Sweden's Lennart Strand, 1948 Olympic 1500m silver medallist passed away last Friday 23 January 2004, aged 82, having been seriously injured back in November in a motor car accident.
Strand who competed in the 'golden age' of Swedish running became the 1946 European 1500m champion, and in the following year in Malmö (15 July 1947) equalled compatriot Gunder Hägg's World record (3:43.0 / 7 July 1944) for the distance. Finishing behind Strand on that evening were Henry Eriksson and Gösta Bergkvist, two men who were to play a significant role in Strand's fortunes at the following year's London Olympics.
Strand was the firm favourite for the 1948 Olympic 1500m title despite losing the Swedish championship race of that summer to Bergkvist. However, though Bergkvist was the fastest runner in the Olympic heats when it came to the final (held during a thunderstorm) it was Eriksson, who Strand had beaten to the European title in 1946 who led the field of runners just after 800m had been reached.
By 1200 metres Eriksson only had Strand left for company and he had the extra strength required to beat his compatriot to gold (3:49.8) in the hardly ideal weather conditions. Strand held off the Netherlands' Wim Slijkhuis for the silver medal in a desperate battle in the last 50 metres, both finishing with a time of 3:50.4.
In his career Strand ran the fastest times in the world for 1500m and the Mile in both the years 1946 and 1947, and for the 1500m in 1948.
After his athletics career, Strand worked in the publication industry for one of southern Sweden's largest newspapers, Sydsvenska Dagbladet.
IAAF
