Gustaf Malmström

Gustaf Malmström was the first Swedish wrestler to win a major international championship, the 1907 unofficial European Championship in the 85.0 kg division in Greco-Roman style. He repeated this feat in the 75 kg class at the 1909 unofficial European Championships. In the same year, he took his only national title, in the lightweight division.

In between, Malmström took part in the 1908 London Olympics, again in the lightweight category. After winning his first two bouts, he lost to future gold medalist Enrico Porro in the quarterfinals. In 1910, he also competed at the unofficial European Championships in Budapest and took fifth place in the lightweight (70 kg) division. At the 1911 unofficial World Championships in Helsinki, he had to compete a total of seven times, drawing four times and winning three fights, which was enough for second place behind the Finnish non-Olympian Nestori Tuominen (1887-1957).

The highlight of Malmström’s career was the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm. He wrestled again in the lightweight division. After six convincing victories, he faced the Finn Eemeli Väre in the final and lost by fall, winning the silver medal. In 1913, he made the podium at the Swedish Championships placing second behind Gottfrid Svensson, who was five years younger.

Malmström represented IK Sparta, GAK Enighet and IFK Malmö as well as, during a stay in Germany, AK Vorwärts in Kiel. He had an unusually rich repertoire of grips and was described as Sweden’s first great wrestler.