Richard Dahl
 Richard Dahl (left) and Stig Pettersson at the 1958 European Championships | ||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born |
5 August 1933 Landskrona, Sweden | |||||||||
| Died | 8 August 2007 (aged 74) | |||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | |||||||||
| Event(s) | High jump | |||||||||
| Club |
IF Kronan SoIK Hellas Södertälje IF[1] | |||||||||
| Achievements and titles | ||||||||||
| Personal best(s) | 2.12 m (1958)[2] | |||||||||
Medal record
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Richard Dahl (also known as Rickard Dahl; 5 August 1933 – 8 August 2007) was a Swedish track and field athlete who competed in the high jump. His short-lived career was defined by a surprise win at the 1958 European Athletics Championships in a Swedish record of 2.12 m (6 ft 111⁄4 in).
Career
In 1957 Dahl won his first significant medal, a silver at the national championships behind Stig Pettersson, the leading Swedish jumper of the era. Both repeated that placing the following year.[3]
At the 1958 European Athletics Championships, held in Stockholm, Dahl set a Swedish record and championship record at 2.12 m (6 ft 111⁄4 in), beating Jiří Lanský and Stig Pettersson.[4] He became the fourth, and thus far the last Swede to win the title, following Kurt Lundqvist, Anton Bolinder and Bengt Nilsson.[5] For this performance he was awarded the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal and designated the Stora grabbars märke number 200 in athletics.[1]
Dahl won two more international medals – a bronze at the 1959 International University Games (clearing two metres) and a silver at the inaugural Nordic Athletics Championships (where he lost to Petterssen by ten centimetres).[6][7] His final achievement of note was a third place at the Swedish Championships in 1960. After retiring from competition, he became a sports journalist for the local paper Länstidningen Södertälje, and later for the regional Nordvästra Skånes Tidningar.[8]
References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Richard Dahl. |
- 1 2 Richard Dahl 1933-2007 (Swedish). Stora grabbar. Retrieved on 18 October 2014.
- ↑ Rickard Dahl. trackfield.brinkster.net
- ↑ Swedish Athletics Lists. Swedish Athletics Federation. Retrieved on 18 October 2014.
- ↑ In memoriam: Richard Dahl (Swedish). Fridrott.se (19 August 2007). Retrieved on 2014-10-18.
- ↑ European Championships (Men). GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 18 October 2014.
- ↑ WORLD STUDENT GAMES (UIE). GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 18 October 2014.
- ↑ Nordic Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 18 October 2014.
- ↑ EM-guldmedaljören Richard Dahl död (Swedish). Sydsvenskan (8 August 2007). Retrieved on 2014-10-18.
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