Gunder Hägg fever and wartime running records
Gunder Hägg's 1941-1945 world-record streak, especially the ten records of summer 1942, became a wartime sports and radio phenomenon in Sweden.
Gunder Hägg broke his first world record in 1941 and became one of Sweden’s major wartime sports figures. In 1942, his record summer turned into Gunder-feber, with crowds and radio listeners following the races.
This was more than athletic trivia: Hägg’s records became a morale and media event during a period when international sport was heavily constrained by war.