1908 – 7 January 1963) was a Swedish athlete who won a gold medal in the javelin throw at the 1928 Summer Olympics. Two weeks later he became the first man to break the 70 m barrier, setting a new world record at 71.01 m.

10. John Ljunggren (1919 - 2000)

With an HPI of 51.48, John Ljunggren is the 10th most famous Swedish Athlete. His biography has been translated into 25 different languages.

John Arthur Ljunggren (9 September 1919 – 13 January 2000) was a Swedish race walker. He competed in the 50 kilometer event at the 1948, 1952, 1956, 1960 and 1964 Olympics and finished in first, ninth, third, second and 16th place, respectively. At the European Championships he won a gold medal in 1946, a silver medal in 1950, and finished fourth in 1954 and fifth in 1962. Ljunggren got used to long walks as a child, along with his brothers Verner and Gunnar, as they did not have bicycles. He was known for his walking technique, and was never disqualified during his 499 races. He also competed nationally in cycling, orienteering, running and cross-country skiing. Ljunggren was used to hot, but not cold weather; so he got cramps in the cold Helsinki at the 1952 Olympics and finished ninth. At the 1960 Games in Rome, a friendly race official poured a bucket of ice water close to the finish; Ljunggren cramped again and finished second. At the 1956 Olympics he got a bad infection in a toe before the final race, yet managed to finish third. Ljunggren continued race walking until 1984, and won the 20 km event at the 1977 World Championships in the masters category. An accountant by trade, he was deeply religious.

People

Pantheon has 236 people classified as Swedish athletes born between 1847 and 2003. Of these 236, 123 (52.12%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Swedish athletes include Patrik Sjöberg, Magdalena Forsberg, and Anders Gärderud. The most famous deceased Swedish athletes include Sigfrid Edström, Eric Lemming, and Klas Lestander. As of April 2024, 92 new Swedish athletes have been added to Pantheon including Janne Lundblad, Bengt Eriksson, and Konrad Granström.