Emiel Remco Mellaard (born 21 March 1966) is a retired

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

er, best known for winning the 1989 European Indoor Championships. Mellaard was the first Dutch long jumper to break the 8-metre barrier, when in 1987 he jumped 8.02. With this achievement he took over Henk Visser's legendary Dutch record of 7.98, set in 1956. His personal best was 8.19 metres, achieved in July 1988 in

Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...

. This is the current Dutch record on outdoor tracks. However, Emiel Mellaard is one of the few athletes who produced his very best performance on an indoor track. In 1989 he jumped 8.23 metres in The Hague, a few weeks before he would become European Indoor Champion. This achievement remains the current Dutch indoor record.

International competitions

¹Representing Europe

References

External links

* 1966 births Living people Dutch male long jumpers Olympic athletes for the Netherlands Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Spijkenisse World Athletics Championships athletes for the Netherlands Athletes from South Holland 20th-century Dutch sportsmen {{Netherlands-athletics-bio-stub