At the 1908 Summer Olympics, Oscar Swahn won two gold medals in the running deer, single shot events (individual and team), and a bronze medal in the running deer double shot individual event. He was 60 years old, a year younger than Joshua Millner, the oldest gold medallist at that time.
When the 1912 Summer Olympics came to his native country, Sweden, he was a member of the single shot running deer team which again won the gold medal. He also won bronze again at the individual double shot running deer event, but came joint fourth in the individual single shot event, which was won by his son Alfred Swahn. At 64 years and 258 days of age, he became the oldest gold medalist ever, a record he still holds.[4]
At the 1920 Summer Olympics, he became the oldest athlete ever to compete in the Olympics at the age of 72. His best results were in the team competitions: a fourth place in the single shot running deer event, and a second place in the double shot running deer contest. With this silver medal, he is also the oldest medallist of all time (not counting the art competitions).[5]
In all of the Swedish shooting teams competitions that Oscar Swahn competed with at the Olympic games of 1908, 1912, and 1920, he competed alongside his son, Alfred Swahn.
