Hjalmar Mellander

Hjalmar Mellander won the ancient pentathlon contested at the 1906 Athina Olympics, which consisted of standing long jump, Greek style discus throw, javelin throw, stade race (ca 192 m) and Greco-Roman wrestling. He never won an individual event in the pentathlon, but his consistency brought him the gold medal. His highest event finish was third in Greco-Roman wrestling and his lowest seventh in the standing long jump.

Mellander had emigrated to England in 1902 and settled in Liverpool, where he worked as a “medical gymnast and masseur” or physiotherapist in modern terminology. As he lived abroad, Mellander competed in the Swedish championships only in 1904, when he won Swedish titles in long jump and the 400 m. At the British AAA championships, his best placement was third in long jump in 1905. In 1919, Mellander died quite young, when he died while trying to rescue a drowning person.

Personal Bests: 800 – 2.04.8 (1905); LJ – 6.68 (1904); JT – 44.30 (1906).