Erki Nool (born 25 June 1970) is an

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

n retired decathlete and former

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

Life and career

Nool was born on 25 June 1970 in Võru. He grew up in an impoverished environment in the southern part of Võru. His father was a worker in a furniture factory and his mother was in charge of the finances of a school. There were six children, with Erki the third youngest. When he was 13, from the suggestion of his father he moved to a sports-focused

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

, where he could eat a free warm meal three times a day. In those days the economy was in a poor condition. When traveling to over-seas competitions, they didn't get their own cabin in the cruise ship, but instead just slept in the hallways and then competed and trained the next day. They also didn't have indoor athletics training facilities for winter. Nool was brought to tears when he was gifted a new, pristine pair of sneakers. After Estonia became independent on 20 August 1991, Nool was vocal about his dream of competing in the Olympics as part of the Estonian team. He took part in the Barcelona 1992 Summer Olympics decathlon but he ended up having to stop and pull out. Little by little he developed and by the mid-1990s he was among the top athletes in decathlon. In September 1997 he founded his own sports club and in 1998–2009 he organized international decathlon competition "Reval Hotels Cup". When he won gold for decathlon at the 1998 Budapest European Championships, he became a sports hero. Two years later, when he won the

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 ...

for decathlon in the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, he became a national hero. Although Nool did not place first in any individual event, his total score was the highest. There was a dramatic moment in

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field sport in which the participant athlete throws an oblate spheroid weight (object), weight called a discus in an attempt to mark a further distance than other competitors. It is a ...

, but luckily the competition referee decided to over-rule a judge, who had red-flagged his last and only valid attempt due to alleged step-out. The reinstatement of his 43.66-metre third throw sparked unsuccessful counter-protests from other teams. Nool took gold ahead of the Czech Roman Šebrle and American Chris Huffins. He has been voted as Estonia's sexiest man and in the 2000s the most popular Estonian. In 2006, Nool participated as a celebrity contestant on the first season of '' Tantsud tähtedega'', an Estonian version of '' Dancing with the Stars''. His professional dancing partner was Ave Vardja. In 2005–2017, Erki Nool was the Vice Chairman of the EOC Athletes Commission and 2007–2011 member of the European Athletics Development Committee. 2008–2012, he was also member of the executive committee of the Estonian Olympic Committee. On 4 March 2007, Nool was elected to the Estonian Parliament, the ''

Riigikogu The Riigikogu (, from Estonian ''riigi-'', "of the state", and ''kogu'', "assembly") is the unicameral parliament of Estonia. In addition to approving legislation, the Parliament appoints high officials, including the prime minister and chi ...

'', representing the Union of Pro Patria and Res Publica. He has since left politics and now focuses on his real estate business and athletics school, with 450 students. His son Robin Nool (born in 1998) competed in pole vault with a record of 5.40 m.

Achievements

Personal bests

Information from

World Athletics World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

profile unless otherwise noted.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nool, Erki 1970 births Living people Politicians from Võru County Sportspeople from Võru Estonian decathletes Estonian sportsperson-politicians Olympic athletes for Estonia Olympic gold medalists for Estonia Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Isamaa politicians World Athletics Championships medalists European Athletics Championships medalists Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) World Athletics Championships athletes for Estonia Goodwill Games medalists in athletics Members of the Riigikogu, 2007–2011 Members of the Riigikogu, 2011–2015 Competitors at the 2001 Goodwill Games