Henrik Morén

Henrik Morén was the son of a military musician and farmer in the Kronoberg county. He did not start cycling before the age of 21 and started competing in 1899. One year later, he earned his first podium placing second in a track race in Stockholm. However, he preferred road races throughout his career. Although he started late, his active career spanned 38 years.

His favorite race was the race round Lake Mälaren. After finishing second in 1901, he won the race nine consecutive times from 1902-10 and again in 1912, when it served as a qualifier for the Olympic time trial on the same course. In 1918 and 1919 he was second and in 1921 still a reasonable sixth. In 1924, at the age of 47 he set a personal record with a time of 10:22:46 hours, 20 minutes faster than the Olympic gold medallist Rudolph Lewis in 1912. Ironically, in the Olympic race around Lake Mälaren, he finished only 15th after suffering a heatstroke near Västerås. As a result, he missed out on being among the top four Swedes who won the gold medal in the team event.

Morén was also the winner of various other races including the Stockholm-Enköping–Stockholm in 1902, the Skandisloppet (Scandinavian Race) in Uppsala in 1912, and the 100-mile race Stockholm- Göteborg -Stockholm in 1916. (The Swedish mile was equivalent to 10 km.) The latter race was intended to copy long-distance races like the “Tour de France”. Morén completed the distance Göteborg-to-Stockholm (51 Swedish miles) at the age of 60 in 20-32:58 hours. He took second places in the race round Lake Roxen near Linköping in 1906 and the Zealand Tour in Denmark in 1912 and 1913.

At the age of 44, Morén finished the first ever World Championship in København (Copenhagen) in 1921 on 10th place. The race was won by Gunnar Sköld. Unfortunately, there was no official team event, which would have made the Swedish team, including Morén, World Champions. In 1912, Morén also set a 24-hour world record on a road course at Køge south of København with more than 604 km. In addition to cycling, he was active as cross-country skier and ice skater.

Morén married Ingeborg Maria Nilsson in 1903; they had four sons and one daughter. When his wife died in 1916, one year after the birth of the youngest son, he married Syster Signe Maria Thörn in the following year. She gave birth to another son. Initially, Morén worked as a carpenter but later became a glazier and merchant.