Torsten Ullman (27 July 1908 – 11 May 1993) 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 ...

pistol A pistol is a handgun, more specifically one with the chamber integral to its gun barrel, though in common usage the two terms are often used interchangeably. The English word was introduced in , when early handguns were produced in Europe, an ...

shooter Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, Bow and arrow, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or Blowgun, blowpipe). Even the acts of launching Flamethrower, flame, artillery, Dart (missile), darts, ha ...

and entrepreneur, most famous for his gold medal in the 1936

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Olympics, where the Germans were favourites in the free pistol competition but Ullman won by a margin of 15 points. His record score of 559 would still be competitive today in this event. He also won the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

in Free Pistol in 1933, 1935, 1937,

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country in ...

and

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

. Ullman was not a free pistol specialist but rather an all-round shooter, achieving great successes in all three pistol events that existed at the time. In the Rapid Fire competition in Berlin, he won the bronze medal after an extremely rapid shoot-off, and three years later he became World Champion in that event, being one of only four shooters to win major worldwide titles in both 50 m Pistol and 25 m Rapid Fire Pistol. He entered the first World Championship in

25 m Center-Fire Pistol 25 meter center-fire pistol is one of the ISSF shooting events, and is normally a men-only event. Its origin lies in competitions with military-style service pistols, and as such its history dates back to the 19th century. 25 meter pistol (forme ...

, surprisingly with a

Smith & Wesson Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (S&W) is an American firearm manufacturer headquartered in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States. Smith & Wesson was founded by Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson as the "Smith & Wesson Revolver Company" in 1856 ...

revolver A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating handgun that has at least one barrel and uses a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold up to six roun ...

, and won by seven points, causing a worldwide revolver hype. He repeated this victory in

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

. Ullman was one of the first sport shooters to take practice and preparation to a scientific level, which he himself always claimed was a main reason for his success. In 1937, he received the

Svenska Dagbladet ''Svenska Dagbladet'' (, "The Swedish Daily News"), abbreviated SvD, is a daily newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden. History and profile The first issue of ''Svenska Dagbladet'' appeared on 18 December 1884. During the beginning of the ...

gold medal for the greatest Swedish sports achievement of the year. He is the only pistol shooter to have received this prestigious award. Besides his shooting career, Ullman worked with pistol development, and co-authored a widely spread book on shooting with

Lev Weinstein Lev Matveyevich Vainshtein (also "Vaynshteyn" and "Lew Weinstein"; 12 March 1916 – 25 December 2004) was a Soviet world champion and Olympic bronze medalist in shooting. Early life Weinstein was born into a Jewish family from Yekaterinbur ...

. He also started a mechanical industry on Helgö outside

Växjö Växjö ( ) is a city and the seat of Växjö Municipality, Kronoberg County, Sweden. It had 70,489 inhabitants (2019) out of a municipal population of 95,995 (2021). It is the administrative, cultural, and industrial centre of Kronoberg County ...

Småland Småland () is a historical province () in southern Sweden. Småland borders Blekinge, Scania, Halland, Västergötland, Östergötland and the island Öland in the Baltic Sea. The name Småland literally means ''Small Lands''. The Latinized fo ...

. It was later moved to

Moheda Moheda is a locality situated in Alvesta Municipality, Kronoberg County, Sweden with 1,824 inhabitants in 2010. Notable natives *Sven Nykvist *Torsten Ullman *Torsten Hägerstrand *Mats Wilander (from Torpsbruk in Moheda Parish A parish is a ...

and developed a few filials. Today this industry has been purchased by

Finnveden AB Finnveden or Finnheden is one of the ancient ''small lands'' of Småland. It corresponded to the hundreds of Sunnerbo Hundred, Östbo Hundred and Västbo Hundred. Finnveden had its own judicial system and laws, as did the other ''small lands''. ...

. Ullman was educated from 1925 to 1927 at

Sherborne School (God and My Right) , established = 705 by Aldhelm, re-founded by King Edward VI 1550 , closed = , type = Public school Independent, boarding school , religion = Church of England , president = , chair_label = Chairman of the governors , ...

in Dorset, UK. On leaving Sherborne School he attended

Clare College Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refounded ...

, Cambridge University and then

Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in opera ...

in Sweden. Ullman was married twice, and several of his children have been successful shooters. His youngest daughter

Marie-Louise Ullman Marie Louise or Marie-Louise may refer to: People * Marie Louise of Orléans (1662–1689), daughter of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, queen consort of Charles II of Spain * Marie Louise of Hesse-Kassel (1688–1765), daughter of Charles I, Landgrav ...

won the European Junior Championships in 10 m air pistol in 1992.Torsten Ullman
Swedish Olympic Committee

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ullman, Torsten 1908 births 1993 deaths Sport shooters from Stockholm Swedish male sport shooters Olympic shooters of Sweden ISSF pistol shooters Shooters at the 1936 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 1948 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 1952 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 1956 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 1960 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Sweden Olympic bronze medalists for Sweden Olympic medalists in shooting Medalists at the 1936 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics 20th-century Swedish people