Vilhelm Bruno Söderström (28 October 1881 – 1 January 1969) was 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 ...

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete. He competed at the

1906 Intercalated Games The 1906 Intercalated Games or 1906 Olympic Games was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated in Athens, Greece. They were at the time considered to be Olympic Games and were referred to as the "Second International Olympic Games i ...

and

1908 Summer Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an international multi-sport event held in London, England, United Kingdom, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were ori ...

in the

javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's decathlon and the ...

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the Myc ...

and

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

and won three medals. He also served as the Swedish flag bearer at the 1906 Games. Söderström represented

IFK Stockholm IFK Stockholm is multi-sports club in Stockholm, Sweden. It is most known for its football team. Background The club was formed 1 February 1895 as IF Kamraterna (IFK) by two young students, Louis Zettersten and Pehr Ehnemark, and was the first I ...

. His elder brother Gustaf competed in athletics events at the 1900 Games. Besides athletics, Söderström was a banker and a sports administrator. In 1909, after visiting the United States, he began popularizing

bowling Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), though ...

in Sweden and building first bowling venues there. Next year he founded ''

Idrottsbladet ''Idrottsbladet'' ( sv, The Sports Gazette) was a sports magazine which existed between 1910 and 2009 in Stockholm, Sweden. During its lifetime it was the largest sports magazine in Scandinavia. History and profile ''Idrottsbladet'' was launched ...

'', which soon became the major Swedish sports newspaper, and became its first editor. He later wrote several books in various genres, including fiction.

References

External links

* Swedish male high jumpers Swedish male pole vaulters Swedish male javelin throwers Athletes from Stockholm Olympic silver medalists for Sweden Olympic bronze medalists for Sweden Athletes (track and field) at the 1906 Intercalated Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1908 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Sweden 1881 births 1969 deaths IFK Stockholm athletes Medalists at the 1908 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1906 Intercalated Games Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) {{Sweden-athletics-bio-stub