Oscar Swahn, who competed in shooting sport for Sweden in the early part of the last century, is the Olympic History Man.
Swahn won six medals at the Olympics in the “running deer” event, making appearances at the 1908 London Games, the 1912 Stockholm Games and the 1920 Antwerp Games.
At the latter Games he became the oldest ever Olympian, competing at the age of 72 years, 281 days, and also became the oldest ever Olympic medallist as he earned silver in the team running deer, double-shot competition.
At the Stockholm Olympics eight years earlier he had become the oldest ever Olympic gold medallist as part of the team that won the team running deer single-shot title.
(It could be argued that the oldest person to win an Olympic medal was British graphic artist John Copley, who was 73 when he won silver for his “Polo Player” design at the last of the Olympic art competitions at London in 1948.)
Swahn also qualified for the 1924 Paris Olympics but withdrew without competing. He retired from Olympic competition with two golds and a bronze from the 1908 Games, gold and bronze from the 1912 Games and silver from the 1920 Games.
But Oscar Swahn was not the most successful Olympian in the Swahn family.
That distinction fell to his son, Alfred, who earned a first gold competing alongside him at the London 1908 Games aged 28, and who went on to earn a total of three golds, three silvers and three bronzes in a career that also included the Paris 2024 Games.