# 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.
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.
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. This year Holm also won the Jerring Award.
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.
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.
He became an IOC member at the 125th IOC Session in Buenos Aires in September 2013. In October 2019, he announced he would leave his seat following the 2020 Summer Olympics.
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.
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.
Holm's son is Melwin Lycke Holm, winner of the 2023 European Athletics U20 Championships in the high jump.

## 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 |
| 1998 | European Championships | Budapest, Hungary | 7th | 2.27 m |
| 1999 | World Indoor Championships | Maebashi, Japan | 6th | 2.25 m |
| 1999 | Universiade | Palma de Mallorca, Spain | 4th | 2.25 m |
| 1999 | World Championships | Seville, Spain | 10th | 2.25 m |
| 2000 | European Indoor Championships | Ghent, Belgium | 4th | 2.32 m |
| 2000 | Olympic Games | Sydney, Australia | 4th | 2.32 m |
| 2001 | World Indoor Championships | Lisbon, Portugal | 1st | 2.32 m |
| 2001 | World Championships | Edmonton, Canada | 4th | 2.30 m |
| 2001 | Goodwill Games | Brisbane, Australia | 1st | 2.33 m |
| 2002 | European Indoor Championships | Vienna, Austria | 2nd | 2.30 m |
| 2002 | European Championships | Munich, Germany | 2nd | 2.29 m |
| 2003 | World Indoor Championships | Birmingham, United Kingdom | 1st | 2.35 m |
| 2003 | World Championships | Paris, France | 2nd | 2.32 m |
| 2004 | World Indoor Championships | Budapest, Hungary | 1st | 2.35 m |
| 2004 | Olympic Games | Athens, Greece | 1st | 2.36 m |
| 2005 | European Indoor Championships | Madrid, Spain | 1st | 2.40 m |
| 2005 | World Championships | Helsinki, Finland | 7th | 2.29 m |
| 2006 | World Indoor Championships | Moscow, Russia | 5th | 2.30 m |
| 2006 | European Championships | Gothenburg, Sweden | 3rd | 2.34 m |
| 2007 | European Indoor Championships | Birmingham, United Kingdom | 1st | 2.34 m |
| 2007 | World Championships | Osaka, Japan | 4th | 2.33 m |
| 2008 | World Indoor Championships | Valencia, Spain | 1st | 2.36 m |
| 2008 | Olympic Games | Beijing, China | 4th | 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