William Grut

William Oscar Guernsey " Willie" Grut ( born September 17, 1914 in Stockholm, † November 20, 2012 in Östersund ) was a Swedish modern pentathlete. It was 1948, the sixth Swede, who won the individual competition in the modern pentathlon at the Olympic Games.

Career

William Grut, the (A1 Sport Association ) started in Stockholm for A1 Idrottsförening, was a rather successful swimmer who won 25 to 1936 Swedish Champion title of 1931. In 1935, he was with SK Neptun Stockholm Swedish water polo champion. At the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin took part Grut with the Swedish swimming team but did not play. So he was there as a spectator, as the Swedes were the first time in Olympic history in the modern pentathlon without a medal. His athletic career as a swimmer was stopped by the Second World War, but he started at this time with the modern pentathlon.

At the Olympic Winter Games of 1948 in St. Moritz was Grut participants for Sweden, when a competition was organized in the Winter Pentathlon as a demonstration competition for the only time. The competition was made up of the disciplines of cross-country skiing, downhill skiing, shooting, riding and fencing and was considered a winter equivalent of the modern pentathlon. Grut won the silver medal behind Gustaf Lindh and before Bertil Haase, both from Sweden.

Grut had won five times 1938-1948 the Swedish champion in modern pentathlon. His first championship he won in 1938 and he defended this title in the following two years. In 1944 and 1948, he was still two times Swedish Champion. Therefore to the Summer Olympics in 1948 he went to London quite confident. The riding was then performed as Military Competition and Grut had with him the first drawing horse, Clarian Boy, good luck. He was the fastest of nine riders without penalty points on the Tweseldown Racecourse. When fencing, he shared first place with the Brazilian AECIO Coelho. With a fifth place in the shooting, he extended his lead to almost lying behind him by then American George Moore significantly from Moore finished second in this discipline only place 21 Grut he was in his specialist discipline, swimming, can not be beat. In Aldershot Public Bath he won over 300 meters freestyle in 4:17,0 minutes with over four seconds ahead. After an eighth place in the cross-country running Grut had 31 placement points ahead of Moore, two points behind was his compatriot Gösta Gärdin. Such a convincing victory there was neither before nor after in the history of the modern pentathlon. He was honored in 1948 with the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal - For this performance.

After the 1948 Olympic Games Grut ended his athletic career. Until 1960 he worked as head of the delegation, the Swedish modern pentathlete. He was flag bearer of the Swedish team at the Olympic Games in 1960. From 1960 to 1962 he was Secretary General of the Federation Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne Union. For his contributions to the Olympic movement, he was in 1988 awarded the Olympic Order in Silver. The career officer in the Royal Swedish lake Artillery rose to the rank of colonel on. 1939 married Grut Agneta Gyllenstierna, from the marriage were six children were born.

The father of William Grut, Torben Grut (1871-1945), was an architect of the Olympic Stadium for the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm.