Olof Arne Hegerfors (; 4 July 1942 – 29 January 2024) was a Swedish sports journalist and television presenter. He had a long career in television spanning from television presenter on

Sveriges Television Sveriges Television AB ("Sweden's Television aktiebolag, Stock Company"), shortened to SVT (), is the Sweden, Swedish national public broadcasting, public television broadcaster, funded by a public service tax on personal income set by the Riksd ...

and to sports commentator on Canal Plus.

Early life

Hegerfors was born on 4 July 1942 in

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

, Sweden, the son of Torsten Hegerfors, a university lecturer, and his wife Anna Maria (). He was the brother of the journalist, cartoonist and author . He passed ''

studentexamen Studentexamen (Swedish for "students' examination" or "students' degree"), earlier also ''mogenhetsexamen'' ("maturity examination") was the name of the university entrance examination in Sweden from the 17th century to 1968. From 1862 to 1968, ...

'' in 1964 and completed university studies in Gothenburg between 1966 and 1967.

Career

Hegerfors began his career as an employee at ''

Göteborgs Handels- och Sjöfartstidning ''Göteborgs Handels- och Sjöfartstidning'' (GHT) was a daily newspaper published in Gothenburg, Sweden, from 1832 to 1985. History and profile ''Göteborgs Handels- och Sjöfartstidning'' was founded in 1832 by publisher Magnus Prytz and had ...

'' from 1964 to 1966 and at ''

Kvällsposten (''The Express'') is one of two nationwide evening List of Swedish newspapers, newspapers in Sweden. Describing itself as independent liberal, was founded in 1944; its symbol is a wasp and its slogans are "it stings" or " to your rescue". The ...

'' in 1966. He worked at

Sveriges Radio Sveriges Radio Aktiebolag, AB (; "Sweden's Radio") is Sweden's national publicly funded radio programming, radio broadcaster. Sveriges Radio is a public limited company, owned by an independent foundation, previously funded through a television ...

in Gothenburg from 1967 to 1969 and at the sports section of

(SVT) 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 ...

from 1969. Hegerfors is mostly known as a sports commentator on SVT and Canal Plus from 1969 until 2011. He was awarded the

Stora Journalistpriset Stora Journalistpriset ("The Swedish Grand Prize for Journalism") is an annual Swedish award, founded in 1966 by Bonnier AB, given to "recognize achievement in journalism". The prize money is SEK 100,000 and is awarded in four categories: * Sc ...

in 1992. Hegerfors had a promising career in football and had a contract offer from a French football club,

OGC Nice Olympique Gymnaste Club de Nice (), commonly referred to as OGC Nice or simply Nice, is a French professional association football, football club based in Nice. The club was founded in 1904 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the top tier of Footb ...

. But after a serious knee injury he could not play any more and moved on to a career in journalism.

Lars-Gunnar Björklund Lars-Gunnar Björklund (24 February 1937 – 30 November 2012) was a Swedish radio and TV journalist. He was famous as a sports reporter, especially reporting from Vasaloppet and the Ice Hockey World Championships. Early life Björklund was bor ...

started a sports department at SVT (known as Sveriges Radio-TV until 1979) in Gothenburg and recruited Hegerfors. In 2000, Hegerfors appeared in

Markoolio Marko Kristian Lehtosalo (born 1 January 1975), better known as Markoolio, is a Sweden Finns, Swedish-Finnish singer, songwriter, rapper, actor, and comedian. His stage name Markoolio is a portmanteau of his first name ''Marko'' and the stage na ...

's music video for his song "Mera mål", where he acted as himself. He has also presented entertainment shows for SVT, like . He won the Swedish television

Kristallen Kristallen () is the official annual Swedish television award, administered by the foundation . It was created in 2005 by television producers SVT, TV3, TV4, Kanal 5 and UR. The trophy The award trophy, created by Mårten Claesson, Eero ...

s Honour Award in 2008. Hegerfors made several memorable commentaries in ice hockey and football matches. He was SVT's correspondent at the

Heysel Stadium disaster The Heysel Stadium disaster ( ; ; ) was a crowd disaster on 29 May 1985, when Juventus fans were escaping from an attack by Liverpool fans while they were pressed against a wall in the Heysel Stadium in Brussels, Belgium, before the start of ...

in 1985 when 39 people died and 376 were injured during a

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

final between

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

and

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

. He also commentated on the basketball final between the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

at the 1972 Olympic Games which the Soviet Union won 50–49 after a disputed refereeing decision in the last seconds. Hegerfors was also known for making entertaining jokes as a commentator. He retired in 2011. Between 1993 and 1996, Hegerfors was the television presenter for the SVT show '' Det kommer mera'', along with

Martin Timell Carl Martin Timell (born 13 November 1957 in Östermalm) is a Swedish television presenter. He started his career as a television host on SVT in the 1980s, hosting several entertainment and children's programs. In 1996, he moved to TV4 where h ...

. Hegerfors also published one book, entitled ''Ralf: en gör så gôtt en kan!'' ("Ralf: he does his very best").

Personal life

In 1983, he married Kerstin Johansson (born 1953), the daughter of district veterinarian Algot Johansson and nurse Ingrid (née Montelius). He had met his future wife in 1978. The couple had two children together. Hegerfors also had a child from a previous marriage. Hegerfors died on 29 January 2024, at the age of 81 following a brain tumour. He had previously had both a heart attack and a stroke within a period of four years.

Bibliography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hegerfors, Arne 1942 births 2024 deaths Mass media people from Gothenburg Swedish sports broadcasters Swedish sports journalists Swedish television presenters