Stefan Holm

Stefan Christian Holm (born 25 May 1976) is a retired Swedish high jumper. He won an Olympic gold medal, a silver in the World Championships, and one silver and one bronze medal in the European Championships. His personal records are 2.37 m (7 ft 9+1⁄4 in) (outdoors, set 2008) and 2.40 m (7 ft 10+1⁄4 in) (indoors, set 2005). Clearing the bar 59 centimeters (23 in) over his own height, he currently holds, jointly with American Franklin Jacobs, the world record for height differential.

Stefan Holm

Stefan Holm during the Swedish Sports Awards inside the Stockholm Globe Arena in January 2014
Personal information
Full name	Stefan Christian Holm[1]
Born	(1976-05-25) 25 May 1976 (age 49)[1] Forshaga, Sweden[1]
Height	1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Weight	71 kg (157 lb)[1]
Children	Melwin Lycke Holm
Sport
Country	Sweden
Event	High jump
Club	Kils AIK
Retired	2008
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	2.37 m 2.40 m (indoors)
Medal record Men's Athletics Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 1 0 0 World Championships 0 1 0 World Indoor Championships 4 0 0 European Championships 0 1 1 European Indoor Championships 2 1 0 Continental Cup 0 0 0 Total 7 3 1 Olympic Games 2004 Athens High jump World Championships 2003 Paris High jump World Indoor Championships 2001 Lisbon High jump 2003 Birmingham High jump 2004 Budapest High jump 2008 Valencia High jump European Championships 2002 Munich High jump 2006 Gothenburg High jump European Indoor Championships 2005 Madrid High jump 2007 Birmingham High jump 2002 Vienna High jump World Athletics Final 2004 Monte Carlo High jump 2003 Monte Carlo High jump 2007 Stuttgart High jump 2008 Stuttgart High jump 2005 Monte Carlo High jump 2006 Stuttgart High jump

Holm is currently coach of Swedish high jumper Sofie Skoog.

Biography

His inspiration for high-jumping began when he was 8 years old. He saw a Swedish high-jumping legend, and former world-record holder, Patrik Sjöberg, compete on television.^[2]

He set an indoor personal best of 2.36 m (7 ft 8+3⁄4 in) in 2003 to win the Hochsprung mit Musik meeting, and managed to reach the same height outdoors the following year while winning the Internationales Hochsprung-Meeting Eberstadt. In 2004, Holm won the 2004 Summer Olympics high jump gold in Athens with a jump of 2.36 and was awarded the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal.^[3] This year Holm also won the Jerring Award.^[4]

Holm finished 4th at the 2008 Summer Olympics with a leap of 2.32 m. On 13 September 2008 he announced his retirement from the sport. Holm ended his 20-year career with a second place at the World Athletics Final in Stuttgart.^[5]

He briefly returned to high jump competition in 2010 for a charity event: the Auto Lounge Comeback competition in Sweden. As his main rival Patrik Sjöberg had a knee injury, Holm agreed to jump off his wrong foot to even the score. He beat Sjöberg in the wrong-footed faceoff and went back to his normal takeoff to jump 2.15 m for third behind Ukhov and Donald Thomas.^[6]

He became an IOC member at the 125th IOC Session in Buenos Aires in September 2013.^[7] In October 2019, he announced he would leave his seat following the 2020 Summer Olympics.^[8]

On his 40th birthday in May 2016, Holm set a new Swedish veteran record for 40-year-olds (M40). With 2.06 m he broke the previous record of 2.05 m, which had been held by Egon Nilsson for almost 50 years.^[9]

Holm participated in the Swedish version of Who Do You Think You Are? in 2016. The longest ancestry tracing in the series' history was successfully made, covering 29 generations and 1,000 years back to the Swedish king Olof Skötkonung. This lineage is on Holm's maternal great-great-great-grandfather's side.^[10]

Holm's son is Melwin Lycke Holm, winner of the 2023 European Athletics U20 Championships in the high jump.^[11]

Competition record

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Notes
Representing  Sweden
1993	European Junior Championships	San Sebastián, Spain	11th	2.06 m
1994	World Junior Championships	Lisbon, Portugal	7th	2.10 m
1995	European Junior Championships	Nyíregyháza, Hungary	6th	2.17 m
1997	World Indoor Championships	Paris, France	8th	2.25 m
1998	European Indoor Championships	Valencia, Spain	19th (q)	2.20 m
	European Championships	Budapest, Hungary	7th	2.27 m
1999	World Indoor Championships	Maebashi, Japan	6th	2.25 m
	Universiade	Palma de Mallorca, Spain	4th	2.25 m
	World Championships	Seville, Spain	10th	2.25 m
2000	European Indoor Championships	Ghent, Belgium	4th	2.32 m
	Olympic Games	Sydney, Australia	4th[12]	2.32 m
2001	World Indoor Championships	Lisbon, Portugal	1st	2.32 m
	World Championships	Edmonton, Canada	4th	2.30 m
	Goodwill Games	Brisbane, Australia	1st	2.33 m
2002	European Indoor Championships	Vienna, Austria	2nd	2.30 m
	European Championships	Munich, Germany	2nd	2.29 m
2003	World Indoor Championships	Birmingham, United Kingdom	1st	2.35 m
	World Championships	Paris, France	2nd	2.32 m
2004	World Indoor Championships	Budapest, Hungary	1st	2.35 m
	Olympic Games	Athens, Greece	1st[12]	2.36 m
2005	European Indoor Championships	Madrid, Spain	1st	2.40 m
	World Championships	Helsinki, Finland	7th	2.29 m
2006	World Indoor Championships	Moscow, Russia	5th	2.30 m
	European Championships	Gothenburg, Sweden	3rd	2.34 m
2007	European Indoor Championships	Birmingham, United Kingdom	1st	2.34 m
	World Championships	Osaka, Japan	4th	2.33 m
2008	World Indoor Championships	Valencia, Spain	1st	2.36 m
	Olympic Games	Beijing, China	4th[12]	2.32 m

Other victories

• 1998: Berlin (IAAF Golden League-meet) - 2.28 m
• 1999: Lahti (European Cup first league) - 2.27 m; Stockholm (Grand Prix) - 2.29 m
• 2000: Gateshead (European cup super league) - 2.28 m
• 2001: Helsinki (Grand Prix) - 2.26 m; Vaasa (European cup first league) - 2.28 m; Brisbane (Goodwill Games) - 2.33 m
• 2002: Doha (Grand Prix) - 2.28 m; Seville (European cup first league) - 2.33 m; Zürich (Golden League-meet) - 2.35 m; Rieti (Grand Prix) - 2.29m; Paris (Grand Prix Final) - 2.31 m
• 2003: Lappeenranta (European cup first league) - 2.24 m; Rethymno (athletics meet) - 2.34 m; Gateshead (Grand Prix) - 2.30 m
• 2004: Bydgoszcz (European cup super league) - 2.32 m; Iraklio (Grand Prix) - 2.33 m; Internationales Hochsprung-Meeting Eberstadt) - 2.36 m; Stockholm (Grand Prix) - 2.33 m; Monaco (World Athletics Final) - 2.33 m
• 2005: Gävle (European cup first league) - 2.27 m; Paris Saint-Denis (Golden League) - 2.32 m; Stockholm (Grand Prix) - 2.33 m; Oslo (Golden League) - 2.29 m
• 2006: London (Grand Prix) - 2.34 m
• 2007: Vaasa (European cup first league) - 2.30 m; Lausanne (Grand Prix) - 2.28 m; London (Grand Prix) - 2.32 m; Stockholm (Grand Prix) - 2.35 m
• 2008: Istanbul (European cup first league) - 2.25 m; Athens (Grand Prix) - 2.37 m; Stockholm (Grand Prix) - 2.30 m