Lennart Per-Olav Hedmark (born 18 May 1944) is a retired

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 eve ...

athlete who competed in the decathlon. He represented his country at the 1968, 1972 and 1976 Summer Olympics with the best result of eighth place in 1976.Lennart Hedmark
Sports Reference. Retrieved on 7 May 2011. He started his career as a

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 wom ...

specialist and claimed three straight titles in the event at the Swedish Championships from 1963 to 1965.Swedish Championships
GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 7 May 2011. He was selected to compete at the 1964 Summer Olympics, but did not start the competition. His first international medal came at the

1965 Summer Universiade The 1965 Summer Universiade, also known as the IV Summer Universiade, took place in Budapest, Hungary. Sports at the 1965 Summer Universiade * Athletics * Basketball * Diving * Fencing * Gymnastics * Swimming * Tennis * Volleyball * Water polo ...

, where he was the bronze medallist.Summer Universiade (Men)
GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 7 May 2011. Hedmark changed his focus to combined events in 1967 and he was one of his region's dominant athletes over his career: he had four consecutive victories in the Nordic Combined Events Championships from 1967 to 1970, and in a decade of national competition he won seven Swedish decathlon titles in addition to five titles in the pentathlon. At the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport eve ...

he came eleventh in the decathlon. International medals came at the

1970 Summer Universiade The 1970 Summer Universiade, also known as the VI Summer Universiade, took place in Turin, Italy. After the city of Lisbon, Portugal failed to host the 1969 Summer Universiade, the games were assigned to Turin to be held next year. Sports at ...

, where he took the

silver Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...

behind

Mykola Avilov Mykola Viktorovych Avilov ( uk, Микола Вікторович Авілов, russian: link=no, Николай Викторович Авилов, born 6 August 1948) is a retired Ukrainian Soviet decathlete (Odessa) who competed at the 1968, 1 ...

, and at the

1971 European Athletics Championships The 10th (X) European Athletics Championships were held from 10 August to 15 August 1971 in the Olympic Stadium of Helsinki, the capital of Finland. Contemporaneous reports on the event were given in the Glasgow Herald. Men's results ...

, finishing as runner-up to the defending champion

Joachim Kirst Joachim Kirst (born 21 May 1947, in Neustadt/Harz) is a retired East German decathlete The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word " pent ...

. He made his second Olympic appearance at the 1972 Munich Games, but he did not manage to finish the competition. The following year he was the inaugural winner of the European Combined Events Cup. His best performance of the year came in

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...

and his total of 8163 points was the best by any athlete that year. Hedmark's final major appearance came at the

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 P ...

and had his best Olympic outing with a score of 8002 for eighth place. Although he never won a major title, Hedmark's career was one of the most prolific as he competed in a total of 76 combined events competitions. This was the greatest number ever for a top level athlete at the time and remains among the highest totals; Kip Janvrin bettered this achievement and was himself succeeded by

Roman Šebrle Roman Šebrle (; born 26 November 1974) is a retired decathlete from the Czech Republic. He is considered to be one of the best decathlon athletes of all time. Originally a high jumper, he later switched to the combined events and is a former worl ...

, who completed over 100 appearances. Hedmark is now the fourth most prolific combined eventer after Janvrin, Šebrle and

Tomáš Dvořák Tomáš Dvořák (), born 11 May 1972 in Gottwaldov (now Zlín), Czechoslovakia, is an athlete from the Czech Republic. He competed in the decathlon and heptathlon for the team ''Dukla Prague''. He is a three-time decathlon ...

. He married Briton Linda Knowles, a fellow top class European athlete.Linda Knowles
Sports Reference. Retrieved on 7 May 2011.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hedmark, Lennart Living people 1944 births People from Skellefteå Municipality Swedish male javelin throwers Swedish decathletes Olympic athletes of Sweden Athletes (track and field) at the 1968 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics European Athletics Championships medalists Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade silver medalists for Sweden Universiade bronze medalists for Sweden Medalists at the 1965 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 1970 Summer Universiade Sportspeople from Västerbotten County

See also

References