Ossian Skiöld

Policeman Ossian Skiöld was the best competitor in the hammer throw in Sweden during the 1920s. Prior to World War I Skiöld was named as a reserve in the Swedish tug-of-war team for the 1912 Stockholm Olympics but did not compete. After the war he turned his focus to athletics and dominated in the hammer throw. He won his first medal at the Swedish championships with bronze in 1923, and then won silver the following year. He then won six consecutive national titles from 1925 to 1930, along with back-to-back silvers in 1934 and 1935.

Skiöld’s first Olympics were the 1924 Paris Games where he finished fifth with a best throw of 45.285 metres. At the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics he threw 51.29 metres to win silver, coming just ten centimetres behind Pat O’Callaghan’s winning distance. At his third and final Olympics in Los Angeles in 1932 Skiöld just missed out on a medal when he threw 49.25 to finish fourth. Two years later he also finished fourth at the 1934 European Championships in Torino.

Personal Best: HT – 53.85 (1927).