Göthe Hedlund

Göthe Emanuel Hedlund (31 July 1918 – 15 December 2003) was a Swedish speed skater who was at the world top around World War II.

Göthe Hedlund
Hedlund at the 1948 Olympics
Personal information
Full nameGöthe Emanuel Hedlund
Born31 July 1918
Orkesta, Sweden
Died15 December 2003 (aged 85)
Lidingö, Stockholm, Sweden
Sport
SportSpeed skating
ClubBrunnsvikens SK, Stockholm
Medal record
Representing  Sweden
Olympic Games
1948 St. Moritz 5,000 m
European Championships
1946 TrondheimAll-around
1947 StockholmAll-around
1948 HamarAll-around

Hedlund made his international debut at the 1939 European Allround Championships of Riga, Latvia, finishing 16th. Two weeks later, he participated in the World Allround Championships held in Helsinki, but his times on the first three distances were not good enough to qualify him for the final distance. The start of World War II meant that only very few tournaments were organised, so Hedlund could not compete very often during those years.

When the war was over, Hedlund participated in the first European Allround Championships after the war and promptly became the 1946 European Allround Champion. There were no official World Allround Championships that year, but unofficial World Championships were held in Oslo and Hedlund won silver there. In 1947, Hedlund won European silver behind compatriot Åke Seyffarth. At the 1948 Winter Olympics of St. Moritz, Hedlund won bronze on the 5,000 m behind Norwegian skaters Reidar Liaklev and Odd Lundberg.[1] His last international medal came two weeks later at the European Allround Championships where he won silver, again behind Liaklev.[2]

Hedlund competed internationally until 1952, when he finished in 9th–11th places in the 5,000–10,000 m events at the Winter Olympics. He died in Lidingö in 2003 at the age of 85. His daughter Ylva also became an Olympic speed skater.[1]

National titles

Hedlund won 12 Swedish National titles:

  • 1,500 m: 1947 and 1949.
  • 3,000 m: 1947 and 1949.
  • 5,000 m: 1939, 1947, and 1949.
  • 10,000 m: 1939, 1944, 1945, 1949, and 1950.

Note that Sweden did not have any National Allround Championships from 1935 to 1962 – only National Single Distance Championships.

Personal records

To put these personal records in perspective, the WR column lists the official world records on the dates that Hedlund skated his personal records.[1]

EventResultDateVenueWR
500 m44.510 February 1951Davos41.8
1,000 m1:31.22 February 1941Davos1:28.4
1,500 m2:18.429 January 1948St. Moritz2:13.8
3,000 m4:52.031 January 1942Davos4:49.6
5,000 m8:18.720 January 1951Oslo8:07.3
10,000 m17:23.96 February 1949Davos17:01.5

Hedlund has an Adelskalender score of 192.698 points.

References
  1. Göthe Hedlund. sports-reference.com
  2. Göthe Hedlund. Swedish Olympic Committee


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