Björn Hellberg (born 4 August 1944) is a Swedish

sports journalist Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in a par ...

, author, tennis

oracle An oracle is a person or thing considered to provide insight, wise counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. If done through occultic means, it is a form of divination. Descript ...

and TV personality, best known as co-host and referee of the television show '' På spåret''. He was born in

Borås Borås ( , , ) is a city (officially, a locality) and the seat of Borås Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 114,556 inhabitants in 2024. It is widely known for being a textile city, home to worldwide brands and companie ...

, Sweden, but his family soon moved to

Laholm Laholm () is a town and the seat of Laholm Municipality, Halland County, Sweden, with 6,527 inhabitants in 2015. Laholm is, despite its small population, for historical reasons often still referred to as a ''city''. In the 13th century, Laholm w ...

. Although he participated as a competitor during the early years of ''På spåret'', later (in the team in which Bengt Grive and Mats Strandberg also participated), he turned out to be an "oracle" in all possible subjects outside tennis, his absolute favorite subject. Together with his friend, the equally esteemed Swedish television celebrity

Ingvar Oldsberg Ingvar Gunnar Oldsberg (31 March 194510 February 2022) was a Swedish television presenter and sports journalist. Early life Oldsberg was born on 31 March 1945 in Annedal Parish, Gothenburg. Oldsberg grew up in Mölnlycke outside Gothenburg. On ...

, Hellberg has participated in many other television programmes. During the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held i ...

1992 in

Albertville Albertville (; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Arbèrtvile'') is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Savoie Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It is best k ...

, Hellberg and Oldsberg became a television pair who were so impressed by the Norwegian successes there, that they gave each other Norwegian names and told the viewers that they had to emigrate and become Norwegians, in a playful tone. Oldsberg gave Hellberg the Norwegian name "Hellbakken". Hellberg lives in Laholm and has also become an honorary citizen of this town in

Halland Halland () is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap''), on the western coast of Götaland, southern Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Småland, Skåne, Scania and the sea of Kattegat. Until 1645 and the Second Treaty of Br ...

, Sweden, where a street has been named after him – ''Hellbakken'', the nickname Oldsberg had given him during the 1992 Winter Olympics. Hellberg is also an author of several crime novels, initially inspired by Stieg Trenter, some of which have been translated to other languages. In 2011, Hellberg became a Hall of Fame member at ''Svenska Tennismuséet'', in

Båstad Båstad () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Båstad Municipality, Scania County, Sweden, with approximately 5,000 permanent residents. It is however one of Sweden's most typical summer resorts. The population is presumably mor ...

He has at several occasions expressed sympathies for

Sunderland FC Sunderland Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1879, the club has won si ...

. He is sometimes seen at

Örjans Vall Örjans Vall is a association football, football stadium in Halmstad, Sweden, built in 1922. History The stadium was originally named ''Halmstads Idrottsplats'' (eng: Halmstad's Sports Ground), and was inaugurated by Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden, ...

watching Halmstad BK (and also Laholm's own small club at home).

Partial bibliography

* "Gråt i mörker" (1981) * "Födde: en dotter" (1988) * "Dråpslaget" (1992) * "Rovlystnad" (1993) * "Inte önskvärd" (1994) * "Slutkört" (1995) * "Då dagboken dog" (1996) * "Gräddhyllan" (1997) * "Förhäxad" (1998) * "Hedersmord" (1998), (In Dutch, "Eremoord") * "Panelhönan" (1999), (In Dutch, "Voyeur") * "Misstaget" (2000) * "Tacksägelsen" (2000) * "Hotelldöd" (2001) * "Den grå" (2001) * "Funny Fanny" (2002) * "Paria" (2003) * "Karaoke" (2004) * "Dominans" (2005) * "Dödslängtan" (2006) * "Trofésamlaren" (2007) * "Nattvandraren" (2008) * "Den flerfaldige mördaren" (2010) * "Sankte Per" (2012) * "Skarprättaren" (2012) * "Skumrask" (2013) * "De tysta" (2014) * "De hatiska" (2015) * "Dödsdrycken" (2016) * "Likspett" (2017) * "Narrspegel" (2020) * "Lastbart" (2021) * "Vena Amoris" (2022) * "Den ultimata stölden" (2023) * "Rendezvous" (2024)

References

External links

The personal site of Björn Hellberg
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hellberg, Bjorn Swedish sports journalists Swedish sports broadcasters Living people Swedish male writers Swedish television personalities 1944 births 20th-century Swedish journalists 21st-century Swedish journalists People from Borås