Torsten Ullman (27 July 1908 – 11 May 1993) was a Swedish

pistol A pistol is a handgun, more specifically one with the chamber integral to its gun barrel, though in common usage the two terms are often used interchangeably. The English word was introduced in , when early handguns were produced in Europe, ...

shooter 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 missiles can b ...

and entrepreneur, most famous for his gold medal in the 1936

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

Olympics, where the Germans were favourites in the

free pistol The 50 meter pistol, formerly and unofficially still often called Free Pistol, is one of the ISSF shooting events. It provides the purest precision shooting among the pistol events, and is one of the oldest shooting disciplines, dating back to th ...

competition but Ullman won by a margin of 15 points. His record score of 559 would still be competitive today in this event. He also won the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

in Free Pistol in 1933, 1935, 1937,

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January– February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the count ...

and

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh ...

. Ullman was not a free pistol specialist but rather an all-round shooter, achieving great successes in all three pistol events that existed at the time. In the Rapid Fire competition in Berlin, he won the bronze medal after an extremely rapid shoot-off, and three years later he became World Champion in that event, being one of only four shooters to win major worldwide titles in both 50 m Pistol and 25 m Rapid Fire Pistol. He entered the first World Championship in

25 m Center-Fire Pistol 25 meter center-fire pistol is one of the ISSF shooting events, and is normally a men-only event. Its origin lies in competitions with military-style service pistols, and as such its history dates back to the 19th century. 25 meter pistol (fo ...

, surprisingly with a

Smith & Wesson Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (S&W) is an American firearm manufacturer headquartered in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States. Smith & Wesson was founded by Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson as the "Smith & Wesson Revolver Company" in 18 ...

revolver, and won by seven points, causing a worldwide revolver hype. He repeated this victory in 1954. Ullman was one of the first sport shooters to take practice and preparation to a scientific level, which he himself always claimed was a main reason for his success. In 1937, he received the

Svenska Dagbladet ''Svenska Dagbladet'' (, "The Swedish Daily News"), abbreviated SvD, is a daily newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden. History and profile The first issue of ''Svenska Dagbladet'' appeared on 18 December 1884. During the beginning of t ...

gold medal for the greatest Swedish sports achievement of the year. He is the only pistol shooter to have received this prestigious award. Besides his shooting career, Ullman worked with pistol development, and co-authored a widely spread book on shooting with Lev Weinstein. He also started a mechanical industry on Helgö outside

Växjö Växjö ( ) is a city and the seat of Växjö Municipality, Kronoberg County, Sweden. It had 70,489 inhabitants (2019) out of a municipal population of 95,995 (2021). It is the administrative, cultural, and industrial centre of Kronoberg County ...

Småland Småland () is a historical province () in southern Sweden. Småland borders Blekinge, Scania, Halland, Västergötland, Östergötland and the island Öland in the Baltic Sea. The name Småland literally means ''Small Lands''. The Latinized ...

. It was later moved to

Moheda Moheda is a locality situated in Alvesta Municipality, Kronoberg County, Sweden with 1,824 inhabitants in 2010. Notable natives * Sven Nykvist * Torsten Ullman * Torsten Hägerstrand * Mats Wilander (from Torpsbruk in Moheda Parish) *Niklas Jih ...

and developed a few filials. Today this industry has been purchased by Finnveden AB. Ullman was educated from 1925 to 1927 at

Sherborne School (God and My Right) , established = 705 by Aldhelm, re-founded by King Edward VI 1550 , closed = , type = Public school Independent, boarding school , religion = Church of England , president = , chair_label = Chairman of the governors ...

in Dorset, UK. On leaving Sherborne School he attended

Clare College Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refounded ...

, Cambridge University and then

Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. The university rose to significance durin ...

in Sweden. Ullman was married twice, and several of his children have been successful shooters. His youngest daughter Marie-Louise Ullman won the European Junior Championships in 10 m air pistol in 1992.Torsten Ullman
Swedish Olympic Committee

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ullman, Torsten 1908 births 1993 deaths Sport shooters from Stockholm Swedish male sport shooters Olympic shooters of Sweden ISSF pistol shooters Shooters at the 1936 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 1948 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 1952 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 1956 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 1960 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Sweden Olympic bronze medalists for Sweden Olympic medalists in shooting Medalists at the 1936 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics 20th-century Swedish people