Angelica Therese Bengtsson (born 8 July 1993) is a Swedish

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete who specialises in the

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a #bar, bar. Pole jumping was already practiced by the ...

. She became the first pole vault winner at the inaugural

Summer Youth Olympics Summer or summertime is the hottest and brightest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, daylight hours are the longest and darkness hours are the shortest, with day ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, 2010. Bengtsson has won

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

s at the 2009 World Youth Championships and the

2010 World Junior Championships in Athletics 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to s ...

. She set a mark of 4.47 m for the youth world record for the event in 2010 and broke the world junior record with a vault of 4.63 m in 2011. Bengtsson placed tied 4th at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing, China, having set a national record of 4.70 m in the final. She set a then-national record with 4.81 m, set indoor in Clermont-Ferrand, on February 24, 2019. Bengtsson has won eleven national titles. On 1 November 2021, she announced her retirement from pole vaulting.

Biography

Bengtsson was born on 8 July 1993 in Väckelsång; her father is Swedish and her mother is

Afro-Brazilian Afro-Brazilians (; ), also known as Black Brazilians (), are Brazilians of total or predominantly Sub-Saharan African ancestry. Most multiracial Brazilians also have a range of degree of African ancestry. Brazilians whose African features are mo ...

. Bengtsson initially started out in

gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...

and also hoped to follow in her father's footsteps in the

javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown as far as possible. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's de ...

. It quickly became apparent that she had a talent for

ing; however, and she began her career at club level for IFK Växjö, before going on to join

Hässelby SK Hässelby Sportklubb ( English: "Hässelby Sports Club"), commonly referred to as Hässelby SK, or HSK is a professional sports club in Hässelby, Stockholm, Sweden. Founded in 1913, the club offers a range of sports, including football, athleti ...

. She enjoyed her first global victory at the 2009 IAAF World Youth Championships, where at the age of sixteen she won the pole vault

with a clearance of 4.32 metres. This was a significant winning margin of 22 cm over the rest of the field. In spite of her youth, she took the national senior title at the Swedish Indoor Athletics Championships, beating her Swedish rivals with a clearance of 4.30 m. Bengtsson established herself as one of top youth athletes at the 2010 European Youth Olympic Trials in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

in May. Having already won the competition, she improved the world youth record to 4.42 m and then immediately improved upon this with a 4.47-metre clearance. She attempted to break the Swedish senior record (raising the bar to 4.52 m) but failed in her three vaults. Her winning mark was enough to qualify her for the senior

2010 European Athletics Championships The 2010 European Athletics Championships were the 20th edition of the European Athletics Championships, organised under the supervision of the European Athletic Association. They were held at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Barcelona, C ...

, but she opted to focus on the younger age category competitions instead. Building upon her youth gold from the previous year, she added another gold medal to her collection at the 2010 Junior World Championship in

Moncton Moncton (; ) is the most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of New Brunswick. Situated in the Petitcodiac River Valley, Moncton lies at the geographic centre of the The Maritimes, Maritime Provinces. Th ...

. Although windy conditions reduced the level of performance, a first time clearance at 4.15 m sealed her victory over the older girls and she added an extra ten centimetres between herself and Holly Bleasdale for a winning mark of 4.25 m. Her achievements made her one of the headline athletes at the first ever

. She duly delivered on her favourite status by winning the competition at a height of 4.30 m. Dismissing the challenge of the Silke Spiegelburg's world junior record of 4.48 m, Bengtsson went straight for the Swedish senior record, but again 4.52 m proved too much for the young athlete. Bengtsson achieved that mark with a first time clearance at the Swedish Indoor Championships in February 2011, claiming both the world junior record and Swedish senior record at the same time. At the 2019 World Championships final, Bengtsson broke her pole in her third attempt on 4.80 m, thus having the right to re-take the attempt. She cleared that jump, which gave her 6th place in the competition, as well as a new Swedish outdoor record.

Achievements

Gallery

Angelica Bengtsson at the 2020 Bauhaus Galan meeting in Stockholm.jpg, Angelica Bengtsson at the 2020 Bauhaus Galan meeting in Stockholm

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bengtsson, Angelica 1993 births Living people Swedish female pole vaulters Swedish people of Brazilian descent People from Tingsryd Municipality Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Sweden World Athletics Championships athletes for Sweden European Athletics Championships medalists European Athletics Rising Star of the Year winners Swedish Athletics Championships winners Youth Olympic gold medalists for Sweden Youth Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Kronoberg County Diamond League winners 21st-century Swedish sportswomen Hässelby SK athletes

Biography

Achievements

See also

Gallery

References

External links