Sven Thofelt

Sven Thofelt medal table
Modern pentathlon , fencing
Sweden
Olympic Summer Games
gold	1928 Amsterdam	Modern pentathlon
silver	1936 Berlin	Fencing (epee, team)
bronze	1948 London	Fencing (epee, team)

Sven Alfred Thofelt (born May 19, 1904 in Stockholm ; † February 1, 1993 in Djursholm ) was a Swedish athlete and Olympic champion who celebrated successes in modern pentathlon and fencing .

Thofelt first took part in the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam and won the gold medal in the modern pentathlon. Four years later in Los Angeles he took part in the pentathlon again, but was only fourth. He also started in epee fencing, but with a ninth place he could not win a medal there either. At the Olympic Games in Berlin he again took part in both disciplines and won the silver medal in epee fencing with the team. In the pentathlon he was fourth again when for the first time in Olympic history it was not a Swede but the German Gotthard Handrick who was victorious. After the Second World War, at the age of 44, he took part again with the team at the 1948 Olympic Games in London and won the bronze medal in the epee fencing match. After his active career, Thofelt was the founder and first chairman of the Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne (UIPM), founded in August 1948, together with Gustaf Dyrssen . He pushed for the introduction of a winter sports competition made up of cross-country skiing and shooting and himself proposed the name biathlon for the new sport, which until it was taken over by the International Biathlon Union in 1993 under the umbrella of the UIPMB (Union de Pentathlon Moderne et Biathlon) was conducted. From 1960 to 1988 he was President of the UIPMB himself. For Sweden, Thofelt was a member of the International Olympic Committee from 1970 to 1976 . In 1982 he was awarded the Olympic silver medal.

Sven Thofelt is the father of Björn Thofelt , who was also a modern pentathlete, and the painter and poet Bisse Thofelt .

Web link

• Sven Thofelt in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )