Torsten Ullman
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Olympic medal record | |||
| Men's shooting | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | 1936 Berlin | 50 m free pistol | |
| Bronze | 1936 Berlin | 25 m rapid-fire pistol | |
| Bronze | 1948 London | 50 m free pistol | |
Torsten Ullman (July 27, 1908 - May 11, 1993) was a Swedish pistol shooter and entrepreneur, most famous for his gold medal in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, where the Germans were favourites in the Free Pistol competition but Ullman won by a margin of 15 points. His record score of 559 would still be competitive today in this event. However, he was not a Free Pistol specialist but rather an all-round shooter, achieving great successes in all three pistol events that existed at the time. In the Rapid Fire competition in Berlin, he won the bronze medal after an extremely rapid shoot-off. He entered the first World Championships in 25 m Center-Fire Pistol in 1947, surprisingly with a Smith & Wesson revolver, and won by seven points, causing a world-wide revolver hype.
Ullman was one of the first sport shooters to take practice and preparation to a scientific level, which he himself always claimed was a main reason for his success. In 1937, he received the Svenska Dagbladet gold medal for the greatest Swedish sports achievement of the year. He is the only pistol shooter to have received this prestigious award.
Besides his shooting career, Ullman worked with pistol development, and co-authored a widely-spread book on shooting with Lev Weinstein. He also started a mechanical industry on Helgö outside Växjö, Småland. It was later moved to Moheda and developed a few filials. Today this industry has been purchased by Finnveden AB.
Ullman was married twice, and several of his children have been successful shooters. His youngest daughter Marie-Louise Ullman won the European Junior Championships in 10 m Air Pistol in 1992.
[edit] References
| Olympic medalists in shooting | Olympic Champions in men's 50 m Pistol |
| Sumner Paine | Konrad Roderer | Paul van Asbroeck | Alfred Lane | Karl Telford Frederick | Torsten Ullman | Edwin Vazquez Cam | Huelet Benner | Pentti Linnosvuo | Alexei Gustchin | Väinö Markkanen | Grigori Kosych | Ragnar Skanåker | Uwe Potteck | Alexander Melentiev | Xu Haifeng | Sorin Babii | Kanstantsin Lukashyk | Boris Kokorev | Tanyu Kiryakov | Mikhail Nestruev |
| Preceded by Erik August Larsson |
Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal 1937 |
Succeeded by Björn Borg |
