Christian Olsson (born 25 January 1980) is a former Swedishathlete competing in high jump and triple jump. He won an Olympic gold medal,[1] 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.[2]
Biography
Olsson was born in Gothenburg, and made 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.[citation needed]
With the Olympic Gold he completed a rare international sweep, having the Olympic, World Indoor, Outdoor, Regional (European) Indoor and Outdoor titles.[citation needed]
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.[3] A month later he won the gold medal at European Championships in his hometown Gothenburg, with a jump of 17.67 m.[citation needed]
At the beginning of the 2007 indoor season, Olsson was injured yet again, and was unable to compete at the European indoor championships.[4][5]
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.[6] At the Golden League event in Rome, he retired after the second round due to a cramp.[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 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.[9][10] Upon a request from the Swedish Olympic team, Olsson agreed to carry the Swedish flag during the opening ceremony.[citation needed]
In July 2009, Olsson made a comeback in a minor event arranged by Örgryte IS in Gothenburg. He then jumped 17.24 m.[11]
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.[12]
On 14 May 2012, Olsson ultimately declared his intentions to retire from professional triple jump competitions.[13]
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 (Grand Prix) - 17.92(w) m; Stockholm (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 (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
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