Stefan Holm

Stefan Christian Holm (born May 25, 1976) is a retired Swedish high jumper. He has won an Olympic gold medal, four gold and a silver medal in the World Championships, and a gold, two silver medals and a bronze medal in the European Championships. His personal record in high jump is 2.40 m (indoors 2005) and 2.37 m (outdoors 2008). He is the only jumper to have cleared 2.40 m indoors since Javier Sotomayor - outdoors this has also been achieved by Vyacheslav Voronin.

Biography

Holm was born in Forshaga, the son of father Johnny and mother Elisabeth. He has a sister named Veronica who is three years older than him. Holm married Anna in 2005 and they have a son, Melwin, born in 2004.

Holm's big breakthrough onto the world athletics scene came in 2000, when he finished 4th at the Sydney Olympics with a leap of 2.32 m. Although only 24 years old at the time, Holm had been high jumping for over half of his life.

Holm, who is trained by his father, has not always been a high jumper. For many of his childhood years, Holm played football (following in the footsteps of his father, who was at that time a goalkeeper in a local fourth division team). It wasn't until 1991 when he realized that he had more potential as a high jumper than a footballer.

His inspiration for high-jumping was when at 8 years old he saw Swedish high-jumping legend, and former world-record holder, Patrik Sjöberg, compete on television. [http://www.iaaf.org/WIC04/news/Kind=2/newsId=24419.html]

Holm has the distinction of jumping 2 m or higher in six different techniques. With his height, being only 1.81 m, he shares the unofficial World Record of height jumped above own height (59 cm). In 1993 he participated in a decathlon where he jumped higher in the high jump (2.04m) than in the pole vault (2.00m).

Holm finished 4th at the 2008 Summer Olympics with a leap of 2.32 m.

Holm lives in Karlstad, Sweden, and competes for Kils AIK.He is an avid fan of Färjestads BK, a Swedish Elite League ice hockey team.

In 2004, Holm was awarded the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal.

On September 13,2008 he announced his retirement from the sport. Holm ended his 20-year career with a second place at the World Athletics Final in Stuttgart. [ [http://www.thelocal.se/14318/20080914/ High jumper Holm announces retirement] ]

International medals

High jump

* Olympic Games
** 2004, Athens - 2.36 m - Gold
* World Championships in Athletics
** 2003, Paris - 2.32 m - Silver
* World Indoor Championships in Athletics
** 2008, Valencia - 2.36 m - Gold
** 2004, Budapest - 2.35 m - Gold
** 2003, Birmingham - 2.35 m - Gold
** 2001, Lisbon - 2.32 m - Gold
* European Athletics Championships
** 2006, Gothenburg - 2.34 m - Bronze
** 2002, Munich - 2.29 m - Silver
* European Indoor Athletics Championships
** 2007, Birmingham - 2.34 m - Gold
** 2005, Madrid - 2.40 m - Gold
** 2002, Vienna - 2.30 m - Silver

Other victories

* 1998: Berlin (Golden League-meet) - 2.28 m
* 1999: Lahti (European Cup first league) - 2.27 m; Stockholm (Grand Prix) - 2.29 m
* 2000: Gateshead (European cup super league) - 2.28 m
* 2001: Helsinki (Grand Prix) - 2.26 m; Vaasa (European cup first league) - 2.28 m; Brisbane (Goodwill Games) - 2.33 m
* 2002: Doha (Grand Prix) - 2.28 m; Seville (European cup first league) - 2.33 m; Zürich (Golden League-meet) - 2.35 m; Rieti (Grand Prix) - 2.29m; Paris (Grand Prix Final) - 2.31 m
* 2003: Lappeenranta (European cup first league) - 2.24 m; Rethymno (athletics meet) - 2.34 m; Gateshead (Grand Prix) - 2.30 m
* 2004: Bydgoszcz (European cup super league) - 2.32 m; Iraklio (Grand Prix) - 2.33 m; Eberstadt (highjump meet) - 2.36 m; Stockholm (Grand Prix) - 2.33 m; Monaco (World Athletics Final) - 2.33 m
* 2005: Gävle (European cup first league) - 2.27 m; Paris Saint-Denis (Golden League) - 2.32 m; Stockholm (Grand Prix) - 2.33 m; Oslo (Golden League) - 2.29 m
* 2006: London (Grand Prix) - 2.34 m
* 2007: Vaasa (European cup first league) - 2.30 m; Lausanne (Grand Prix) - 2.28 m; London (Grand Prix) - 2.32 m; Stockholm (Grand Prix) - 2.35 m
* 2008: Athens (Grand Prix) - 2.37 m

Personal bests

*High jump
** 2.37 metres (outdoors)
** 2.40 metres (indoors)

References

External links

* [http://www.scholm.com/ Personal Home Page] - (English and Swedish)
* [http://www.olympic.org Olympic Movement]
* [http://www.iaaf.org IAAF - International Association of Athletics Federations]
* [http://www.european-athletics.org EAA - European Athletic Association]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics_2004/athletics/3585128.stm BBC Sports Article - (2004 Summer Olympics)]
*

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