Björn Thofelt (born 12 June 1935) is a Swedish

modern pentathlete The modern pentathlon is an Olympic multisport that consists of five events: fencing (one-touch épée followed by direct elimination), freestyle swimming, obstacle course racing, laser pistol shooting, and cross country running. The sport wa ...

. He won and individual world title in 1954 and finished third with the Swedish team. He also competed at the

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...

and

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly known as Rome 1960 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 25 August to 11 September 1960 in Rome, Italy. Rome had previously been awar ...

. In 1956, the Swedish team was a favorite, as it included the 1952 and 1956 Olympic champion

Lars Hall Lars Göran Ivar Hall (30 April 1927 – 26 April 1991) was a Swedish modern pentathlete who competed at the 1952 and 1956 Summer Olympics. He won the individual event at both Games and finished second with the Swedish team in 1952. In 1952 he ...

. However, Thofelt had drawn the lot for a very peculiar horse in the equestrian event; he fell twice, suffered a concussion, and had to withdraw. At the 1960 Olympics he injured his hand, and finished 30th individually and sixth with the team. His father

Sven Sven is a Scandinavian masculine first name. In Old Norse the meaning was "young man" or "servant" and the original Old Norse spelling was ''sveinn''. Variants such as '' Svend'' are found in Danish and Norwegian. Another variant, '' Svein'' ...

was the Olympic champion in modern pentathlon in 1928; he was also President of the

Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne The International Modern Pentathlon Union (''Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne),'' commonly known by the acronym UIPM, has been the international governing body of modern pentathlon since its foundation in London in 1948. Its headquar ...

and the Swedish team leader at the 1956 Olympics.

References

1935 births Living people Swedish male modern pentathletes Olympic modern pentathletes for Sweden Modern pentathletes at the 1956 Summer Olympics Modern pentathletes at the 1960 Summer Olympics Modern pentathletes from Stockholm World Modern Pentathlon Championships medalists 20th-century Swedish sportsmen {{Sweden-modern-pentathlon-bio-stub