European Indoor Championships, Paris 2011

Transcription

1 MEDIA GUIDE SWEDISH TEAM European Indoor Championships, Paris 2011

2 Index NIKLAS ARRHENIUS, Shot Put CHRISTIAN OLSSON, Triple Jump ANGELICA BENGTSSON, Pole Vault... 4 ANDREAS OTTERLING, Long Jump LENA BERNTSSON, 60 m JESSICA SAMUELSSON, Heptathlon.. 14 ADIL BOUAFIF, 3000 m CHARLOTTE SCHÖNBECK, 1500 m.. 15 MALIN DAHLSTRÖM, Pole Vault MICHEL TORNÉUS, Long Jump NIL DE OLIVEIRA, 400 m STEFAN TÄRNHUVUD, 60 m ALHAJI JENG, Pole Vault JOHAN WISSMAN, 400 m EBBA JUNGMARK, High Jump Swedish Team Officials Head of Delegation Lennart Karlberg Head Stefan Olsson, Team Management Petra Eklund Media Fredrik Trahn, press chief, es Kenth Olsson, sprint Ulf Friberg, middle distance running Oscar Gidewall, long jump Yannick Tregaro, high jump/triple jump Glenn Bengtsson, pole vault Thomas Kyöttilä, pole vault Dejan Mirkovic, combined events Vesteinn Hafsteinsson, shot put Medical Team Dick Larsson, team doctor Jenny Jacobsson, physiotherapist Jonas Lindberg, physiotherapist Swedish Team Press Conference The Swedish Team will host a press conference prior to the European Indoor Championships in Paris. Thursday 3rd March 3 pm Novotel Paris Est 1 avenue de la Republique Paris France Swedish Athletic Association Box 11, Smidesvägen 8 SE Solna, Sweden Phone: Fax: info@friidrott.se Compiled by: A. Lennart Julin (ATFS) in co-operation with Jonas Hedman (ATFS) (Valuable sources of information compiled by Bo Nordin, Bengt Holmberg and Owe Fröberg.) Note: The purpose of this guide is to be a source of background information for the media covering the 2010 European Championships. Thus individual pieces of information are of course free to use in articles and reports. However, the actual profiles must not be - wholly or partially - reprinted, published on Internet or entered into databases or similar electronic information systems. Main sponsors of The Swedish National Athletic Team 2

3 NIKLAS Bo ARRHENIUS Pronounciation NICK-luss Ah-REHN-yuhss 10 September 1982 (Provo, UT, USA) Residence Provo, UT Occupation Student Height/Weight 192 cm / 125 kg Spårvägens FK US university Brigham Young University ('04-'07) Vesteinn Hafsteinsson s Shot Put Personal bests Göteborg i Air Force Academy, CO best 19.03i Göteborg Progression DT SP HT on mission /19.91i /18.58i /19.22i /17.90i i Major competitions 2000 World Junior Ch 2 (DT) 2001 European Junior Ch 4 (DT) 2006 European Ch qual (DT) 2007 World Ch qual (DT) 2008 Olympic G qual (DT) 2010 European Ch qual (SP) European Ch qual (DT Internat. matches Outdoors: 6 National titles Outdoors (SP): '09, '10 (DT): '04, '06, '07, '10 Indoors (SP): '10, '11 PB other events DT Salinas, CA HT Orem, UT WT (36 lb)i Provo, UT Athletics in family Father Anders (b '47) SP: '78, DT: '73 Brother Daniel (b '78): SP/DT: 17.99/56.32 '03 Sister Annika (b '80): DT: '00 Brother Leif (b '86): SP/SPi/DT/HT: 18.86/18.98i '10/ /62.77 '10 Wife Tiffany (Rasmussen, b' 84): JT: '06 Note: Permanent resident of Utah since birth, but has retained the Swedish citizenship of his father, who was on Swedish national team as a shot putter in 1970's. On 14 April '01 at the Arcadia Invitational improved the US High School record with the 1.61 kg implement by almost three meters throwing (The record was surpassed in '09 by 68 cm.) Concluded his collegiate career in June '07 by becoming the NCAA champion. 3

4 ANGELICA Therese BENGTSSON Pronounciation Ahnn-YEH-lickah BENG-kt-sonn 8 July 1993 (Väckelsång) Residence Boaryd Occupation Student (high school) Height/Weight 164 cm / 50.5 kg IFK Växjö (-'09), Hässelby SK ('10-) Glenn Bengtsson Pole Vault Personal bests 4.47 Moskva, RUS **WYB** 4.63i Stockholm **WJR NIR** Progression i Major competitions 2009 World Youth Ch World Junior Ch Youth Olympic Games 1 Internat. matches Outdoors: 1 National titles Indoors: '10 PB other events 60m 8.54 Honolulu, HI JT/400g Växjö Athletics in family Father Glenn (b '58) JT: '82 (old model) Sister Maria (b '88) SP/DT/HT: '08/43.95 '07/45.48 '06 Sister Victoria (b '90) PV: 4.00 '09 Sister Patricia (b '91) PV: 2.50i/2.40 '06 Sister Gabriella (b '99) PV: 1.90 '11 Note: Three global youth/junior titles in '09-'10. World Youth Best of 4.47 in May '10, just 1 cm off WJR. Received the IAAF Rising Star award at the '10 World Athletics Gala in November '10. Voted Newcomer of the Year for '10 by the Swedish Sports Academy. Four improvements of WJR in four days in February '11: 4.52 in Sätra 20 Feb and 4.53, 4.58 and 4.63 in Stockholm 22 Feb. 4

5 LENA Carina BERNTSSON Pronounciation LEH-nah BARE-nt-sonn 4 November 1978 (Göteborg) Residence Göteborg Occupation Therapist Height/Weight 162 cm / 54 kg Göteborgs KIK (-'92), Ullevi FK ('92-) /Advisor Anders Palmqvist 60 m Personal best 7.26i Valencia, ESP i Torino, ITA best 7.39i Göteborg Progression 100m 60m i 100mH 60mH i 200m i /12.57w i /12.25w 7.84i i 25.90/25.71i /12.07w /11.92w 7.64i /11.90w 7.44i i 8.98i i i /12.19w 7.62i i i i i /12.21w 7.75i /11.65w 7.44i i i 13.74/13.58w 8.33i i /11.57w 7.35i i Major competitions 2008 World Indoor Ch semi (60m) 2009 European Indoor Ch 5 (60m) 2010 World Indoor Ch semi (60m) 2010 European Ch heat (100m) 7 (4x100m) Internat. matches Outdoors: 9 Indoors: 3 National titles Outdoors (100m): '07, '09, '10 (200m): '09 (100mH): '08 Indoors (60m): '08, '09, '10, '11 (60mH): '08 PB other events 60m i 7.26 Valencia, ESP i 7.26 Torino, ITA m Malmö m Leiden, NED m Uppsala i Göteborg mH i 8.33 Göteborg mH Uden, NED w Istanbul, TUR Athletics in family Sister Annika (b '76) PV: 3.65i '01. Note: Also on national weightlifting team, competed in both World and European Championships, holds all NR's (72 / 93 / 160 kg) in the 53 kg category! 5

6 ADIL BOUAFIF Pronounciation Ah-DILL Boo-ah-FIFF 31 December 1978 (Fez, MAR) Residence Stockholm Occupation Athlete Height/Weight 180 cm / 65 kg Hässelby SK ('08-) Self-coached 3000 m Personal best 7:57.23i Stockholm Progression Marathon Halfmar 3000m 5000m 10000m :02 13: : :04: :05:40+ 8:19.01i 14: : :21:47 1:08: :57.23i Major competitions 2010 European Ch dnf (Mar) Internat. matches 1 National titles Outdoors (10000m): '09 (marathon): '10 Indoors (3000m): '09 PB other events 800 m 1:54.25 Karlstad m 3:46.55 Stockholm i 3:46.04 Lidingö m 8:02c?, MAR m 13:55c?, MAR m 29:47.33 Malmö Halfmar 1:04:08 Stressato Verbania, ITA Marathon2:21:47 Stockholm Note: Swedish citizen on 7 July

7 Anna MALIN DAHLSTRÖM Pronounciation Mah-LINN DAHL-streumm 26 August 1989 (Göteborg) Residence Västra Frölunda (Göteborg) Occupation Student (technology) Height/Weight 171 cm / 60 kg Göteborgs KIK (-'09), Ullevi FK ('10-) Thomas Kyöttilä & Pekka Dahlhöjd Pole Vault Personal bests 4.20 Karlskrona i Potsdam, GER (ex-nir) Progression i i i Major competitions 2009 European U23 Ch 8 Internat. matches Outdoors: 4 Indoors: 1 National titles Indoors: '11 PB other events 60m i 7.75 Göteborg m m Lerum i Malmö m 2:46.14 Göteborg mH i 9.02 Göteborg mH Borås HJ 1.49 Lerum LJ 5.80 Stockholm w 5.98 Helsingborg Pen i Göteborg Note: Former gymnast that took up athletics at age 15 and was almost immediately introduced to the PV. This winter between 12 and 18 February raised NIR three times (4.43, 4.45 and 4.50) only to loose it on 20 February. 7

8 Pronounciation Residence Occupation Height/Weight s SWEDISH TEAM MEDIA GUIDE. European Indoor Championships, Paris 2011 NIL Fagner DE OLIVEIRA da Silva NILL DEH Olli-VAY-rah 3 September 1986 (Rio de Janeiro, BRA) Borås Student 186 cm / 74 kg Fluminense FC (-'06), Turebergs FK ('06-'10), Spårvägens FK ('11-) Roland Bergman 400 m Personal bests Malmö i Göteborg iOT Tampere, FIN Progression 400m 400m i 200m 200m i i 21.36/21.18w 22.00i i i i i/47.30iOT Major competitions - Internat. matches Outdoors: 3 Indoors: 1 National titles Outdoors (200m): '08 (400m): '09, '10 Indoors (200m): '10 (400m): '09, '11 PB other events 100m Sundsvall Helsingborg m Sundsvall m 1:53.93 Sao Paulo, BRA HJ?1.85?, BRA 200? Note: Switched to athletics when not accepted into a sports school as a football (soccer) player. Moved from Brazil to Sweden in '06. 8

9 ALHAJI JENG Pronounciation Al-HAJJ-ee YENG 13 December 1981 (Banjul, GAM) Residence Göteborg Occupation Athlete Height/Weight 185 cm / 77 kg Örgryte IS Stanislaw Szczyrba Pole Vault Personal bests 5.80 Zhukovskiy, RUS i Stockholm **NIR** 2011 best 5.55i Göteborg Progression i i /5.75& 5.71i i i i Major competitions 2000 World Junior Ch European U23 Ch European Indoor Ch World Indoor Ch 2 European Ch final (injured) 2007 World Ch qual 2008 World Indoor Ch 7 Olympic G qual 2009 European Indoor Ch 5 World Ch 12 Internat. matches Outdoors: 10 Indoors: 1 National titles Outdoors : '06 Indoors: '05, '06, '08 PB other events 60m i 7.18 Göteborg m Göteborg m 2:25.42 Lerum m 2:58.72 Göteborg mH i 8.53 Göteborg mH Göteborg HJ i 2.00 Göteborg Karlskoga LJ i 7.07 Göteborg w 6.26 Lerum SP i Göteborg HT Mölndal JT Mölndal Hep i Göteborg Note: Has lived in Sweden for just about his whole life as he was only a few weeks old when family moved from Gambia in early '82. Grew up in same neighbourhood as Christian Olsson, Yannick Tregaro and Patrik Kristiansson in the Göteborg suburb of Angered. The '95 WCh in hometown made great impact on the 13 years old. Decided after seeing Sergey Bubka in action that Pole Vault was the sport to pursue! Won final major meet before '05 WCh the IAAF Super GP "DN Galan" defeating i.a. 5 of would-be Helsinki top-7 but still couldn't be entered into the WCh due to not having made the then A-standard of When getting the chance in the '06 WICh immediately proved himself by taking the silver medal. Hampered by hamstring problems during summer of '06 and winter and summer of '07. Missed '10 due to foot injury sustained when landing outside of the pit during training. 9

10 EBBA Anna JUNGMARK Pronounciation EBB-ah YUHNG-mahrk 10 March 1987 (Onsala) Residence Mölndal Occupation Office clerk Height/Weight 179 cm / 57 kg Mölndals AIK US university Washington State University ('08) Emil Predan High Jump Personal bests 1.92 Kil i Göteborg Progression HJ TJ /11.32w i 11.99/12.15w 12.15i i i i Major competitions 2003 European Youth Olympics World Junior Ch European U23 Ch 3 World Ch qual 2010 European Ch qual Internat. matches Outdoors: 4 Indoors: 1 National titles Indoors: '11 PB other events 60m i 8.29 Göteborg m i Göteborg m 2: i 2:37.32 Västerås mH i 9.35 Västerås mH Helsingborg LJ 5.19 Gävle i 5.59 Västerås TJ Göteborg w Västerås i Bollnäs SP i 9.10 Västerås JT Gävle Pen i Västerås Athletics in family Second cousin Emma (b '87): 100m/200m/400m: 12.72/25.89/58.53 '04. Note: '08 NCAA (US Collegiate) champion indoors. 10

11 John CHRISTIAN Bert OLSSON Pronounciation CHRISS-tee-unn OOLL-sonn 25 January 1980 (Göteborg) Residence Monaco, MON Occupation Athlete Height/Weight 192 cm / 79 kg Örgryte IS /Advisor Yannick Tregaro Triple Jump Personal bests Athina, GRE **NR** 17.92w Gateshead, GBR i Budapest, HUN **NIR** (ex-wir) 2011 bests 17.20i Birmingham, GBR Progression* TJ HJ i z i z i z 11.58zw 11.66zi i w i w i i i i & i i i (z = measured from take-off point) Major competitions 1999 European Junior Ch World Indoor Ch 1 1 (HJ) World Ch European Indoor Ch qual World Athletics Final 1 European Cup/Super L World Indoor Ch 1 Olympic G qual Olympic G European U23 Ch 1 World Athletics Final 1 World Ch European Ch European Indoor Ch World Indoor Ch 4 European Ch 1 IAAF Grand Prix Final 1 World Cup 3 Internat. matches Outdoors: 17 Indoors: 3 National titles Outdoors (TJ): '00, '01, '03, '09 (LJ): '06 Indoors (TJ): '00, '01, '02, '03, '04 PB other events 60m i 7.19 Sätra m 10.9m Gold Coast, AUS m w Kil m i 2:25.4m mH Göteborg

12 PB other events HJ 2.24 Göteborg & 2.28 Båstad i 2.28 Göteborg in street clothes 1.95 Göteborg PV 4.04 Göteborg LJ 7.71 Feldkirch, AUT JT Göteborg Note: First coach Viljo Nousiainen had developed clubmate Patrik Sjöberg into the world s premier high jumper in mid 1980 s. When Viljo suddenly passed away in spring of '99 Yannick Tregaro (himself guided by Viljo to 2.17 and a World Junior Ch final at age 18 in '96) stepped in as coach despite being Christian s senior by just two years. Birth as true worldclass triple jumper on 14 June '01: On a rain-soaked Helsinki Olympic Stadium got first 17m-mark as well as first victory over legend Jonathan Edwards. Since first exceeding 17m has surpassed that limit in 104 out of 110 meets (including a streak of 58 meets). Adding five qualification rounds he has 109 competitions at 17+! Achieved the "Grand Slam" of championships (OG, WCh, WICh, ECh, EICh) in '02-'04. In '04 claimed 50% of the Golden League jackpot after winning the TJ at all six meets. Kept out of competition from 18 Sep '04 until 12 June '06 by ankle injury which needed four operations. Despite that long layoff had in first attempt in comeback meet and in less than a month had reached In all his eight international championship qualifying rounds from '01 WCh onwards achieved the pre-set standard for the final on his very first attempt. Persistent hamstring problems ruined most of the years '07-'09: After 13 July '07 only one meet in '08 and three in '09. Returned in '10 and although competing rather sparingly proved that he still was highly competitive, e.g. illustrated by placing in his four Diamond League starts. Resides in Monaco since autumn of '02. Undisputed No 1 in the EAA voting for male European Athlete of (* Very early marks in progression above courtesy of Per Crona.) 12

13 Carl Erik ANDREAS OTTERLING Pronounciation Unn-DREH-uss OHTT-ehrr-ling 25 May 1986 (Örebro) Residence Örebro Occupation Administration officer Height/Weight 183 cm / 80 kg KFUM Örebro Peder Sjöberg & Patrik Lado Long Jump Personal bests 7.67 Falun i Tampere, FIN Progression LJ z/5.28zi 11.25z /6.13z 12.40/12.65z/12.79zw /6.78w i 13.25/14.18i /6.56w /14.61w i /16.08w /16.05i /16.22i i (z = measured from take-off point) Major competitions - Internat. matches Outdoors: 3 Indoors: 1 National titles Outdoors (TJ): '10 Indoors (TJ): '09 PB other events 60m i 7.28 Örebro m Örebro m i Västerås TJ Falun i Stockholm SP Västerås DT Norrtälje Note: Has always focussed on TJ but surprised everyone (including himself) in early February with 7.89i LJ 22 cm PB in the process defeating two '10 European Championship finalists. 13

14 JESSICA Eva Katarina SAMUELSSON ronounciation YESS-ee-cah SAH-muh-el-sonn 14 March 1985 (Saltsjö-Boo) Residence Nacka Occupation Law student (part time) Height/Weight 176 cm / 65 kg Boo IF (-'01), Hässelby SK ('02-) Dejan Mirkovic Heptathlon Personal best Götzis, AUT best - Progression Hep Pen i 400m 200m 100mH LJ 800m 400mH /25.37w? : i 24.75i 5.66i : /13.99w : /14.11w 6.01w 2: i : /13.84w : /24.05w /6.23i 2: i Major competitions 2003 European Junior Ch heat (400mH) 5 (4x400m) 2005 European U23 Ch 8 (Hep) 2006 European Cup/Super L 9 (Hep) 2007 European U23 Ch 13 (Hep) World Ch 29 (Hep) 2009 World University G 1 (Hep) World Ch 17 (Hep) 2010 European Ch 10 (Hep) Internat. matches Outdoors: 6 Indoors: 1 National titles Outdoors (Hep): '03, '05, '08 (LJ): '09 Indoors (Pen): '05, '06, '08, '09, '10 PB other events 60m i 7.64 Sätra m Sävedalen m Värnamo w Talence, FRA m Enskede m Sollentuna m 2:07.03 Beogard, SRB mH i 8.50 Bollnäs mH Karlstad w Malmö mH Västerås mH Norrtälje HJ 1.76 Beograd, SRB LJ 6.32 Västerås SP Sollentuna i Sätra JT Barcelona, ESP Pen i Sätra Hep Barcelona, ESP Note: Sprinter/hurdler until '03, when focus began shifting towards combined events. In '08 surpassed the IAAF A-standard on three occasions but was still not selected for Beijing by the Swedish OC. 14

15 Louise CHARLOTTE Kristina SCHÖNBECK Pronounciation Sharr-LOTT SHEUN-beck 22 December 1984 (Lidingö) Residence Lidingö Occupation Molecular biologist (part time) Height/Weight 169 cm / 50.5 kg IFK Lidingö US University University of Nevada at Reno ('07) /Advisor Peter Lundqvist 1500 m Personal best 4:09.42 Barcelona, ESP best 4:10.39i Stockholm Progression 1500m 800m 400m : :59.24i 2: : : /56.06i : : : /56.20i :09.49i 58.59i : : : : : : : : :10.39i 2:04.51OT Major competitions 2001 European Youth Olympics 8 (400m) 2003 European Junior Ch heat (800m) 2005 European U23 Ch heat (800m) 2009 World University G 6 (1500m) 2010 European Ch heat (1500m) Internat. matches Outdoors: 7 Indoors: 1 National titles Outdoors (800m): '09, '10 (1500m): '09, '10 PB other events 60m i 8.45 Sätra m Eskilstuna m Gävle m 2:00.70 Göteborg m 10:02.22 Leiria, POR mH Stockholm HJ 1.53 Enskede i 1.56 Sätra

16 MICHEL Tresor Komesha TORNÉUS Pronounciation Mi-SHELL Tohrr-NEH-uhss 26 maj 1986 (Botkyrka) Residence Tumba Occupation Community centre youth instructor (part time) Height/Weight 184 cm / 68 kg IFK Tumba (-2010), Hammarby IF (2011-) Oscar Gidewall Long Jump Personal bests 8.12 Barcelona, ESP w Lapinlahti, FIN i Stockholm Progression z 4.40zw (z = measured from take-off point) z z 4.79zw w w i Major competitions 2005 European Junior Ch European U23 Ch European Indoor Ch qual World Ch qual 2010 World Indoor Ch qual 2011 European Ch 9 Outdoors: 8 Indoors: 1 National titles Outdoors : '05, '07, '08, '09, '10 Indoors: '08, '10, '11 PB other events 60m i 6.97 Malmö mH Leppävaara, FIN m Huddinge HJ 1.92 Gävle w Gavà, ESP i 1.99 Karlskrona m Sollentuna PV 2.96 Gävle w Vallentuna i 3.26 Karlskrona m Enskede TJ Gävle m Gävle SP Norrköping m i 2:50.91 Karlskrona DT Gävle m 4:52.29 Gävle JT Gävle mH Gävle Dec Gävle mH Kvarnsveden Athletics in family First cousin Ritchie (Moba, b '90): LJ: 7.05 '10/7.09i '11. Note: On 27 June 2009 became the 3rd Swedish long jumper ever to surpass 8 metres in legal wind conditions when jumping Finished 2nd (and No 1 European) in the Diamond League meet in Gateshead on 10 July '10. Has won 5 out 5 meets this winter including IAAF Permits in Birmingham and Stockholm. 16

17 STEFAN Hjalmar TÄRNHUVUD Pronounciation STEH-funn TAIRN-huh-vuhd 16 January 1985 (Ärentuna) Residence Sundsvall Occupation Communications officer Height/Weight 173 cm / 68 kg Sundsvalls FI Håkan Andersson 60 m Personal bests 6.72i Göteborg Progression 100m 60m i 200m /22.74w i i i /10.52w 6.89i i i /10.40w 6.82i i 21.37/21.28w /10.51w 6.78i i Major competitions 2004 World Junior Ch heat (4x100m) 2006 European Ch heat (4x100m) Internat. matches Outdoors: 10 Indoors: 1 National titles Outdoors: '08, '09 Indoors: '09, '10, '11 PB other events 100m Florø, NOR w Joensuu, FIN m Helsinki, FIN w Florø, NOR m Bollnäs Website/Blog: 17

18 JOHAN Lukas WISSMAN Pronounciation YU-hunn VISS-munn 2 November 1982 (Kvistofta, Helsingborg) Residence Nacka Occupation Athlete (part time economy student) Height/Weight 180 cm / 75 kg IFK Helsingborg Kenth Olsson 400 m Personal bests Osaka, JPN i Torino, ITA bests 47.41i Stockholm Progression 400m 400m i 200m 200m i i i i w 21.79i i i i i i w 20.93i i i i i i w 20.91i i i i 21.26i/21.16iOT Major competitions 1999 European Y Olympics 5 (400m) 2005 European Indoor Ch semi (200m) final (dq) (4x100m) World Ch quarter (200m) 2000 World Junior Ch quarter (200m) heat (4x400m) 2001 European Junior Ch 2 (400m) 2006 World Indoor Ch 4 (4x400m) 4 (4x100m) European Ch 2 (200m) 5 (4x400m) 2007 European Indoor Ch 4 (400m) World Ch heat (4x400m) World Ch 7 (400m) 2002 European Indoor Ch semi (200m) World Athletics Final 4 (200m) European Ch quarter (200m) 2008 World Indoor Ch 2 (400m) 2003 World Indoor Ch heat (200m) Olympic G 8 (400m) European U23 Ch 3 (200m) World Athletics Final 8 (400m) 4 (4x100m) 2009 European Indoor Ch 1 (400m) World Ch semi (200m) World Ch semi (400m) 2004 World Indoor Ch 2 (200m) 2010 European Ch semi (200m) European Cup/Super L 2 (200m) Olympic G quarter (200m) Internat. matches Outdoors: 20 Indoors: 4 National titles Outdoors (100m): '04 (200m): '01, '03, '04, '06, '07, '09, '10 (400m): '02, '05 Indoors (200m): '02, '03, '04, '05, '06, '07, '09, '11 PB other events 60m i 6.84 Göteborg m Helsingborg w Helsingborg m Stuttgart, GER w Helsinki, FIN i Liévin, FRA **NIR** 18

19 PB other events 300m Sollentuna i Liévin, FRA m 2:03.00 Vellinge m 4:32.24 Borås mSt11:12.75 Tranås mH Karlskrona LJ 6.81 Stockholm SP 9.48 Helsingborg DT Helsingborg HT Helsingborg JT Helsingborg Athletics in family Father Mats (Persson, b '49): 800m: 1:59.4m '66. Note: Winter of '04 ran the 200m in six meets, improved the NIR on four occasions and won all races but the last, the WICh final which he lost by In March '06 ran an unofficial European Indoor record for 300m in Liévin lowering Erwin Skamrahl's 20 years old mark of by First international success as a 400m-runner (silver at '01 European Juniors) but then chose 200m as main event to improve his speed. However, long term focus remained at 400m and after '06 ECh 200m silver switched priorities and re-focused on the 1-lap event. In summer of '07 lowered PB by over one second and in Osaka WCh ran sub-45 in all three rounds. Had four individual silvers, one bronze and two 4th places from international championships before striking gold at '09 European Indoors. From '01 WCh to '09 WCh competed in every championship (Olympic, World and European) outdoors and indoors, i.e. did 17 straight championship starts before passing the '10 indoor season. Website: 19