Sweden’s Greta Johansson, who became the first female Olympic gold medalist in diving at the 1912 Olympic Games, was honored in her hometown of Stockholm earlier this month with a statue commemorating the deceased athlete’s legacy in the sport.
The Sveriges Centralförening för Idrottens Främjande (SCIF), or Swedish Central Association for the Promotion of Sports, unveiled a bronze statue of Johansson on Monday, June 8th. Created by Swedish sculptor Peter Linde, it depicts Johansson during her days diving for Sweden.
Born in 1895, Johansson competed at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics in both swimming and diving when she was 17 years old. She won a gold medal on the 10-meter platform, claiming her country’s first Olympic gold in women’s diving, and she placed 4th alongside her teammates in the women’s 4×100 freestyle relay.
Prior to 1912, women were not permitted to compete in swimming or diving at the Olympics; the 1912 Summer Olympics marked the debut of women’s events in these sports, with Johansson’s victory securing her spot in history as the first ever female Olympic champion in diving.
Aside from her success at the Olympics, Johansson was also the Swedish national champion in the 100m freestyle and the high diving event in 1911.
Johansson taught swimming and diving in a small Swedish town before emigrating to California in 1913, where she eventually married fellow Swedish diver Ernst Brandsten. The couple coached swimming and diving at Stanford University from 1915 to 1948, with Brandsten coaching athletes to nine Olympic gold medals over the years.
Johansson was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1973 as a diver, further cementing her place in history.
The unveiling of Johansson’s statue in June saw a number of high profile members of the community in attendance. Journalist Jens Lind, who created a documentary about Johansson called “Guld Greta”, moderated the event, leading a Q&A session with the likes of Linde, 1972 Olympic gold medalist and 1982 ISHOF Honor Diver Ulrike Knape, and the ISHOF’s marketing liaison Meg Keller-Marvin.
Following the Q&A, the Royal Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and Rajne Söderberg, Chairman of the SCIF, were invited to cut the ribbon surrounding the statue, officially unveiling the sculpture to the community where it sits on the banks of the Baltic Sea.
Also in attendance at the event honoring Johansson were Pia Zätterström, President of the Swedish Swimming Federation, and Sofia Garametsos, the National Team Captain, along with several SCIF board members.
