Patrik Sjöberg
Jan Niklas Patrik Sjöberg is a Swedish former high jumper. He broke the world record with in Stockholm on 30 June 1987. This mark is still the European record and ranks him third on the world all-time list behind Javier Sotomayor and Mutaz Essa Barshim. He twice held the world indoor record holder with marks of 2.38 m and 2.41 m. He was the 1987 World Champion and three-times an Olympic medallist.Early life
Sjöberg was born in Gothenburg, Västra Götaland and was a member of the Örgryte IS club.Career
Sjöberg has a gold medal from the World Championships in Rome 1987 and has three Olympic medals: silver medals from Los Angeles 1984 and Barcelona 1992, and a bronze medal from Seoul 1988. Sjöberg is the only high jumper to have won medals in more than two Olympic Games. He won the 1985 World Indoor Games, is a four-time European Indoor champion and twice won the World Cup title.
Sjöberg received the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal in 1985. He has inspired many later Swedish high jumpers, most notably Kajsa Bergqvist, Linus Thörnblad, Staffan Strand, and Stefan Holm. His world record of 2.42 m was broken 15 months later, when, on the eve of the Seoul Summer Olympics, Javier Sotomayor jumped 2.43 m in September 1988 at a meet in Spain.
Sjoberg competed as a celebrity dancer on Let's Dance 2014, finishing fourth.Personal life
In his 2011 autobiography, Sjöberg revealed that he had been sexually molested as a child by Viljo Nousiainen, a prominent Swedish athletics coach.
He has a daughter, Isabelle.Competition record
1Representing Europe
2No mark in the final
