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My name is Holm, Stefan Holm | | BIOGRAPHY | my life and work, kind of |
Photo: Jonas Ekströmer Name: Stefan Christian Holm Born: May 25th 1976 Height: 1,81 m Weight: 69-71 kg Hometown: Karlstad, Värmland, Sverige Club: Kils AIK Friidrott Family: Wife Anna and son Melwin (born October 2004) Personal bests: Highjump: 2,40i m - 6/3-2005 / 2,37 m - 13/7-2008 Longjump: 7,18 m - 13/9-1999 Pole vault: 2,50 m - 2/10-1994 (have actually jumped higher in highjump than in pole vault in a decathlon - 2,04 m vs 2,00 m in 1993) Triple jump: 12,35i m - 12/12-1991 / 11,91 m - 9/6-1991 60 meters: 7,33 - 14/1-2003 100 meters: 11,42 - 13/9-1999 200 meters: 23,72 - 11/8-1996 110 meters hurdles: 16,23 - 13/9-1999 Discusthrow: 21,41 m - 11/9-1999 Shot put: 8,49 m - 11/9-1999 Hammerthrow: 16,73 m - 11/9-1999 Javelinthrow: 34,29 m - 11/9-1999 My life and achievements: 1976 - Born on May 25, according to the legend on a rainy Tuesday. I know it was a Tuesday, but whether or not it rained I canīt remember. I came to a world existing of my mother Elisabeth, my father Johnny, who at that time was a goalkeeper in ÖDIK in the fourth division, an my at that time three year old sister Veronica. Then I donīt remember much until. 1980 - My first high jump memory. My neighbour and friend since we learnt how to walk, Magnus Lundqvist, and me did some kind of high jump in our sofa in our living room. It ended when Magnus broke his arm. Maybe thatīs why he chose football. I still wonder if we were influenced by the Olympics in Moscow. 1981 - Well I turned five. The only things that existed in my world was lego, lego and lots of lego. I also went to Legoland - paradise for me in those days. 1982 - Football entered my life for real. With a father who was a goal keeper in ÖDIK, football had always been very close since I learnt to walk. Football is after all the best toy in the world. This year it was the FIFA World Cup in football in Spain and the marvellous national team of Brazil: Zico, Eder, Falcao, Socrates and Junior and above all my big idol, the big hero of Italy: Paolo Rossi, the man who shot Italy to the gold. Each day Magnus and I played the world cup final between Italy and Brazil in the play ground . Most of the time Magnus won, strangely enough, since I was Italy. Maybe it was because he was a much better football player than me. What about high jump? I guess it was there too, Magnusī father built us a stand, the highest level was 120 cm and that was HIGH! I guess we cleared about 65 cm. 1983 - The year athletics did what football had done the year before. World Championships in athletics and it was on TV all the time, and above all: Carl Lewis. As a high jumper Patrik Sjöberg has always been my biggest idol, but it was Carl Lewis who made Magnus and me try to run fast and jump far in the play ground. I just wonder how many world championships and Olympics we have won in that sand-pit?! We began to reach 1 meter in high jump, 85 cm if I'm not mistaken, but on the other hand it was scissors and most of the time with no mattress. I also started school. For what use?! Maybe it was quite useful - the school had a real stand and a "real" mattress, up and over 1,10 meters. 1984 - Problems! - European Championships in football in France and the great national team of Denmark: Preben Elkjaer and Jesper Olsen. The Olympics in Los Angeles at the same time and King Carl again - with four gold medals and an astonished eight year old could do nothing but stare at the TV. Patrik Sjöbergīs silver medal didnīt make things worse. But football was still number one! I had begun to play football for real in ÖDIK, who now played in the sixth division, but still with my father in the goal. The best team in the world, at least according to me. Magnus was the bright shining star through out my football years and I made all the passes and yelled at my team mates in the role of team captain. 1985 - Football was still number one, but I improved my personal best in high jump by clearing 1,20 m. Magnus was about one minute ahead of me over that magic height (which I am going to double). He never gets tired of reminding me of that. I guess we were often late for class that autumn - it was just so fun to jump with a real stand and a real mattress. 1986 - Diego Armando Maradona! For those who have forgotten about him - he was a divinely gifted football player who dominated the FIFA World Cup in Mexico and won the gold almost by him self. He was so divinely gifted that God himself lent him a hand - but that is a totally different story. Denmark was again a favourite team - since Sweden hadnīt qualified. I broke the school record for ten year olds in Forshaga by jumping 1,27 m. I totally failed at Kretsmästerskapen ( Forshaga, Deje, Hagfors, Munkfors ) and I thought I would never get over that humiliation, but I have, I promise. I broke the record with one centimetre the year after and by another five cm two years later. I started cross country skiing training that autumn in SISU Forshaga and I dreamt of a career as Gunde Svan, but the weather gods didnīt want skier from Värmland. 1987 - Patrik Sjöberg. World record: 2,42 m. and world champion and a thin football player in Forshaga was deeply impressed and began to dream of a higher heights. I jumped 1,40 m in gymnastics and was only one meter behind Patrik. But football was still number one and the dream of a career as a professional player lived on.. This year we actually managed to beat Oddevold, I also scored against them, the future team in Allsvenskan, and a few years later I scored and won over Degerfors. Once upon a time I had scored against two teams in Allsvenskan. Nowadays none of the teams play in Allsvenskan and my football qualifications just get worse and worse. But this year I won Kretsmästerskapen in high jump at the height of 1,30 m - my first championship gold. In November I joined a classmate to athletic training in Kil and met Kjell Hällsten and I have remained in that club. 1988 - February 20 1988! My debut as a real high jumper! I finished in fourth place at the height of 1,40 m in Länsförsäkringar Cup in Karlstad. The Winner was Michael Johansson from Eds SK, who cleared 1,49, Marcus Larsson came in second place and Alexander Mossberg in third. The Olympics again and I watched when Patrik was supposed to win the gold medal, but he finished in third place and he also lost his world record to Javier Sotomayor, but not at the same time which we statisticians know since Cuba boycotted the Olympics in Seoul. Donīt say that politics and sports donīt go together. It was my last year of playing football with only seven players in the team and I began to look like a real football player. During the summer I got my revenge on Marcus, Michael and Alexander, but it was Michael who draw the longest straw when he jumped 1,55, compared to my 1,51, and he won on my home ground in Goliatspelen at Sannerudsvallen in Kil. Since then we have not competed against each other. Anyone who recognises him? It would be great to hear from him! 1989 - I broke my first club record in the last competition that summer and it was an important one. It was at a height of 1,61 the same height that I finally managed to clear, and it was held by Håkan Johansson. He also had the senior record of 2,05 m, well, he actually had all records for twelve year olds and all other age groups. A few years later we would meet in a much bigger scene, but more about that later on. In football we now played with eleven players in each team and we didnīt play that well. We lost against Degerfors with 14-0, but at least we won a few matches and we remained in our league. In Falun in March I met a thin guy from Väsby IK who was known from TV: Staffan Strand. 1990 - I began to look like a real high jumper, but it took some time. My competitor, Jon Högblad, got all the headlines in the winter, he jumped 1,82 in January and I cleared 1,75 about a month later but he always won over me. Until a rainy and freezing September afternoon in Mora. Jon had 13 victories over me and I had none over him, but that day I finally won over him and since then he has only beaten me once - so now It's 17-14 in my favour. I came in second place at 1,76. Jonas Johansson, Råby Rekarne won at 1,79. 1,76 was a new personal record with 1 cm and a new club record - so now I had wiped out the first of Håkanīs records. Andreas Jonsson from Danderyd, who would be my worst competitor for a couple of years on, came in second place. Football??? Well, this year I scored against Degerfors - again. I had done that in a match in 1985. Apart from that nothing really went our way in football that year. The week after the rain I jumped 1,83 on an extremely windy Sunday in Kil. The result was a new district record for Värmland. And I was once and for all ahead of Jon. 1991 - My last year as a football player, much depending on my success as a high jumper. When I had jumped 1,83 in September the year before I knew I could jump high and I began to dream about 2 meters. I qualified for my first Swedish Youth Championships in February. The week before I qualified I was forced to jump 1,80 in a competition in Våxnäshallen in Karlstad. I jumped 1,85 and could go to Luleå to compete for the championship gold medal. In Luleå the most unlikely happened: 1,70, 1,75, 1,79, 1,83, 1,86 and 1,89 in the first attempt and suddenly I was the only one left in the competition. I had won the Swedish Youth Championships and I could do nothing but smile. I met Viljo Nousiainen, Patrik Sjöbergīs trainer and the Swedish high jump guru, for the first time. He still helps me with my training. The summer was almost a long triumphal procession. In Värnamo I managed to beat Andreas Jonsson in the battle for the Swedish Championship gold medal after a very even competition. I jumped 1,94 and he cleared 1,92, a new personal record for me with 1 centimetre and with seven for Andreas. I cleared three heights in the first attempt. Later that autumn he cleared 1,98 and I had still only jumped 1,94 and was only the second best in my age group - but it gave me huge inspire to train. The dream about 2 m?! Well, about 11.15 am December 21 the bar remained on the magical height - in training. 1992 - Heaven and hell. A great winter was followed by a difficult summer. Football was now history, although I'm still interested, but high jump was number one. I jumped 2,05 in Falun and I struck the world with amazement in the first competition of the year. The following month I jumped 2,08 at the Swedish Indoor Championships and I struck the world with more amazement, only to improve my personal record with 2,09 in March. But that was it. In the summer I had troubles, I didnīt dare to jump when the bar began to reach my personal best. I jumped 2,05 once without a problem, but that was it - besides once. In Öresundsspelen the joy and the feeling was there and I jumped 2,06, my best result that summer, and I did an idiotic raise of the bar to 2,14 and I was close, incredibly close to clear. The reason for the raise? Patrik Sjöberg had the competition record at 2,13 and he still has it. 2,06 was senior record in Kils AIK and a district record for 16 year old boys in Värmland. A big disappointment was that I didīt get the chance to compete in Finnkampen under-19 in Helsinki. After all I had jumped higher than any 18 year olds in Sweden (if you include 2,09 indoors) and I was definitely the most reliable 2 m jumper, but instead I jumped at Göta ungdomsspel at Tingvalla in Karlstad. I jumped 2,05 and the competitors in Finnkampen jumped 2,04 and 1,95. 1993 - The year when I competed against Patrik Sjöberg and lost against him for the first time. The meeting was at the Swedish Indoor Championship in Malmö. Patrik jumped 2,27 and I jumped 2,03. Patrikīs result was arena record in Atleticum for almost six years, but it was wiped out when I jumped 2,28 in 1999. It went up and down that summer. During the worst rainstorm of the summer I jumped 2,14 at Valbo Youth Games in Gävle and I qualified for the European Junior Championships in Spanish/Basque San Sebastian. I finished in eleventh place and the day between qualify and final I got a pain in my heel and I could barely jump. Unfortunately it wasnīt the only time I got problems in European Junior Championships. Do you remember Håkan Johansson?! Well, I thought you would! At the Swedish Championships in Borlänge the two jumpers from Kil met for the first time. Håkan now competing for Malmö. The result: the little guy beat the big one, much depending on injuries for Håkan. I finished in fourth place and began to reach the Swedish senior elite. I jumped Finnkampen under-19, it ended really bad. I cleared 2,01 despite the fact that the bar stayed in the last attempt at 2,05 and although the judge approved the jump, but the bar had laid to rest on a part of a TV camera placed on the stand. Curtain fall. 1994 - Went to Budapest for the first time and improved my personal best at 2,18. I finished in seventh place in the World Junior Championships in Lisbon and I made my debut in the senior national team in the real Finnkampen. Andreas Jonsson (who I had beat in the Swedish Junior Championships in Luleå, where I had jumped 2,14 and he had jumped 2,12 and Staffan Strand had improved his personal best in that competition from 2,04 to 2,11 - suddenly there were three guys born in 1976 over 2,10 ) jumped in Ungdomsfinnkampen. At the big Swedish Championships in Gothenburg I finished in second place at 2,17, a height that both me and Patrick Thavelin, Spårvägen, jumped. That meant that I had the stadium record at Ullevi when the World Championships took place the following year. But that record was erased when Javier Sotomayor jumped 2,20 as the first jumper in the qualify and my qualification was history. My old acquaintance Håkan Johansson, now wearing the red and white dress of Göta finished in third place. There Håkan Johansson now wearing the red and white dress of Göta. There were two jumpers from Kil on the winnersī stand. But it would get better. 1995 - Went to Budapest for the second time and I improved my personal best at 2,21. Staffan continued his great form from the summer and in Örebro he beat me for the first time since 1990. I managed to beat him at the Swedish Indoor Junior Championships when I jumped 2,19 and he jumped 2,15. The following weekend it was the Swedish Senior Championships and the battle for the gold medal would of course take place between Staffan and me. But Håkan Johansson came from nowhere and stole the gold medal from the two juniors and I also lost the silver medal to Staffan after a thrilling battle. First I cleared 2,19 in my first attempt, followed by Staffan who did the same thing, only to see Håkan clear 2,21. Due to better results I got the privilege to represent Sweden at the Indoor Finnkampen in Kuopio in Finland together with Håkan. Two jumpers from Kil in the same national team, to make things better Emelie Färdigh ( Kils AIK 1989-1991 ) took part in the ladies competition. But to lessen the dominance of Kil Kajsa Bergqvist took part too. The summer started just fine. I went to Spain on a training camp with Viljo Nousiainen and a bunc of people from Gothenburg and Staffan. I jumped 2,20 for the first time on May 30 and followed up with 2,21 in Budapest a few weeks later. But that was it. I had to start my military service on July 3 and that ruined my summer. The jumping just wouldnīt work and my clear Swedish championship medal vanished in the hands of Staffan and my clear European Junior championship medal disappeared, I finished in sixth place and was furious at the system and "the green asses that was trying to make a man out of me". The fact is that my jumping didnīt work until a year later. 1996 - Winter was a sort of disaster. Military service was just a complete pain, I was at the enrolment office in Karlstad, but my attitude towards militaries didnīt help out. I hated every minute of my military service and I wanted as many as possible in the platoon and majors, lieutenants and second lieutenants to know. Although it was impossible to beat Staffan the summer was better. He always cleared in the first attempt and I cleared in the second and if I cleared in the first attempt he cleared a higher height. The only time I managed to beat him was in 10 centimetres deep water in Finland when I jumped 2,10 and he 2,05 - the worst result of the summer for both of us. I began to look like a reliable 2,20 jumper and that was a benefit. As a matter of curiosity my jumping finally began to work on my twentieth birthday. I jumped 2,21 in Leppävirta, Finland, equal to my personal best, and was nominated to jump the European Cup, I managed after almost 30 attempts to beat Rune Alméns 22 year old district record for seniors. That happened when I finished in second place in the Swedish championship, Staffan won of course, at 2,26, which I cleared in my second attempt and he cleared in his first - of course! But I was closer to clear a higher height. I did an incredible achievement when I jumped 2,21 in all three national team competitions. First in the European cup in Madrid, then in Finnkampen in Helsinki and finally in the Nordic Junior Match in Norwegian Fredrikstad. 1997 - A kind of replay of 1992. A marvellous winter followed by a miserable summer. A huge desire to get revenge, due to two completely different reasons, did that my training worked better than ever in the autumn of 1996 and that paid off. After 2,20 in Falun and a new indoor personal best, the next competition was in Stange, Norway. A thin little guy from Kil against Steinar Hoen, Tim Forsyth, Dragutin Tpoic and others. My father said the night before: It's almost time for a big sensation tomorrow isn't it? The sensation was a fact when I beat four olympic finalists from the Olympics in Atlanta, among them two European Champions. I didnīt really jump that well, I cleared 2,25, but my victory depended more on the fact that the others jumped bad. But it was a great victory. After a fourth place, two bronze medals and three silver medals for me and ten years of waiting for Kils AIK, I won my first Swedish Championship three weeks later. I jumped 2,26 in Malmö and beat Staffan with 10 centimetres and I was finnlly on top of the winnersī stand. A week later I shocked everyone around, maybe except myself, when I jumped 2,30 at the Swedish junior championships in Eskilstuna, as the third swede in history. The indoor season ended with a shared eight place at the World championship in Paris and I looked forward to a great summer. But in the middle of May got pains in my foot, I ignored the pain and went on jumping and my foot just hurt more and more until it really HURT.. It ended in the European Cup in Dublin the first week in June and after that I didnīt compete for two months. As I was suffering Staffan won the European Championship for 22 year olds and yet again I saw a European championship pass by. I sat in front of the TV and watched Staffan jump the World championship in Athens and that was not great, so to speak. I came back in time to win the Swedish championship for juniors in Karlstad in absence of Staffan and then I shared the victory with him in Finnkampen, Thomas Hansson in third place. A Swedish triple in high jump and a bath in the water grave - definitely one of my brightest memories of Finnkampen. 1998 - The opposite of 1997 - a tough and boring winter followed by an almost fabulous summer, I was totally unmotivated and not committed and had no desire to jump. I managed to jump 2,25 at the indoor Finnkampen and qualified for the Indoor European Championships in Valencia the following weekend. But that competition was lost on beforehand and is already forgotten. The summer began with rain mixed with snow in Florö, Norway, at the height of 2,15. I had jumped 2,20 at the same competition the year before - injured! I had to hitch-hike half of the way from Oslo. but I felt that something was on the way. And it was - in Andorra a month later I flew way over 2,26 and qualified for the European Championships in Budapest. A month later I went from almost anonymous to gold hope in the EC all due to 2,33 at the Nordic Junior Match in Eurajoki, Finland. Well, I didnīt get a medal in Budapest, I continued my started sequence: 2,18 - 2,21 - 2,24 in the qualify and 2,27 in the final and finished in seventh place, Staffan in eight. About a week later after the miss in the European Cup Staffan and me went of a tour: Finland on Friday and a double victory in Finnkampen, then a flight worth mentioning: Helsinki - Stockholm - Copenhagen - Rome and then to Rieti by bus, where we finished in second and third place behind Sotomayor, on Sunday and then off to Berlin. I managed to beat Sotomayor there and Staffan finished in third place - at the same time we qualified to the Grand Prix final in Moscow - what a week and end of season. Moscow was an experience - in the middle of the financial chaos where the value of the rubel went halves in 24 hours and the prices of CD:s redoubled in an afternoon and Sotomayor proved that he was number one and Staffan evened the score between Chip and Dale to 25-25. 1999 - Things didnīt really turn out as I had planed - better than ever at training with a lot of jumps at 2,25 but never more than 2,32 at competitions. But letīs start from the beinning. A marvellous opening with 2,27 in Umeå in January and I qualified for the World Indoor Championships - and everyone, but me, was pleased and impressed. I had aimed to jump 2,31 - at least. I won the SIC for the third time in row and I erased Sjöbergīs arena record at Athleticum in Malmö, by jumping 2,28 at Brogalan. I also put a pressure in Sotomayor at Globengalan by clearing 2,29 - but the direct success failed to occur. The sixth place in the IWC in Japanese Maebashi was also a disappointment. The summer started great - compared to 1998. 2,24 in the premiere, 2,26 in Kil a few days later and a victory in the European Cup in Lathi a week later. but then I started to get problems - I varied great results like 2,31 in Zagreb, capital of Croatia with disastrous jumps like 2,15 in Oslo. Translated by Veronica Holm top of page : back to startpage |