Bruno Söderström

In track and field athletics Bruno Söderström specialised in the pole vault, winning four Swedish titles and an Olympic medal in the event. Söderström also had success in the javelin throw and the high jump, and later became a newspaper editor and author.

Söderström competed for IFK Stockholm at the 1900 Swedish championships where he won bronze in high jump, javelin throw, and the pole vault. Two years later he won his first national title in the pole vault before winning a further three titles in the discipline (1904, 1906, and 1907). Söderström also held the Swedish pole vault record from 1902 to 1909, improving the record on four occasions during this time.

At the 1906 Intercalated Games Söderström won silver in the pole vault and bronze in the freestyle javelin throw. He finished in joint-sixth place in the high jump and was the flag bearer for Sweden at the Opening Ceremony. Söderström won a bronze medal in the pole vault at the 1908 London Olympics, along with American Clare Jacobs and Canadian Ed Archibald, who all cleared 3.58 metres.

Söderström later worked as a banker and a sports administrator, sitting on the board of the Swedish Sports Confederation from 1907 to 1910. After a visit to the United States he was involved in the introduction of bowling in Sweden in 1909. A year later Söderström founded the sports newspaper Idrottsbladet, becoming the publication’s first editor. He also wrote several books, both non-fiction and fiction.

Personal Bests: HJ – 1.73 (1904); PV – 3.60 (1980); JT – 45.00 (1906).