In the 1912 Olympic decathlon Holmér finished fourth, but was awarded a bronze medal after the winner Jim Thorpe was disqualified for violating amateur rules. Thorpe was reinstated as a winner in 1982, and Holmér was moved down to the fourth place, yet he retained a bronze medal.
In the 1930s, while coaching the downtrodden Swedish cross-country team, Holmér developed the fartlek interval training technique.[1] His concept was faster-than-race-pace and concentrated on simultaneous speed/endurance training. The technique proved successful and has been adopted by many physiologists since then.
Holmér was the father of Hans Holmér, who headed the special unit investigating the assassination of the Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme in 1986.
References
1. ^Joe Schatzle, Jr. (November 2002) "Finding Fartlek: The history and how-to of speed play". Running Times Magazine
{{Authority control}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Holmer, Gosta}}{{Sweden-athletics-bio-stub}} 10 : 1891 births|1983 deaths|Athletes (track and field) at the 1912 Summer Olympics|Athletes (track and field) at the 1920 Summer Olympics|Swedish decathletes|Olympic athletes of Sweden|Olympic bronze medalists for Sweden|Medalists at the 1912 Summer Olympics|Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field)|Olympic decathletes