Christian Olsson (born 25 January 1980) is a former
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
athlete
An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance.
Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-devel ...
competing in
high jump
The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...
and
triple jump. He won an Olympic gold medal, 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.
Biography
Olsson was born in
Gothenburg
Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...
, and made his international breakthrough in 2001 when he won silver at the
2001 World Championships in Athletics
The 8th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada between 3 August and 12 August and was the first time the event ...
. He has the Swedish national record outdoors, 17.79 m (
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...
), 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 jump
The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...
ing.
On 7 March 2004, at the
2004 World Indoor Championships in Athletics
The 10th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) were held in the Budapest Arena, Hungary between March 5 and March 7, 2004. A total off 139 countries were re ...
, he jumped 17.83 m and matched the
World Record. On 23 August 2004, at the
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...
, he jumped 17.79 m, broke the national record and won the gold medal as the first Swede since
Gustaf Lindblom in
1912
Events January
* January 1 – The Republic of China (1912–49), Republic of China is established.
* January 5 – The Prague Conference (6th All-Russian Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party) opens.
* January 6 ...
, 92 years earlier. Four of his six jumps were longer than the silver medalist's best jump.
With the Olympic Gold he completed a rare international sweep, having the Olympic, World Indoor, Outdoor, Regional (European) Indoor and Outdoor titles.
Olsson first became interested in triple jump after watching
Jonathan Edwards Jonathan Edwards may refer to:
Musicians
*Jonathan and Darlene Edwards, pseudonym of bandleader Paul Weston and his wife, singer Jo Stafford
*Jonathan Edwards (musician) (born 1946), American musician
** ''Jonathan Edwards'' (album), debut album ...
set the world record at the
World Championships in his hometown Gothenburg. Since 1999, Olsson has been trained by
Yannick Tregaro
Yannick Tregaro (born 26 March 1978 in Gunnared) is a Swedish athletics coach.
Early career
Tregaro was a prospective high jumper, who placed 10th in the final of the high jump at the 1996 World Junior Championships. His coach was Viljo Nousiai ...
. Before that, Olsson was trained by
Viljo Nousiainen.
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.
A month later he won the gold medal at
European Championships
The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...
in his hometown Gothenburg, with a jump of 17.67 m.
At the beginning of the 2007 indoor season, Olsson was injured yet again, and was unable to compete at the
European indoor championships
The European Indoor Championships was a men's tennis tournament played in Berlin, Germany. The event was played as part of the ATP Tour in 1990 and 1991. It was played on indoor carpet courts.
Finals
Singles
Doubles
See also
* Berlin Open
...
.
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. At the Golden League event in
Rome, he retired after the second round due to a
cramp.
Olsson went to the
2007 World Championships in Athletics
The 11th World Championships in Athletics, () under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), were held at Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan from 24 August to 2 September 2007. 200 of the IAAF's 212 member federat ...
but had to pull out before the competition due to an injury during training.
After almost one year of
rehabilitation, he returned to competition in July 2008 at the annual event in
Stockholm
Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
, "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. Upon a request from the Swedish Olympic team, Olsson agreed to carry the Swedish flag during the opening ceremony.
In July 2009, Olsson made a comeback in a minor event arranged by Örgryte IS in
Gothenburg
Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...
. He then jumped 17.24 m.
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.
On 14 May 2012, Olsson ultimately declared his intentions to retire from professional triple jump competitions.
Christian Olsson lives with his family in
Lindome, south of
Göteborg.
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
Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...
(Grand Prix) - 17.92(w) m;
Stockholm
Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
(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
Bydgoszcz ( , , ; german: Bromberg) is a city in northern Poland, straddling the meeting of the River Vistula with its left-bank tributary, the Brda. With a city population of 339,053 as of December 2021 and an urban agglomeration with more ...
(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
The European Athlete of the Year award is an annual prize awarded to sportspeople participating in athletics, including track and field, road running and cross country running competitions. The election has been organised by the European gove ...
2004
*Waterford Crystal European Athlete of the Year Trophy 2003
Personal bests
*
Triple jump
**Indoor - 17.83 metres
**Outdoor - 17.79 metres
*
High jump
The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...
- 2.28 metres
*
Long jump - 7.71 metres
References
External links
*
*
*
*
BBC Sports Article - (2004 Summer Olympics)BBC Sports Article - (2003 World Championships in Athletics)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Olsson, Christian
1980 births
Living people
Athletes from Gothenburg
Olympic athletes of 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 male triple jumpers
Swedish male high jumpers
Swedish expatriates 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 (track and field)
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