Edvin Wide

Edvin Wide won one silver and four bronzes at three Olympics from 1920-28, but he was always in the shadow of the Finns Paavo Nurmi and Ville Ritola. His only silver medal came behind Ritola in the 10,000 m race in Paris, when Nurmi did not enter. Wide was a 12-time Swedish Champion, although never over 10,000 m. Nationally, his best event was the cross-country run, where he was Swedish Champion five consecutive times, 1922-26. In addition he took four titles in the 1,500 and three at 5K. Wide set Swedish records in the 1,500 m, 5,000 m and 10,000 m. With the team of IF Linnéa he set a world record in the non-Olympic 4 x 1 500 m relay and set individual world records in the 2,000 and 3,000 metres.

Wide was born on an island off Finland under the name Hermansson. He lived past his 100th birthday and died in 1996 shortly before the opening of the Atlanta Olympics. Wide lived and worked near the town of Enköping as a teacher and later headmaster. He was appointed “Stor grabb” #48 in Athletics in 1928. In 1926 Wide was awarded the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal.

Personal Bests: 1500 – 3:51.8 (1926); 5000 – 14:40.4 (1925); 10000 – 30:55.2 (1924).