Christian Olsson
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Christian Olsson (born 25 January 1980) is a former Swedish athlete competing in high jump and triple jump. He won an Olympic gold medal,<ref>Template:Cite Sports-Reference</ref> one gold and one silver medal in the World Championships and two gold medals in the European Championships as well as a further two golds in the World Indoor championships. He also won the overall IAAF Golden League jackpot in 2004 where he cashed in 500,000 US dollars (after splitting the million dollar pot with Tonique Williams-Darling).
From 2007 to his retirement in 2012, he was beset by injuries which left him largely on the sidelines and unable to compete at top level competitions.<ref>Turner, Chris (16 January 2010). Robles vs Oliver; Olsson returns after three years to Stockholm. IAAF. Retrieved 9 October 2019.</ref>
Biography
Olsson was born in Gothenburg, and made his international breakthrough in 2001 when he won silver at the 2001 World Championships in Athletics. He has the Swedish national record outdoors, 17.79 m (2004 Summer Olympics), and the Swedish national record indoors, 17.83 m (2004). Olsson has won the Swedish Championships seven times, and has also competed successfully on national level in high jumping.Template:Citation needed
On 7 March 2004, at the 2004 World Indoor Championships in Athletics, he jumped 17.83 m and matched the World Record. On 23 August 2004, at the 2004 Summer Olympics, he jumped 17.79 m, broke the national record and won the gold medal as the first Swede since Gustaf Lindblom in 1912, 92 years earlier. Four of his six jumps were longer than the silver medalist's best jump.Template:Citation needed
With the Olympic Gold he completed a rare international sweep, having the Olympic, World Indoor, Outdoor, Regional (European) Indoor and Outdoor titles.Template:Citation needed
Olsson first became interested in triple jump after watching Jonathan Edwards set the world record at the World Championships in his hometown Gothenburg. Since 1999, Olsson has been trained by Yannick Tregaro. Before that, Olsson was trained by Viljo Nousiainen.Template:Citation needed
During the autumn and winter 2004/2005 he injured his foot (an injury originating from the 2004 Olympic Final), preventing him from being able to do triple-jumping at full speed. Unfortunately the injury healed very slowly, and it was still in January 2006 hampering him. In his first competition after the injury, in June 2006, he jumped 17.09 and seem to be back into shape.<ref>Christian Olsson is back! IAAF, 13 June 2006. Retrieved 9 October 2019.</ref> A month later he won the gold medal at European Championships in his hometown Gothenburg, with a jump of 17.67 m.Template:Citation needed
At the beginning of the 2007 indoor season, Olsson was injured yet again, and was unable to compete at the European indoor championships.<ref>Knee injury in training causes Olsson’s withdrawal IAAF. 1 February 2007. Retrieved 9 October 2019.</ref><ref>Holm takes Swedish title, as two clear 2.38m on first attempts, and then try 2.40m! IAAF. 25 February 2007. Retrieved 9 October 2019.</ref>
Olsson returned to competition in June at the IAAF Golden League event in Oslo, jumping 17.33 m. In July, he won Golden League event in Paris with 17.56 m.<ref>Four continue to reign in Paris - IAAF Golden League IAAF. 6 July 2007. Retrieved 9 October 2019.</ref> At the Golden League event in Rome, he retired after the second round due to a cramp.<ref>Perry and Powell pre-eminent in Rome – IAAF Golden League IAAF. 13 July 2007. Retrieved 9 October 2019.</ref>
Olsson went to the 2007 World Championships in Athletics but had to pull out before the competition due to an injury during training.<ref>Christian Olsson injured – No World Championships Template:Webarchive IAAF, 21 August 2007</ref>
After almost one year of rehabilitation, he returned to competition in July 2008 at the annual event in Stockholm, "DN Galan", but had to pull out due to injury. Afterwards, he announced that he would not compete anymore during the 2008 season; hence he would not participate in the Beijing Olympics. He also suggested that he might retire from the sport.<ref>Powell dips to beat Bolt; Defar just short of 5000m World record - IAAF World Athletics Tour, Stockholm IAAF. 22 July 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2019.</ref><ref>"The Olympics are gone, the whole season is gone"Template:Dead link European Athletics, 23 July 2008.</ref> Upon a request from the Swedish Olympic team, Olsson agreed to carry the Swedish flag during the opening ceremony.Template:Citation needed
In July 2009, Olsson made a comeback in a minor event arranged by Örgryte IS in Gothenburg. He then jumped 17.24 m.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
On 3 August 2009 Olsson competed in Swedish Championships in Malmö. He won the competition with a jump at 16.72 m. This was the first competition Olsson failed to reach 17 m or more since he jumped in a competition in Birmingham in 2003.<ref>Svenska Dagbladet paper issue 4 August 2009.</ref>
On 14 May 2012, Olsson ultimately declared his intentions to retire from professional triple jump competitions.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Christian Olsson lives with his family in Lindome, south of Gothenburg.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Competition record
Other victories
Triple jump
- 2001: Helsinki (Grand Prix) - 17.08 m; Vaasa (European Cup first league) - 17.00 m; Rethymno (athletics meet) - 17.49 m
- 2002: Athens (Grand Prix) - 17.40 m; Seville (European Cup first league) - 17.63 m; Monaco (IAAF Golden League) - 17.63 m; Berlin (Golden League) - 17.40 m; Paris (Grand Prix Final) - 17.48 m
- 2003: Lappeenranta (European Cup first league) - 17.38 m; Rethymno (athletics meet) - 17.55 m; Gateshead (Grand Prix) - 17.92(w) m; Stockholm (Grand Prix) - 17.36 m; Monaco (World Athletics Final) - 17.55 m
- 2004: Turin (Grand Prix) - 17.61 m; Bergen (Golden League) - 17.58 m; Bydgoszcz (European Cup super league) - 17.30 m; Gateshead (Grand Prix) - 17.43 m; Rome (Golden League) - 17.50 m; Paris Saint-Denis (Golden League) - 17.41 m; Zürich (Golden League) - 17.46 m; Brussels (Golden League) - 17.44 m; Berlin (Golden League) - 17.45 m; Monaco (World Athletics Final) - 17.66 m
- 2006: Prague (European Cup super league) - 17.40 m; Lausanne (Grand Prix) - 17.62 m; London (Grand Prix) - 17.42 m; Zürich (Golden League-meet) - 17.39 m
- 2007: Vaasa (European Cup first league) - 17.33 m; Paris Saint-Denis (Golden League) - 17.56 m; Rome (Golden League) - 17.19 m
International awards
- Waterford Crystal European Athlete of the Year Trophy 2004
- Waterford Crystal European Athlete of the Year Trophy 2003
Personal bests
- Triple jump
- Indoor - 17.83 metres
- Outdoor - 17.79 metres
- High jump - 2.28 metres
- Long jump - 7.71 metres
References
External links
- Template:World Athletics
- Template:European Athletics
- Template:Olympics.com
- Template:Olympedia
- BBC Sports Article - (2004 Summer Olympics)
- BBC Sports Article - (2003 World Championships in Athletics)
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{{#invoke:Navbox|navbox}} Template:Footer World Champions Triple Jump Men Template:Footer World Indoor Champions Triple Jump Men Template:Footer European Champions Triple Jump Men Template:Footer European Champions Indoor Triple Jump Men Template:Footer U23 European Champions Triple Jump Men Template:European Athlete of the Year (men) Template:Footer WBYP Triple Men
- 1980 births
- Living people
- Athletes from Gothenburg
- Olympic athletes for Sweden
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics
- Olympic gold medalists for Sweden
- Swedish men triple jumpers
- Swedish men high jumpers
- Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Monaco
- World Athletics Championships medalists
- European Athletics Championships medalists
- Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics
- Örgryte IS Friidrott athletes
- Olympic gold medalists in athletics
- Goodwill Games medalists in athletics
- IAAF Golden League winners
- European Athlete of the Year winners
- World Athletics Indoor Championships winners
- World Athletics Championships winners
- Competitors at the 2001 Goodwill Games
- Diamond League winners
- 21st-century Swedish sportsmen