Åke Ödmark

Swedish track and field athlete Åke Ödmark represented IFK Strömsund where he specialised in the high jump. Ödmark won his first medal at the national championships in the event in 1937 when he finished second. He won another silver the following year before winning back-to-back titles in 1939 and 1940. He continued to have success at the Swedish championships right up to the start of war, winning two more silvers (1941, 1943) and a bronze (1944). Ödmark competed in the high jump at the 1936 Berlin Olympics where he tied for 12th with nine other athletes who all had a best clearance of 1.85 metres. Two years later he finished fourth at the 1938 European Athletics Championships in Paris. In August 1939 he broke the Swedish record when he cleared 1.99 metres in Stockholm. Two years later Ödmark improved his own national record when he jumped 2.00 metres to become the first Swede to clear two metres in competition. His record stood until 1946 when Gunnar Lindecrantz jumped 2.01 metres.

Personal Best: HJ – 2.008 (1941).