Emil Edvin Wide (22 February 1896 – 19 June 1996) was a Swedish middle-distance and long-distance runner.

Biography

Born in Finland as Emil Edvin Hermansson, Wide moved to Sweden in 1918. He competed for Sweden at the

1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (; ; ), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (; ; ) and commonly known as Antwerp 1920 (; Dutch language, Dutch and German language, German: ''Antwerpen 1920''), were an international multi-sport event held i ...

in the 3000 metre team event, winning a bronze medal, together with Eric Backman and Sven Lundgren. At the 1924 Olympics he won a silver medal in the 10,000 m behind

Ville Ritola Vilho "Ville" Eino Ritola (18 January 1896 – 24 April 1982) was a Finnish long-distance runner. Known as one of the " Flying Finns", he won five Olympic gold medals and three Olympic silver medals in the 1920s. He holds the record of winning ...

of Finland. He also finished third in the 5,000 m, behind Ville Ritola and

Paavo Nurmi Paavo Johannes Nurmi (; 13 June 1897 – 2 October 1973) was a Finland, Finnish middle-distance running, middle-distance and long-distance running, long-distance runner. He was called the "Flying Finn" because he dominated distance running in th ...

. At the

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the IX Olympiad (), was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from 28 July to 12 August 1928 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The city of Amsterdam had previously bid for ...

, the 5,000 metre medals went to the same people as in 1924, only the Finns swapped medals, leaving Edvin with his third Olympic bronze medal. He finished behind the same two yet again for the third time in Olympic competition to win the bronze medal in the 10,000 metres. Nationally Wide won 12 Swedish titles: five in the cross country (1922–26), four in the 1,500 m and three in the 5,000 m, and held Swedish records over 1,500 m, 5,000 m and 10,000 m. He also held world records in non-Olympic 4 × 1500 m, 2000 m and 3000 m events, and won the United States two-mile indoor championships in 1929. Wide lived most of hist life near

Enköping Enköping is a locality and the seat of Enköping Municipality, Uppsala County, Sweden with 30,000 inhabitants in 2018. Geography Enköping is situated near Lake Mälaren, about 78 km west of Stockholm. A comparably large number of S ...

, where he worked as a school teacher and then headmaster. In 1926 he was awarded the

Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal The Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal (, but usually simply called ''Bragdguldet'', "The Feat Gold") is an annual award "for the most significant Sweden, Swedish sports achievement of the year". It has been awarded by a jury led by the Swedish morning ...

. He retired from competitions in 1930. Wide died at the age of 100. He was survived by wife Axelina (age 99) and two sons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wide, Edvin 1896 births 1996 deaths People from Kimitoön Athletes (track and field) at the 1920 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1924 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1928 Summer Olympics Swedish male long-distance runners Olympic athletes for Sweden Olympic bronze medalists for Sweden Olympic silver medalists for Sweden Swedish men centenarians World record setters in athletics (track and field) Medalists at the 1928 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1924 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1920 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic cross country runners Finnish emigrants to Sweden