William Thoresson, the Swedish Olympic gymnast who won gold on men’s floor exercise at the 1952 Helsinki Games, died on March 4, 2026, in Gothenburg. He was 93.
His floor title in Helsinki stands as Sweden’s only individual Olympic gold in gymnastics. The breakthrough came alongside an ordinary workday reality: at the time, Thoresson was an apoteksbiträde, or pharmacy assistant, and he sought leave from his job at Apoteket Lejonet on Vasagatan to take part in the Olympic build-up.
He stayed among the event’s elite four years later, winning a three-way silver medal on floor at the 1956 Olympics. The difference from another gold was slim: a slip on his final landing left him one tenth of a point behind Valentin Muratov.
After his competitive career, Thoresson lived and worked in Venezuela for seven years, educating future physical education and gymnastics teachers at the university level. He later returned to Gothenburg and spent nearly 25 years as a physical education teacher in Hammarkullen, bringing the same focus he showed in competition to generations of students.