Vilhelm Bruno Söderström (28 October 1881 – 1 January 1969) was a Swedish

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete. He competed at the

1906 Intercalated Games The 1906 Intercalated Games or 1906 Olympic Games (), held from 22 April 1906 to 2 May 1906, was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated in Athens, Kingdom of Greece. They were at the time considered to be Olympic Games and were re ...

and

1908 Summer Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an international multi-sport event held in London, England, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were originally schedu ...

in the

javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown as far as possible. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's de ...

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a #bar, bar. Pole jumping was already practiced by the ...

and

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 ...

and won three medals. He also served as the Swedish flag bearer at the 1906 Games. Söderström represented IFK Stockholm. His elder brother Gustaf competed in athletics events at the 1900 Games. Söderström won the pole jump event (as it was called at the time) at the British 1907 AAA Championships. The following year he finished second behind Ed Archibald at the 1908 AAA Championships. Besides athletics, Söderström was a banker and a sports administrator. In 1909, after visiting the United States, he began popularizing

bowling Bowling is a Throwing sports#Target sports, target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a bowling ball, ball toward Bowling pin, pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). Most references to ''bowling'' are ...

in Sweden and building the first bowling venues there. Next year, he founded '' Idrottsbladet'', which soon became the major Swedish sports newspaper, and became its first editor. He later wrote several books in various genres, including fiction.

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* * Swedish male high jumpers Swedish male pole vaulters Swedish male javelin throwers Athletes from Stockholm Olympic silver medalists for Sweden Olympic bronze medalists for Sweden Athletes (track and field) at the 1906 Intercalated Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1908 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Sweden 1881 births 1969 deaths IFK Stockholm athletes Medalists at the 1908 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1906 Intercalated Games Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) {{Sweden-athletics-bio-stub