Björn Barrefors (born October 27, 1987, in

Uppsala, Sweden Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Located north of the capital Stockholm, it is ...

) is a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

decathlete The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of 10 track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ἄθλος (''áthlos'', or ἄθ� ...

and

heptathlete A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek ἑπτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hep ...

. He attended and competed for the

University of Nebraska A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska. The city covers and had a population of 291,082 as of the 2020 census. It is the state's List of cities in Nebraska, second-most populous city a ...

. Barrefors was a four time first team

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. ...

All-America 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 ...

athlete, gaining the honor twice in the outdoor decathlon (2009 and 2012) and twice for the indoor heptathlon (also in 2009 and 2012). Barrefors was the University of Nebraska's 2013 male student-athlete of the year and is the only four-time academic

Academic All-America The Academic All-America program is a student-athlete recognition program. The program selects an honorary sports team composed of the most outstanding student-athletes of a specific season for positions in various sports—who in turn are give ...

n in the institution of higher learning's history. Of those rare four academic all-American honors, he was a three-time first-team academic all-American with fellow teammate and academic grea
Levi Gipson
Barrefors joins three others in this feat: Karen Jennings
Virginia Stahr
and

Sarah Pavan Sarah Lindsey Pavan (born August 16, 1986) is a Canadian former beach volleyball and indoor volleyball player. She was part of the Canada women's national volleyball team at the 2010 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship in Japan. With Mel ...

. He graduated from the University on May 4, 2013, with a master's degree in computer science.

References

External links

*Barrefors Website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barrefors, Bjorn Living people 1987 births Swedish decathletes Swedish heptathletes University of Nebraska alumni 21st-century Swedish sportswomen Athletes from Uppsala