Anders Olsson (born September 15, 1965, in

Hagfors Hagfors is a locality and the seat of Hagfors Municipality, Värmland County, Sweden with 10,125 inhabitants in 2010. Its history is traced to 1873, when it was decided to build two blast furnaces at the location. The town of Hagfors plays ho ...

) is a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

swimmer and

triathlete A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of Swimming (sport), swimming, Cycle sport, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the t ...

. Olsson is paralysed from the waist down and has barely 50% lung capacity left after the injury.

Career

Olsson began to swim at an early age and he was very promising. But in his early teens he started to have problems with his back, he had been in a weightlifting accident as a child. It was a faulty

vertebra The spinal column, a defining synapomorphy shared by nearly all vertebrates, Hagfish are believed to have secondarily lost their spinal column is a moderately flexible series of vertebrae (singular vertebra), each constituting a characteristi ...

that caused him pain. For a long time he was able to keep up with his athletic life but after several years he had to undergo an

arthrodesis Arthrodesis, also known as artificial ankylosis or syndesis, is the artificial induction of joint ossification between two bones by surgery. This is done to relieve intractable pain in a joint which cannot be managed by pain medication, spli ...

operation. Due to an accident in the home he fell so badly that he tore several muscles in his back. This led to other complications. He had to undergo stomach surgery and because of a failure during the

spinal anaesthesia Spinal anaesthesia (or spinal anesthesia), also called spinal block, subarachnoid block, intradural block and intrathecal block, is a form of neuraxial regional anaesthesia involving the injection of a local anaesthetic or opioid into the subar ...

he had to be treated in a

medical ventilator A ventilator is a piece of medical technology that provides mechanical ventilation by moving breathable air into and out of the lungs, to deliver breaths to a patient who is physically unable to breathe, or breathing insufficiently. Ventilators ...

and this finally led to him being paralysed from the waist down. For several years Olsson was apathetic and got addicted to drugs, such as

morphine Morphine is a strong opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin in poppies (''Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as a pain medication, and is also commonly used recreationally, or to make other illicit opioids. T ...

, and other painkillers. But, in 2002, when a close friend made a bet with him that he would swim the vansbrosimmet an annual 3 km event in a river, his life took a turn for the better. He started to train and when he crossed the finish line he was in the top 100s out of over 3000 competitors. This is a result he later improved as he in 2007 came 9th. In 2004 he competed in the Paralympics in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

where he won one gold medal and two bronze medals. His favorite event is the 400 m freestyle, a distance he was undefeated at and where he is the current world record holder. In 2005 he managed to complete the 90 km long

Vasaloppet ( Swedish for 'the Vasa-race') is an annual long distance cross-country ski race held on the first Sunday of March. The course starts in the village of Berga, just south of Sälen in western Dalarna, Sweden, and ends in the town of Mora in t ...

a crosscountry skiing competition, using a

sled A sled, skid, sledge, or sleigh is a land vehicle that slides across a surface, usually of ice or snow. It is built with either a smooth underside or a separate body supported by two or more smooth, relatively narrow, longitudinal runners ...

. In 2008 he competed in the Paralympics in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

where he won another two gold medals (100 m & 400 m freestyle). He won the annual swim competition at

Alcatraz Alcatraz Island () is a small island in San Francisco Bay, offshore from San Francisco, California, United States. The island was developed in the mid-19th century with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification, and a military pris ...

2011, where he swam from the island to shore. In the 2012 Paralympics he won silver in the 400m freestyle, the first time he had been beaten in this event in a major international competition.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Olsson, Anders 1965 births Living people Paralympic gold medalists for Sweden Paralympic bronze medalists for Sweden Paralympic swimmers for Sweden Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Paralympics World record holders in paralympic swimming Medalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics S6-classified para swimmers Paralympic silver medalists for Sweden Swedish male freestyle swimmers Medalists at the World Para Swimming European Championships Paralympic medalists in swimming