Kjell-Erik Ståhl

Kjell-Erik Bertil Ståhl (17 February 1946 – 5 August 2025) was a long-distance runner from Sweden. He represented his native country twice at the Summer Olympics (1980 and 1984) in the men's marathon, finishing in 19th place in Moscow. Ståhl twice won the Stockholm Marathon. He held the Swedish marathon record with a time of 2:10:38, set in 1983, until it was surpassed in 2019.

Kjell-Erik Ståhl

Personal information
Nationality	Swedish
Born	(1946-02-17)17 February 1946 Killeberg, Skåne, Sweden
Died	5 August 2025(2025-08-05) (aged 79)[1]
Height	189 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight	69 kg (152 lb)
Sport
Sport	Track and field, cross country
Event(s)	800 m, 1500 m, 3000 m, 5000 m, 10000 m, cross country

He holds the Single Age World Record in the marathon for men who are 49 years of age, at 2:19:47, set on 10 June 1995 in Stockholm (source: Association of Road Racing Statisticians, updated 1 Nov 2019). In 2007, the German issue of Runners World featured an article about him.^{[citation needed]} In one 12-month period, between August 1981 and August 1982, he ran 14 marathons with an average finishing time of 2:16:11.^{[citation needed]} Between 1979 and 1998, he completed 101 marathons. In 70 of those, he finished in under two hours and twenty minutes, winning 17. He won the 1986 Stockholm marathon at the age of 40 in 2:12:33. In 1983, three weeks before the World Championship in Helsinki, he ran 190 km in a week, while employed full time.^{[citation needed]}

His personal bests included:

• 800m 1:56.8 (1967)
• 1,500m 3:54.5 (1973)
• 3,000m steeplechase 8:46.7 (1974)
• 5000m 14:11.9 min (1979)
• 10,000m 29:48.0 min (1979)
• Marathon in 2:10:38 (1983)^[2]

Achievements

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing  Sweden
1980	Olympic Games	Moscow, Soviet Union	19th	Marathon	2:17:44
1981	Beijing Marathon	Beijing, PR China	1st	Marathon	2:15:20
	Frankfurt Marathon	Frankfurt, West Germany	1st	Marathon	2:13:20
	New York City Marathon	New York, United States	12th	Marathon	2:13:31[3]
	Fukuoka Marathon	Fukuoka, Japan	12th	Marathon	2:14:13
1982	Stockholm Marathon	Stockholm, Sweden	1st	Marathon	2:19:20
	Boston Marathon	Boston, United States	5th	Marathon	2:12:47
	European Championships	Athens, Greece	10th	Marathon	2:20:36
	Rome City Marathon	Rome, Italy	8th	Marathon	2:15:24[4]
1983	World Championships	Helsinki, Finland	4th	Marathon	2:10:38
1984	Olympic Games	Los Angeles, United States	—	Marathon	DNF
1986	Stockholm Marathon	Stockholm, Sweden	1st	Marathon	2:12:33
	European Championships	Stuttgart, West Germany	9th	Marathon	2:13:14
1994	European Championships	Helsinki, Finland	—	Marathon	DNF