Kristian Henrik Rudolf Sjöberg (20 January 1875 in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

– 1 August 1905 in

Helsingør Helsingør ( , ; ), classically known in English as Elsinore ( ), is a coastal city in northeastern Denmark. Helsingør Municipality had a population of 63,953 on 1 January 2025, making it the 23rd most populated municipality in Denmark. Helsin ...

) was a Swedish

gymnast Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, sh ...

athlete An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...

, and medical student. He competed as the only Swedish participant at the

1896 Summer Olympics The 1896 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad () and commonly known as Athens 1896 (), were the first international Olympic Games held in modern history. Organised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), wh ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

. Sjöberg from 1892 competed for Stockholm AF, and in the same year he held the unofficial Swedish record for the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

with 6.09 metres, even though he completely lacked the support from the Swedish Sports Confederation he refused to see himself omitted from the first Olympic Games. At the

, Sjöberg competed in five different events, one on the athletics track, three in the athletics field and one as a gymnast, on the track he competed in the

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

, his time is unknown and records only show he finished in fourth or fifth place in his heat so didn't qualify for the final. In the athletics field he competed in the discus, his distance is unknown and finished outside the top four, in the

, again his distance is unknown and was placed outside the top four, his best result was in the

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 ...

where he cleared 1.60 metres to finish in fourth place just 5 centimetres short of a medal. Sjöberg also competed in the vault event in the

gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...

with 14 other competitors, in which they had two minutes to carry out as many jumps as they wished, again no score or position is recorded for his efforts. Sjöberg drowned during his summer stay in the eastern

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

town of

in 1905.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sjoberg, Henrik 1875 births 1905 deaths Olympic athletes for Sweden Olympic gymnasts for Sweden Athletes (track and field) at the 1896 Summer Olympics 19th-century sportsmen Gymnasts at the 1896 Summer Olympics Swedish male sprinters Swedish male long jumpers Swedish male artistic gymnasts Olympic male high jumpers Deaths by drowning Sportspeople from Stockholm