Leon Lagerlöf

Leon Lagerlöf was a reliable top rifle shooter and a three-time Olympian. He had his best results at the 1920 Olympics at Antwerp, winning silver in the small-bore rifle, 50 metres team event and bronze in the military rifle, standing, 300 metres team event. In the latter Sweden tied for second place with the United States with the same number of points but were awarded bronze on a countback of target scores.

Lagerlöf began his career as a marksman at Djurgårdens Idrottsförening in 1905 but later joined the Skarpskytteföreningen, which he led to produce a great number of excellent shooters. Being successful in competitions in Sweden and throughout Scandinavia, he was selected to take part in the 1914, 1922, and 1924 World Championships. At the age of 57, he still was appointed as a reserve for the Swedish team of the 1927 World Championships. Throughout his career he experimented with new ammunition and rifles. He was a co-founder of the Swedish branch of the International Shooting Union and a board member from 1919 to 1937. He also played a leading role in the shooting federation “Friskyttarne”, a merger of the two previous Stockholm shooting federations.

Lagerlöf also competed as a track and road cyclist along with his brother Per Anton and was second in kicksledding in the Nordic Games in 1904. Leon acted as a member of the board of Djurgårdens IF in 1905. In 1907 he was awarded the club’s badge of honour. Lagerlöf established himself as a master painter. His father, a crofter and worker from Västerbotten, took up painting in his later years. Leon was already 66 years of age when he married Irma Agatha, née Lindén.