https://longeviquest.com/2025/01/steel-grandpa-beat-them-all/

“Age is just a number” is something that you frequently hear people say about various things in life and it often is. But when it comes to sports, it generally favours younger individuals. But just because you are getting up there in years there is no reason to quit being physically active. Today’s story is about a man who was deemed to be too old to enter a bicycle race but decided to race anyway and beat all other entrants by a day. This is the story of Gustaf “Steel Grandpa” Håkansson.

Background

Nils Gustaf Håkansson was born on 15 October 1885 in my hometown of Helsingborg, which is in southern Sweden. He came from humble beginnings and lead a relatively average life. He married the four year older Maria Eriksson on 31 December 1908 and would have several children. Håkansson lived in Gantofta, a smaller village outside Helsingborg, was a farmer and ran a haulage and drove a bus for most of his working life but also had a great love for bicycles. In 1927 he conquered the Swedish mountain range (if you can even call them mountains) by bike and undertook several longer journeys throughout Sweden in his days. He also came to grow a great big bushy white beard after a dispute with his barber in 1933.

Sverigeloppet

In July 1951 Sweden held an annual professional six-day cycling stage race from Haparanda (northern part) to Ystad (southern part), spanning almost 1,100 miles. The organizers decided to cap the maximum age for participants at age 40 as it was deemed that people older than that would have problems with the race. Enter 65-year-old Håkansson with the moniker “Steel Grandpa” that had been given to him in the 1940s. The race organizers believed that a person that old entering the race would ridicule the race and thus did not allow “Steel Grandpa” to enter as an official participant. He decided to race outside of competition despite the limitations that had been imposed. Bef0re the race he rode his bicycle all the way up to Haparanda from Ystad to test the race course.

The race started and all the cyclists were off. A minute later after the last official racer had left the starting line Håkansson, wearing a home made race shirt with a big “0,” started. There was an immediate growing buzz about the “old man” racing after the other racers and since the others were part of a stage race they had fixed start and end points each day, which Håkansson didn’t need to care about. He rode his bike when he wanted to and slept when needed. Soon he was in the lead and he became a national sensation as newspapers and radio channels throughout the country reported on him daily.

The people in Sweden followed the journey and were eager to know whether a person of his age could really finish such a long race. Along the way people cheered him on and provided Håkansson with food. At one point a police car had to pave way for him as the crowd was too dense. “Steel Grandpa” took it all in stride and even underwent a medical exam about midway through the race just to appease the police and passed with flying colours. He also did several radio interviews throughout his journey, often singing a bit with his distinct voice.

After six days, 14 hours and 20 minutes, Håkansson had arrived in Ystad a full day before the other racers. Just one kilometer before the finish line he got a flat tire. Surrounded by over 5,000 roaring fans he walked the last bit before getting up on his bicycle to cross the finish line. He became a national hero when finished. A parade was held with a marching band and fire brigades and Håkansson was carried on the shoulders of younger men, basking in the glory. The next day Håkansson was invited to meet the King of Sweden.

After Sverigeloppet

Gustaf Håkansson, now a celebrity, was invited to appear in commercials, newspaper ads and to make appearances throughout Sweden for the rest of his life. He also recorded records where he sang various tunes and these sold relatively well. He never lost his interest for bicycles and as he was a man of faith at age 73 he would make a bicycle pilgrimage to Jerusalem and back. He entered several other bicycle events and was still riding the bike when he became a centenarian.

Yes, Håkansson lived a very long life. As did his wife, Maria. Their marriage lasted for almost 78 years before Maria died at age 104 in 1986. Gustaf Håkansson died on 9 June 1987 at age 101. Perhaps there is something to being active late in life?

Today there exists a permanent exhibit about the life of “Steel Grandpa” in Skurup, Sweden and a passenger train also carries his name, naturally with a final destination of Ystad.