Niklas Arrhenius (born September 10, 1982) is an American-Swedish

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 who competes in the

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field event in which an athlete throws a heavy disk (mathematics), disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than their competitors. It is an classical antiqui ...

and

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

. He represented Sweden in the discus at

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

, was a four-time competitor at the

World Athletics Championships The World Athletics Championships (until 2019 known as the World Championships in Athletics) are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics (formerly IAAF, International Association of Athletics Federations). Alongside the Ol ...

(2007, 2011, 2013, 2017), and competed at five consecutive editions of the

European Athletics Championships The European Athletics Championships is a biennial (from 2010) athletics event organised by the European Athletics Association and is recognised as the elite continental outdoor athletics championships for Europe. Editions First held, for men ...

from 2006 to 2016. At the

Swedish Athletics Championships The Swedish Athletics Championships ( sv, Svenska mästerskapen i friidrott) is an annual outdoor track and field competition organised by the Swedish Athletics Association, which serves as the national championship for the sport in Sweden.

he won seven national titles in discus, and was an eight-time champion in the shot put (combined indoors and outdoors). Arrhenius is the son of Anders Arrhenius, who competed internationally in the

for Sweden. Niklas' younger brother,

Leif Arrhenius Leif Arrhenius (born 15 July 1986 in Provo, Utah) is a professional Swedish athlete competing in the shot put and discus throw. He represented his country at two World and three European Championships. In addition, he is the 2011 US Collegiate In ...

is also a thrower. Arrhenius was born in

Provo, Utah Provo ( ) is the fourth-largest city in Utah, United States. It is south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front. Provo is the largest city and county seat of Utah County and is home to Brigham Young University (BYU). Provo lies between the ...

but has dual citizenship. While competing for Mountain View High School in

Orem, Utah Orem is a city in Utah County, Utah, United States, in the northern part of the state. It is adjacent to Provo, Lindon, and Vineyard and is approximately south of Salt Lake City. Orem is one of the principal cities of the Provo-Orem, Utah Me ...

, Niklas was the national high school record holder for the discus for eight years, with a throw of 234 feet and 3 inches (breaking the previous record by nearly nine feet). He attended

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

where he was on the track and field team. Arrhenius is a

Latter-day Saint Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...

. He served as an

LDS missionary Missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church)—widely known as Mormon missionaries—are volunteer representatives of the church who engage variously in proselytizing, church service, humanitarian aid, and communi ...

in the Sweden Stockholm

Mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

. Having competed for Sweden internationally for most of his career, he transferred his eligibility to the United States in 2020.Transfers of allegiance - Decisions of the World Athletics Nationality Review Panel in 2020 (as of 8 May 2020)
World Athletics (2020-05-08). Retrieved 2020-05-30.

Competition record

National titles

**Shot put: 2009, 2010, 2011 **Discus throw: 2004, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 * Swedish Indoor Athletics Championships **Shot put: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2018 * NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships *

Discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field event in which an athlete throws a heavy disk (mathematics), disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than their competitors. It is an classical antiqui ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

Personal bests

* Discus throw: 66.22 m (2011)66.46m 2020 * Shot put: 19.75 m (2010) * Shot put indoor: 19.91 m (2004)

References

* 1982 births Living people Sportspeople from Provo, Utah Track and field athletes from Utah Swedish male shot putters Swedish male discus throwers American male shot putters American male discus throwers Olympic athletes of Sweden Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics BYU Cougars men's track and field athletes Mormon missionaries in Sweden American Mormon missionaries in Sweden Swedish Mormon missionaries Latter Day Saints from Utah Swedish Latter Day Saints 21st-century Mormon missionaries American people of Swedish descent Swedish people of American descent {{sweden-athletics-bio-stub

Competition record

National titles

Personal bests

See also

References