Bertil Robert Herman Haase Vidarsson (5 June 1923 – 7 July 2014) was a Swedish

pentathlete A pentathlon is a contest featuring five events. The name is derived from Greek: combining the words ''pente'' (five) and -''athlon'' (competition) ( gr, πένταθλον). The first pentathlon was documented in Ancient Greece and was part of t ...

who competed at both Winter and Summer Olympics.Bertil Haase
Swedish Olympic Committee Hasse joined the

Swedish Army The Swedish Army ( sv, svenska armén) is the land force of the Swedish Armed Forces. History Svea Life Guards dates back to the year 1521, when the men of Dalarna chose 16 young able men as body guards for the insurgent nobleman Gusta ...

as a volunteer and attended military school as a

furir Furir (from French '' fourrier'', a person responsible for the feed) is a Swedish military rank (OR5) reintroduced in 2019, after having been abolished in 2009. Duties The ''Furir'' is a Squad Leader at Skill Level B (Intermediate). Promotion fr ...

(private first class). He later retired from the army as a

kapten ''Kapten'' ( en, Captain in the Swedish Army/ Air Force, ''Lieutenant'' in the Navy) is a company grade officer rank. In the army/airforce, it ranks above lieutenant and below major. In the navy, it ranks above sub-lieutenant and below lieuten ...

. Together with

Claes Egnell Claes Robert Herman Vidarsson Egnell (29 January 1916 – 15 January 2012)Willie Grut and Gustaf Lindh he competed in the

1948 Winter Olympics The 1948 Winter Olympics, officially known as the V Olympic Winter Games (german: V. Olympische Winterspiele; french: Ves Jeux olympiques d'hiver; it, V Giochi olimpici invernali; rm, V Gieus olimpics d'enviern) and commonly known as St. Moritz ...

in the winter pentathlon, which was contested as a demonstration event. As an excellent skier, he won both the

downhill Downhill may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Downhill'' (1927 film), a British film by Alfred Hitchcock * ''Downhill'' (2014 film), a British comedy directed by James Rouse * ''Downhill'' (2016 film), a Chilean thriller directed by Patrici ...

and the 10 km cross country disciplines, but lagged behind in

shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missiles c ...

fencing Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, ...

and

horse riding Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding (Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, driving, and vaulting. This broad description includes the ...

. He finished third overall and won the bronze medal. Fellow countrymen Lindh and Grut took the first and second place respectively. Since the winter pentathlon would have no other appearances at the Olympic Games, Haase turned to the modern pentathlon. He was selected for the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, wh ...

and finished 17th individually. In the team contest Sweden was the favourite as it included

Björn Thofelt Björn Thofelt (born 12 June 1935) is a Swedish modern pentathlete. He won and individual world title in 1954 and finished third with the Swedish team. He also competed at the 1956 and 1960 Summer Olympics. In 1956, the Swedish team was a favori ...

and the individual Olympic champion

Lars Hall Lars Göran Ivar Hall (30 April 1927 – 26 April 1991) was a Swedish modern pentathlete who competed at the 1952 and 1956 Summer Olympics. He won the individual event at both Games and finished second with the Swedish team in 1952. In 1952 he ...

. In the first event, horse riding, Thofelt had drawn the lot for a very peculiar horse and eventually suffered from a concussion, after he fell off twice and had to withdraw.Björn Thofelt
Swedish Olympic Committee Consequently, the Swedish team was not ranked. Hasse was also successful at the world championships. He won the team title in 1950, with Lars Hall and

Thor Henning Thor Henning (13 September 1894 – 7 October 1967) was a Swedish breaststroke and freestyle swimmer who won a four medals at the 1912, 1920 and 1924 Summer Olympics. At the 1912 Summer Olympics he came second after German Walter Bathe in the 40 ...

, and placed third in 1954, with Åke Julin and Thofelt. Haase's home club was ''Studenternas Idrottsförening Stockholm''. He completed an engineering study at the

Royal Institute of Technology The KTH Royal Institute of Technology ( sv, Kungliga Tekniska högskolan, lit=Royal Institute of Technology), abbreviated KTH, is a public research university in Stockholm, Sweden. KTH conducts research and education in engineering and technol ...

in Stockholm with a focus on

metallurgical Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the sci ...

and then worked in the metallurgical industry in

Fagersta Fagersta is a locality and the seat of Fagersta Municipality in Västmanland County, Sweden, with 11,130 inhabitants in 2010. Geography The city is located at the junction of two railways between Ludvika-Västerås and Avesta (Krylbo)-Öreb ...

, where he resided until his death in July 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haase, Bertil 1923 births 2014 deaths Swedish male modern pentathletes Olympic modern pentathletes of Sweden Olympic bronze medalists for Sweden Modern pentathletes at the 1956 Summer Olympics Swedish Army officers World Modern Pentathlon Championships medalists Medalists at the 1948 Winter Olympics Sportspeople from Uppsala