Leif Hilding Arrhenius (born 15 July 1986)Prague 2015 bios
/ref> is a professional American-Swedish athlete competing in the

shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...

and

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field sport in which the participant athlete throws an oblate spheroid weight (object), weight called a discus in an attempt to mark a further distance than other competitors. It is a ...

. He represented Team Sweden at two World and three European Championships. In addition, he is the 2011 U.S. Collegiate Indoor Champion.

Early years and dual citizenship

Born in

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

, Arrhenius has dual Swedish and American citizenship. Leif comes from a family of athletes and missionaries (see the "Family of athletes and missionaries" section below), where his great-grandfather, father and brother have all been Olympians.

High school years

In 2003, Arrhenius was ranked 1st nationally in discus, 2nd in the

. In 2004, he was ranked 3rd in both discus and the

hammer throw The hammer throw (HT for short) is one of the four throwing events in regular outdoor track-and-field competitions, along with the discus throw, shot put and Javelin throw, javelin. The hammer used in this sport is not like any of the tools a ...

. By the end of the 2003 season, at the Utah State Track & Field Meet, he threw the discus 37 feet further than second place Kevin Smith of Box Elder High School. In 2004, Arrhenius, while attending Mountain View High School and competing for the Bruins, at the Simplot Games track and field competition in Pocatello,

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

, he broke his own national high school record by 0.75 inches with a toss of his 25-pound

weight throw Weight throw (or Weight for distance) is a traditional strength sport and throwing event derived from ancient Scottish Highland games. Unlike its other counterpart, the Weight over bar which involves a stationary pendulum like swing for height, ...

of 82 feet 7.25 inches. He also set a new

state high school record, while he finished second in the shot put with a toss of 64 feet 3 inches.

University years

Arrhenius represented

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

and competed for the Cougars from 2005 and 2008–2011. He was a seven-time

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

. He was 2011

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

indoor champion in the shot put. In 2010, Arrhenius earned All-American honors at the NCAA Indoor Championships, when he obliterated his personal best in the

, achieving a fourth place finish. In 2011, Arrhenius, at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in

Des Moines Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

, threw the discus, 201 feet 3 inches (or 61.36 meters), that got him second place, and earned him a first-team All-American. He also threw the

, 63 feet 6.75 inches (or 19.37 meters), where he also got second place and first-team All-America accolades. This helped to put BYU in first place at this event. A week later and he was selected as the Mountain West Men's Outdoor Track & Field

Student A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution, or more generally, a person who takes a special interest in a subject. In the United Kingdom and most The Commonwealth, commonwealth countries, a "student" attends ...

Athlete of the Year Athlete of the Year is an award given by various sports organizations for the athlete whom they have determined to be deserving of such recognition. Definition of "athlete" *In many nations, an "athlete" primarily refers to someone who participa ...

. About the event, BYU head track & field coach said, "He did incredible for us, it was an amazing throw and he really competed down to the end. To score 16 points at Nationals is pretty tough to do." Arrhenius was also recruited by the University of Kentucky Wildcats and University of Washington Huskies. BYU head Track & field coach Mark Robison said that Leif was one of the best to ever come out of high school.

Coaching career

In 2013, Leif Arrhenius has again followed in his father's and older brother's footsteps by becoming a coach at Park City High School. Leif's older brother, Nik, was a throws coach/assistant coach at BYU. Leif's father, Anders Arrhenius, has been a volunteer throws coach at BYU. Leif now works for Centennial Middle School in

Provo, Utah Provo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Utah County, Utah, United States. It is south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front, and lies between the cities of Orem, Utah, Orem to the north and Springville, Utah, Springville to the south ...

, as the Boys' P.E. Coach.

Family of athletes and missionaries

Great-grandfather

The great-grandfather of Leif Arrhenius, Bror Aron Axel Arrhenius, started this Legacy, when he took the family name Arrhenius on 5 December 1901. He was conducting the Olympic

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

at the

1912 Summer Olympics The 1912 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad () and commonly known as Stockholm 1912, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, between 6 July and 22 July 1912. The opening ceremony was he ...

in Stockholm and he participated on the Swedish

tug of war Tug of war (also known as tug o' war, tug war, rope war, rope pulling, or tugging war) is a sport in which two teams compete by pulling on opposite ends of a rope, with the goal of bringing the rope a certain distance in one direction against ...

team that won gold medal. It was an exhibition sport for all of the musicians that participated from different countries. In another account, Bror Arrhenius, was the anchor of Team Sweden's tug-of-war team at the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm. Here is an external link to a 43-second video of the 1912 Tug of War competition: *

Father, Anders Hilding Arrhenius

Anders Arrhenius, was born in Sweden in 1947. Then, in 1975, he threw for BYU and received

honors. Anders also went on to qualify for Sweden in the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the ...

Mother, Kristine (née Fowler) Arrhenius

In the early 1970s, Kristine Fowler, who is from Rose Park, Salt Lake City, went to

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 ...

, Sweden, on a church mission, where she first met Anders Arrhenius.

Older brother, Dr. Daniel Anders Arrhenius, PDM

Like Leif, Dan Arrhenius was born in Provo, Utah in 1978. He went to Mountain View High School, where he earned all kinds of awards, honors and championships in the discus and shot put, just like Leif. Dan also did very well at BYU adding the

to the list of events. Dan went on a church mission to

, Sweden, just like his mother and younger brother, Nik. Dan graduated with his degree in Exercise Science, and continued with his schooling to eventually become a

Doctor of Podiatric Medicine A podiatrist ( ) is a medical professional devoted to the treatment of disorders of the foot, ankle, and related structures of the leg. The term originated in North America but has now become the accepted term in the English-speaking world for ...

(DPM).

Older brother, Niklas Bo Arrhenius

Like Leif, Nik Arrhenius was born in Provo, Utah, and went to Mountain View High School, where he earned all kinds of awards, honors and championships in the discus and shot put. Nik graduated from BYU in 2006. Niklas is the current throws coach at

Sister-in-law, Tiffany (née Rasmussen) Arrhenius

In 2004, Leif's brother, Nik, married Tiffany Rasmussen, from

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

, who was also an athlete at BYU. She threw the

Javelin A javelin is a light spear designed primarily to be thrown, historically as a ranged weapon. Today, the javelin is predominantly used for sporting purposes such as the javelin throw. The javelin is nearly always thrown by hand, unlike the sling ...

and graduated in 2007.

Personal life

Arrhenius is a member of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

. He served as a church missionary in the

Taichung Taichung (, Wade–Giles: '), officially Taichung City, is a special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality in central Taiwan. Taichung is Taiwan's second-largest city, with more than 2.85 million residents, making it the largest city in Ce ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

Mission.

Competition record

Personal bests

Outdoor *

Shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...

– 20.50 (Hässleholm 2013) *

Discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field sport in which the participant athlete throws an oblate spheroid weight (object), weight called a discus in an attempt to mark a further distance than other competitors. It is a ...

– 64.46 (Växjö 2011) *

Hammer throw The hammer throw (HT for short) is one of the four throwing events in regular outdoor track-and-field competitions, along with the discus throw, shot put and Javelin throw, javelin. The hammer used in this sport is not like any of the tools a ...

– 63.62 (Provo, Utah 2014) Indoor *

– 20.29 (Copenhagen 2013) *

Weight Throw Weight throw (or Weight for distance) is a traditional strength sport and throwing event derived from ancient Scottish Highland games. Unlike its other counterpart, the Weight over bar which involves a stationary pendulum like swing for height, ...

-21.56 (Fayetteville, Arkansas 2010)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Arrhenius, Leif 1986 births Living people Sportspeople from Provo, Utah Track and field athletes from Utah Swedish male shot putters Swedish male discus throwers American male shot putters American male discus throwers World Athletics Championships athletes for Sweden American people of Swedish descent Swedish people of American descent American Latter Day Saints Swedish Latter Day Saints American Mormon missionaries Swedish Mormon missionaries American Mormon missionaries in Taiwan Mormon missionaries in Taiwan 21st-century Mormon missionaries Brigham Young University alumni BYU Cougars men's track and field athletes BYU Cougars athletes NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships winners 21st-century Swedish sportsmen Spårvägens FK athletes