Christian Olsson

Christian Olsson

Christian Olsson during the 2010 European Team Championships
Personal information
Full name John Christian Bert Olsson
Born (1980-01-25) 25 January 1980
Gothenburg, Västra Götaland County
Residence Monaco
Height 1.92 m (6 ft 3½ in)
Weight 73 kg (161 lb)
Sport
Country Sweden
Event(s) Triple jump, High jump
Club Örgryte IS
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s) 17.79 m
17.83 m (indoors)
Medal record
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 1 0 0
World Championships 1 1 0
World Indoor Championships 2 0 0
European Championships 2 0 0
European Indoor Championships 1 0 0
Total 7 1 0
Olympic Games
2004 Athens Triple jump
World Championships
2003 Paris Triple jump
2001 Edmonton Triple jump
World Indoor Championships
2003 Birmingham Triple jump
2004 Budapest Triple jump
European Championships
2002 Munich Triple jump
2006 Gothenburg Triple jump
European Indoor Championships
2002 Vienna Triple jump

Christian Olsson (born 25 January 1980 in Gothenburg) is a former Swedish athlete competing in high jump 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.[1]

Biography

Olsson had his international breakthrough in 2001 when he won silver at the 2001 World Championships in Athletics. He has the Swedish national record outdoors, 17.79 m (2004 Summer Olympics), 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 jumping.

On 7 March 2004, at the 2004 World Indoor Championships in Athletics, he jumped 17.83 m and matched the World Record. On 23 August 2004, at the 2004 Summer Olympics, he jumped 17.79 m, broke the national record and won the gold medal. 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 set the world record at the World Championships in his hometown Gothenburg. Since 1999, Olsson has been trained by Yannick Tregaro. 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 has 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.[2] A month later he won the gold medal at European Championships 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.[3][4]

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.[5] At the Golden League event in Rome, he retired after the second round due to a cramp.[6]

Olsson went to the 2007 World Championships in Athletics but had to pull out before the competition due to an injury during training.[7]

After almost one year of rehabilitation, he returned to competition in July 2008 at the annual event in Stockholm, "DN Galan", but had to pull out due to injury. Afterwards, he announced that he will not compete anymore during the 2008 season; as such he will not participate at the Beijing Olympics. He also suggested that he may retire form the sport.[8][9] 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. He then jumped 17.24 m.[10]

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.[11]

On May 14, 2012, Olsson ultimately declared his intentions to retire from professional triple jump competitions.[12]

Christian currently lives in Monaco with his girlfriend Gordana Bosanac.

Competition record

Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
Representing  Sweden
1999 European Junior Championships Riga, Latvia 1st High jump 2.21 m
2nd Triple jump 16.18 m
2000 European Indoor Championships Ghent, Belgium 22nd (q) Triple jump 15.95 m
Olympic Games Sydney, Australia 17th (q) Triple jump 16.64 m
2001 European U23 Championships Amsterdam, Netherlands 1st Triple jump 17.24 m (wind: -0.8 m/s)
World Championships Edmonton, Canada 2nd Triple jump 17.47 m
Goodwill Games Brisbane, Australia 2nd Triple jump 16.85 m
2002 European Indoor Championships Vienna, Austria 1st Triple jump 17.54 m
European Championships Munich, Germany 1st Triple jump 17.53 m
2003 World Indoor Championships Birmingham, United Kingdom 1st Triple jump 17.70 m
World Championships Paris, France 1st Triple jump 17.72 m
2004 World Indoor Championships Budapest, Hungary 1st Triple jump 17.83 m
Olympic Games Athens, Greece 1st Triple jump 17.79 m
2006 European Championships Gothenburg, Sweden 1st Triple jump 17.67 m
2010 World Indoor Championships Doha, Qatar 4th Triple jump 17.23 m
2011 European Indoor Championships Paris, France 5th Triple jump 17.20 m
World Championships Daegu, South Korea 6th Triple jump 17.23 m

Other victories

Triple jump

International awards

Personal bests

References

  1. ↑ Turner, Chris (2010-01-16). Robles vs Oliver; Olsson returns after three years to Stockholm. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-01-17.
  2. ↑ Christian Olsson is back! IAAF, 13 June 2006
  3. ↑ Knee injury in training causes Olsson’s withdrawal IAAF, 1 February 2007
  4. ↑ Olsson out of European Indoor Championships IAAF, 25 February 2007
  5. ↑ Olsson left to consider what might have been IAAF, 6 July 2007
  6. ↑ "it was not an injury" IAAF, 13 July 2007
  7. ↑ Christian Olsson injured – No World Championships IAAF, 21 August 2007
  8. ↑ And Olsson returns but looks to have injured himself again IAAF, 22 July 2008
  9. ↑ "The Olympics are gone, the whole season is gone" European Athletics, July 23, 2008
  10. ↑ http://www.svd.se/sportspel/nyheter/artikel_3253149.svd
  11. ↑ Svenska Dagbladet paper issue August 4, 2009
  12. ↑ http://www.aftonbladet.se/sportbladet/friidrott/article14823606.ab
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Records
Preceded by
Russia Leonid Voloshin		 Men's Triple Jump Indoor European Record Holder
March 5, 2002 – March 14, 2010 		Succeeded by
France Teddy Tamgho
Awards
Preceded by
United Kingdom Dwain Chambers		 Men's European Athlete of the Year
2003, 2004 		Succeeded by
Lithuania Virgilijus Alekna
Olympic Games
Preceded by
Lars Frölander		 Flagbearer for  Sweden
Beijing 2008 		Succeeded by
Rolf-Göran Bengtsson


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