Henry Jonsson
Henry Jonsson was born in the small village of Kälarne, Jämtland in 1912. As an adult, he decided to change his surname to Kälarne, thus making his birthplace famous throughout the entire country. With his serious approach to training and preparing for competition, he became one of the great Swedish runners of the 1930s, with a Bronze Medal in the 5,000 meters at the 1936 Olympics being one of his greatest achievements. But his most memorable moment was yet to come.
On the 14th of August 1940, Henry Kälarne, fireman and athlete, set a new world record in 3,000 metres at Stockholm Stadium. He managed to defeat his younger opponent and Jämtlandic star Gunder Hägg in front of 15,000 spectators with a time of 8:09.0, a record that he held for two years. Hägg ended up breaking the record in 1942. This was an era when Swedish runners were the best in the world.
