Douglas Melin

After a promising and successful sporting career Douglas Melin went on to become a noted zoologist who studied amphibians and insects. Melin won multiple Swedish athletics titles, competed at the Olympics, and was a champion boxer. As a zoologist he led a Swedish exhibition to the Amazon rain forest.

Melin was one of the youngest athletics competitors at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics. He took part in the standing long jump where he finished in 14th place with a jump of 3.02 metres. He was also listed to compete in the standing high jump but did not start the event. At the Swedish championships Melin was a five-time champion in the standing long jump, winning the title from 1916 to 1919 and again in 1921. In the same event he won silver in 1920 and bronze in 1922, in addition to winning silver and bronze in the standing high jump in 1916 and 1917, respectively. Outside of athletics Melin was also a skilled boxer.

Melin was a student at Uppsala University, becoming an associate professor in entomology in 1923 and in zoology in 1927. From 1923 to 1926 Melin led an expedition to Brazil and Peru, resulting in the discovery of multiple species of amphibians and insects. He was skeptical about the theories proposed by Charles Darwin, which led him to being ostracised amongst his peers. Several species of fish discovered in the Amazon in the 1950s were later named after Melin including the catfish Rineloricaria melini and Corydoras melini.