Folke Nilsson

Either side of World War II Folke Nilsson won more than dozen national cycling titles at the Swedish championships. Nilsson’s first national title came in 1925 as part of the trio that won the team classification in the 100 km individual time trial event. One year later he won the team time trial classification in both the 10 km and 100 km distances, winning both titles on four more occasions (1927–29, 1931). In 1928 and 1929 Nilsson was also the Swedish individual time trial champion.

With his consistent performances Nilsson was selected to compete at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics where the individual road race was contested as a 100 km time trial. He finished 21st at the Games, less than 10 minutes behind the race winner. Sweden also finished third in the combined team event. Nilsson, however, was the fourth-best Swedish rider on the day, with only the top-three riders counting towards the overall time and the medals.

After the Olympics, Nilsson won the team ranking in the amateur race at the 1933 Nordic Championships and finished second at that years’ edition of the Mälaren Runt one-day race. His cycling career was then disrupted by the outbreak of World War II, but he continued to have success in Sweden winning the team classification in the road race at the national championships in 1942, 1944, and 1948.