Gustaf Allan Lindh (21 May 1926 – 3 September 2015) was a Swedish former

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 ...

who competed in the winter pentathlon in the

1948 Winter Olympics The 1948 Winter Olympics, officially known as the V Olympic Winter Games (; ; ; ) and commonly known as St. Moritz 1948 (; ), were a winter multi-sport event held from 30 January to 8 February 1948 in St. Moritz, Switzerland. The Games were the ...

and became the event's sole winner. Winter pentathlon was a one-time event solely held at the Olympic Games in 1948 in

St. Moritz St. Moritz ( , , ; ; ; ; ) is a high Alpine resort town in the Engadine in Switzerland, at an elevation of about above sea level. It is Upper Engadine's major town and a municipality in the administrative region of Maloja in the Swiss ...

. Sweden had four participants, including future Olympic champion

William Grut William Oscar Guernsey Grut (17 September 1914 – 20 November 2012) was a Swedish Modern pentathlon, modern pentathlete. He competed at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, where he won the gold medal in modern pentathlon.

. Grut, Claes Egnell and

Bertil Haase Bertil Robert Herman Haase Vidarsson (5 June 1923 – 7 July 2014) was a Swedish pentathlete who competed at both Winter and Summer Olympics.shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missile ...

and riding with the only flaw being a sixth rank in the downhill event. His teammate Haase won the downhill and the 10 km cross country, but did not finish tops in shooting,

fencing Fencing is a combat sport that features sword fighting. It consists of three primary disciplines: Foil (fencing), foil, épée, and Sabre (fencing), sabre (also spelled ''saber''), each with its own blade and set of rules. Most competitive fe ...

and riding. Grut showed a balanced performance, but Lindh finished a point ahead of him and Haase. The fourth Swede, Egnell, broke his leg in the downhill, and had to abandon the competition in fourth place. Like all other participants, Lindh was also a member of the armed forces. At age seventeen, he had joined the

Swedish Army The Swedish Army () is the army, land force of the Swedish Armed Forces of the Kingdom of Sweden. Beginning with its service in 1521, the Swedish Army has been active for more than 500 years. History Svea Life Guards dates back to the year 1 ...

Östersund Östersund (; ) is an Urban areas in Sweden, urban area (Stad (Sweden), city) in Jämtland in northern Sweden. It is the seat of Östersund Municipality and the capital of Jämtland County. Östersund is located at the shores of Sweden's fifth-larg ...

because of the lack of educational opportunities during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He attended military school (Swedish: ''volontär–, konstapel– och furirskola'') as a

furir Furir (from French '' fourrier'', a person responsible for the feed) is a Swedish military rank (OR5) reintroduced in 2019, after having been abolished in 2009. Duties The ''Furir'' is a Squad Leader at Skill Level B (Intermediate). Promotion fr ...

(Private First Class) and excelled in winter sports. Already in his third appearance in a Winter Pentathlon in 1946, he won the Swedish championship and thus qualified for the Olympic Games. In autumn 1948, he was dismissed from the military and began training in the field of energy technology at the ''Tekniska Fackskolan'' (Technical Vocational School) in

Sundsvall Sundsvall () is a city and the seat of Sundsvall Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden. It has a population of 58,807 as of 2020; more than 95,000 live in the municipal area. It is Sweden's 21st largest city by population. Old town i ...

, then worked as an engineer and designer for high-voltage lines. He continued his sports activities until a shattered

jaw The jaws are a pair of opposable articulated structures at the entrance of the mouth, typically used for grasping and manipulating food. The term ''jaws'' is also broadly applied to the whole of the structures constituting the vault of the mouth ...

after a horse riding accident in Stockholm forced him to retire in 1954 and set an end to his career. Lindh spent some years in 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 ...

, went back to Sweden at the end of the 1960s and lived since in

Viksjö Viksjö () is a district of Järfälla Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden, 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 u ...

, Järfälla northwest of Stockholm. He passed away in Stockholm in 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lindh, Gustaf 1926 births 2015 deaths Swedish male modern pentathletes Olympic modern pentathletes for Sweden Olympic gold medalists for Sweden Medalists at the 1948 Winter Olympics People from Sundsvall Municipality Sportspeople from Västernorrland County 20th-century Swedish sportsmen