Erik Surjan (born 22 June 1983, in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

) is an Australian former

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete who competed in the

decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in Athletics (sport), athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek language, Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ...

. In his earlier career, Erik was a talented

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

er, winning four national junior long jump titles between 1998 and 2001. Competing in the Commonwealth Youth Games in

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Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

in 2000, Erik won the Bronze Medal for the Long Jump. After a brief retreat from the sport to concentrate on his studies, Erik returned to the sport in 2004 on the advice of Grant Ward: Head Field Coach for the Western Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS). In his first year of the decathlon, Erik won the 2005 Men's Senior National Decathlon title from defending champion Matt McEwen with a score of 7621 points. It was there short after, that Erik took up a scholarship with the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

(AIS), under the guidance of Craig Hilliard, coach of former athletes such as

Jane Flemming Jane Christina Flemming OAM (born 14 April 1965) is a former Australian Olympic track and field athlete. She completed her HSC in 1982 at Mater Christi College, Belgrave. She was the 1990 Commonwealth Games champion at heptathlon and long jum ...

, Jai Taurima,

Jana Rawlinson Jana Pittman (born 9 November 1982) is an Australian former athlete. During her athletic career Pittman specialised in the 400 metres run and 400-metre hurdles events. She is a two-time world champion in the 400 m hurdles, from 2003 and 2007. Sh ...

Kerry Saxby-Junna Kerry-Anne Saxby-Junna, born Kerry Saxby AM (born 2 June 1961) is a retired Australian race walker. She was born in Young, New South Wales and grew up in Ballina, New South Wales. She represented Australia 27 times in international competi ...

and 2006 World Junior Long Jump Champion Robbie Crowther. Unfortunately for Erik, he sustained a serious knee injury in

Ratingen Ratingen ( li, Rotinge) is a town in the district of Mettmann in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It lies in the northwestern part of Berg about 12 km northeast of Düsseldorf. Administration With a communal reform of 1975 the independent mu ...

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in June, 2005 requiring surgery and missing the entire 2006 season, including the

2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006 (Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm 2006'' or ''Naarm 2006''), was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth held i ...

. After a successful rehabilitation process, Erik returned to the track in 2007 and after some early encouraging form, Erik sustained two freak injuries to the same knee that required surgery earlier and his right shoulder. Both injuries required season ending surgery. Despite this, Erik competed injured in the 2007 Australian Multi Events Championships, winning back his title with a World Championships 'B' Qualifying score of 7706 points.Athletics Australia - Open & U23 decathlon wrap
/ref> In the lead up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics Surjan suffered a serious leg injury during the Decathlon Men's High Jump event. Leading the competition by over 500 points and looking set to announce his arrival on the international stage, Surjan snapped the fibula and tibia bones during a mishap ending his campaign. He was rehabilitated in Western Australia by Western Australian Institute of Sport coaches Grant Ward and Lyn Foreman.

Family

Erik's brother

Jacob Surjan Jacob Adam Surjan (born 15 August 1985) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Port Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He currently serves as the senior coach at the North Adelaid ...

played in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

(AFL) with the

Port Adelaide Football Club Port Adelaide Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Alberton, South Australia, Alberton, South Australia. The club's senior men's team plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), where they are nicknamed ...

References

External links

Official Athletics Australia Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Surjan, Erik Living people 1983 births Australian decathletes Athletes from Perth, Western Australia Sportsmen from Western Australia Australian people of Croatian descent Western Australian Institute of Sport alumni