Gustaf Weidel was born as Gustaf Johnsson in Malmö, Sweden as the son of a local police chief inspector.[2] As a youngster Weidel was a gymnast and was part of the Swedish team at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, which was able to win the gold medal in the gymnastics men's team event.[3] He was enrolled as a student at Lund University in 1909, becoming a Bachelor of Arts in 1910 and a Candidate of Law in 1914.[4][page needed] It was during his time at the university that he changed his last name to Weidel.[3]
^Malmö nation vid universitetet i Lund 1905-1913: porträtt och biografiska uppgifter (in Swedish). Malmö. 1913. p. 60. SELIBR2203931.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)