| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men’s swimming | ||
| Competitor for Sweden | ||
| Paralympic Games | ||
| Gold | 2004 Athens | 400 m freestyle – S6 |
| Gold | 2008 Beijing | 100 m freestyle – S6 |
| Gold | 2008 Beijing | 400 m freestyle – S6 |
| Bronze | 2004 Athens | 100 m freestyle – S6 |
| Bronze | 2004 Athens | 50 m freestyle – S6 |
| Bronze | 2008 Beijing | 50 m freestyle – S6 |
| World Championships | ||
| Gold | 2006 Durban | 400 m freestyle – S6 |
| Gold | 2006 Durban | 100 m freestyle – S6 |
| Silver | 2006 Durban | 50 m freestyle – S6 |
Anders Olsson (born September 15, 1965 in Hagfors) is a Swedish swimmer and triathlete.
Olsson is paralysed from the waist down and has barely 50 per cent lung capacity left after the injury.[1]
Anders Olsson began to swim at an early age and he was very promising. But in his early teens Olsson started to have problems with his back, he had been in a weightlifting accident as a child. It was a faulty vertebra that caused him pain. For a long time he was able to keep up with his athletic life but after a couple of years he had to undergo an arthrodesis operation. Due to an accident in the home he fell so bad that he tore up several muscles in his back. This led to other complications. He had to undergo a stomach surgery and because of a failure during the spinal anaesthesia he had to be treated in a medical ventilator and this finally led to him being paralysed from the waist down.
For several years Olsson was apathetic and even got addicted to drugs, such as morphine, and other painkillers. But, in 2002, when a close friend made a bet with him that he would swim the vansbrosimmet an annual 3 kilometer event in a river, his life took a turn to the better. He started to train and when he crossed the finish line he was in the top 100's out of over 3000 competitors. This is a result he has later improved as he in 2007 came ninth.
In 2004 he competed in the Paralympics in Athens where he won one gold medal and two bronze medals. His favorite event is the 400 m freestyle, a distance he is undefeated at and where he is the current world record holder.
In 2005 he took on another challenge and managed to complete the 90 km long Vasaloppet a crosscountry skiing competition, using a sled.
In 2008 he competed in the Paralympics in Beijing where he won another two gold medal (100 m & 400 m freestyle).
He won the annual swim competition at Alcatraz 2011, where he swam from the island to shore [1].