Lennart Strandberg

In Sweden track and field athlete Lennart Strandberg dominated the 100 and 200 metres for more than a decade, winning multiple titles and setting several long-standing records. Strandberg won his first medal at the Swedish championships in 1933 with a silver in the 4 x 100 metres relay. The following year he did the 100 and 200 metres double, in addition to winning gold in the 4 x 100 metres. In 1935 he went one better with gold in the 100 and 200 metres and both the 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 metres relay. Strandberg’s incredible record at the national championships continued with further golds in the 100 metres (1936–38, 1940–43, 1945, 1947), 200 metres (1936–45), 4 x 100 metres (1936–38, 1942–44, 1946–47, 1950–52), and the 4 x 400 metres (1937, 1939). In 1935 he set Swedish records in the 100 and 200 metres, with them standing until 1973 and 1954, respectively.

Strandberg ran in the 100 metres at the 1936 Berlin Olympics where he finished sixth in the final. He was also scheduled to run in the 200 metres and the 4 x 400 metres in Berlin but did not start in either race. Two years later he competed at the 1938 European Athletics Championships in Paris, winning silver in the 4 x 100 metres relay with Åke Stenqvist, Lennart Lindgren, and Gösta Klemming, as well as winning an individual bronze in the 100 metres. After his successful career as a sprinter Strandberg worked as a sports journalist.

Personal Best: 100 – 10.3 (1936).