Richard Dahl (also known as Rickard Dahl; 5 August 1933 – 8 August 2007) was a

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 ...

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 competed in the

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 ...

. His short-lived career was defined by a surprise win at the

1958 European Athletics Championships The 6th European Athletics Championships were held from 19–24 August 1958 in the Stockholm Olympic Stadium, Olympic Stadium of Stockholm, Sweden. Contemporaneous reports on the event were given in the Glasgow Herald. Medal summary C ...

in a Swedish record of .

Career

In 1957 Dahl won his first significant medal, a silver at the national championships behind Stig Pettersson, the leading Swedish jumper of the era. Both repeated that placing the following year. At the

, held in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, Dahl set a Swedish record and championship record at , beating

Jiří Lanský Jiří Lanský (17 September 1933 – 14 February 2017) was a Czech high jumper who won silver medals at the 1954 and 1958 European Championships. He finished seventh at the 1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially kn ...

and Stig Pettersson. He became the fourth, and thus the latest male Swede to win the title, following Kurt Lundqvist,

Anton Bolinder Anton Bolinder (3 June 1915 – 7 December 2006) was a Swedish high jumper. He won a gold medal at the 1946 European Athletics Championships setting a new national record at . For this achievement he was awarded the Stora grabbars märke St ...

and Bengt Nilsson. For this performance he was awarded the

Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal The Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal (, but usually simply called ''Bragdguldet'', "The Feat Gold") is an annual award "for the most significant Sweden, Swedish sports achievement of the year". It has been awarded by a jury led by the Swedish morning ...

and designated the

Stora grabbars märke Stora Enso Oyj (from and ) is a Finnish and Swedish forest industry company. It develops and produces various materials, mostly based on wood, for a range of industries and applications worldwide. It has headquarters in Helsinki, Finland, and ...

number 200 in

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

.Richard Dahl 1933-2007
. Stora grabbar. Retrieved on 18 October 2014. Dahl won two more international medals – a bronze at the 1959 International University Games (clearing two metres) and a silver at the inaugural Nordic Athletics Championships (where he lost to Petterssen by ten centimetres). His final achievement of note was a third place at the Swedish Championships in 1960. After retiring from competition, he became a

sports journalist Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in a par ...

for the local paper ''Länstidningen Södertälje'', and later for the regional ''Nordvästra Skånes Tidningar''.EM-guldmedaljören Richard Dahl död
. Sydsvenskan (8 August 2007). Retrieved on 2014-10-18.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dahl, Richard 1933 births 2007 deaths Swedish male high jumpers European Athletics Championships medalists Sportspeople from Landskrona Athletes from Skåne County 20th-century Swedish sportsmen SoIK Hellas athletes