Ture Wilhelm "Thor" Axelsson (3 July 1921 – 2 August 2012) was a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

sprint canoer who competed in the late 1940s. He won two bronze medals at the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, earning them in the K-2 1000 m and K-2 10000 m events. He was born in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

. Axelsson also won a gold medal in the K-2 500 m event at the

1948 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships The 1948 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships were held in London, Great Britain. This event was held under the auspices of the International Canoe Federation, formed in 1946 from the Internationale Repräsentantenschaft Kanusport (IRK). The men's ...

in London. Note that the K-2 500 m event did not become an official event at the Summer Olympics until the 1976 Games in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

. The event has been on the Olympic program since then.

References

* *
Thor Axelsson's profile at Sports Reference.com
1921 births 2012 deaths Sportspeople from Helsinki Canoeists at the 1948 Summer Olympics Finnish male canoeists Olympic canoeists of Finland Olympic bronze medalists for Finland Olympic medalists in canoeing ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships medalists in kayak {{Finland-canoe-bio-stub Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics