William Grut

William Oscar Guernsey Grut (17 September 1914 – 20 November 2012) was a Swedish modern pentathlete. He competed at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, where he won the gold medal in modern pentathlon. Grut was a multiple Swedish swimming champion and received the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal in 1948. Grut was born to the architect Torben Grut, who designed the 1912 Olympic Stadium in Stockholm, and Margit Torssell, the daughter of the Norwegian opera singer Olefine Moe. He qualified as a student in May 1932, the same year his father lost most of his earnings as a consequence of the Krueger crash. Grut's first choice would have been to study medicine, and he had gained a place at Pembroke College, Cambridge, but that dream ended with the stock market crash. Grut chose a career in the army instead, where the training was free and where he could fulfill his desire to contribute to his country's defence. His father had been Swedish tennis champion around the turn of the century, but Grut did not follow in his footsteps, as his natural talent was swimming. Grut set a new junior record for 100 m freestyle swimming in 1928 and went on to win a series of Swedish Championships in the 200 m, 400 m and 1500 m freestyle. In 1936 Grut formed part of the Swedish swimming team at the Berlin Olympic Games, where he saw the German pentathlete Gotthard Handrick win gold in Modern Pentathlon. Until then, Modern Pentathlon gold medals had been the preserve of Swedish pentathletes: Liliehöök in 1912 (Stockholm), Dyrssen in 1920 (Antwerp), Lindman in 1924 (Paris), Thofelt in 1928 (Amsterdam), Oxenstierna in 1932 (Los Angeles).